The Temptation of Jesus

41 Then Jesus was carried up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted of the devil: 2 and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he hungered. 3 And the tempter coming up to him said, If thou be Son of God, speak, that these stones may become loaves of bread. 4 But he answering said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God's mouth. 5 Then the devil takes him to the holy city, and sets him upon the edge of the temple, 6 and says to him, If thou be Son of God cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give charge to his angels concerning thee, and on [their] hands shall they bear thee, lest in anywise thou strike thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said to him, It is again written, Thou shalt not tempt [the] Lord thy God. 8 Again the devil takes him to a very high mountain, and shews him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory, 9 and says to him, All these things will I give thee if, falling down, thou wilt do me homage. 10 Then says Jesus to him, Get thee away, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt do homage to [the] Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaves him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

12 But having heard that John was delivered up, he departed into Galilee: 13 and having left Nazareth, he went and dwelt at Capernaum, which is on the sea-side in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim, 14 that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 Land of Zabulon and land of Nepthalim, way of [the] sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations: 16 —the people sitting in darkness has seen a great light, and to those sitting in [the] country and shadow of death, to them has light sprung up. 17 From that time began Jesus to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.

Jesus Calls Four Fishermen

18 And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers; 19 and he says to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20 And they, having left their trawl-nets, immediately followed him. 21 And going on thence he saw other two brothers, James the [son] of Zebedee and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending their trawl-nets, and he called them; 22 and they, having left the ship and their father, immediately followed him.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

23 And [Jesus] went round the whole [of] Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every bodily weakness among the people. 24 And his fame went out into the whole [of] Syria, and they brought to him all that were ill, suffering under various diseases and pains, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judaea, and beyond the Jordan.

The Temptation of Jesus

41 But Jesus, full of [the] Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 forty days, tempted of the devil; and in those days he did not eat anything, and when they were finished he hungered. 3 And the devil said to him, If thou be Son of God, speak to this stone, that it become bread. 4 And Jesus answered unto him saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And [the devil], leading him up into a high mountain, shewed him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to him, I will give thee all this power, and their glory; for it is given up to me, and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If therefore thou wilt do homage before me, all [of it] shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answering him said, It is written, Thou shalt do homage to [the] Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve. 9 And he led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the edge of the temple, and said to him, If thou be Son of God, cast thyself down hence; 10 for it is written, He shall give charge to his angels concerning thee to keep thee; 11 and on [their] hands shall they bear thee, lest in any wise thou strike thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said to him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt [the] Lord thy God. 13 And the devil, having completed every temptation, departed from him for a time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee; and a rumour went out into the whole surrounding country about him; 15 and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he was brought up; and he entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And [the] book of the prophet Esaias was given to him; and having unrolled the book he found the place where it was written, 18 [The] Spirit of [the] Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to [the] poor; he has sent me to preach to captives deliverance, and to [the] blind sight, to send forth [the] crushed delivered, 19 to preach [the] acceptable year of [the] Lord. 20 And having rolled up the book, when he had delivered it up to the attendant, he sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him. 21 And he began to say to them, To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bore witness to him, and wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this the son of Joseph? 23 And he said to them, Ye will surely say to me this parable, Physician, heal thyself; whatsoever we have heard has taken place in Capernaum do here also in thine own country. 24 And he said, Verily I say to you, that no prophet is acceptable in his [own] country. 25 But of a truth I say to you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, so that a great famine came upon all the land, 26 and to none of them was Elias sent but to Sarepta of Sidonia, to a woman [that was] a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian. 28 And they were all filled with rage in the synagogue, hearing these things; 29 and rising up they cast him forth out of the city, and led him up to the brow of the mountain upon which their city was built, so that they might throw him down the precipice; 30 but he, passing through the midst of them, went his way,

31 and descended to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbaths. 32 And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with authority.

A Man with an Unclean Spirit

33 And there was in the synagogue a man having a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried with a loud voice, 34 saying, Eh! what have we to do with thee, Jesus, Nazarene? hast thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy [One] of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out from him. And the demon, having thrown him down into the midst, came out from him without doing him any injury. 36 And astonishment came upon all, and they spoke to one another, saying, What word [is] this? for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37 And a rumour went out into every place of the country round concerning him.

Jesus Heals Simon's Mother-in-Law

38 And rising up out of the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon. But Simon's mother-in-law was suffering under a bad fever; and they asked him for her. 39 And standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her; and forthwith standing up she served them.

Jesus Heals Many at Evening

40 And when the sun went down, all, as many as had persons sick with divers diseases, brought them to him, and having laid his hands on every one of them, he healed them; 41 and demons also went out from many, crying out and saying, Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ.

Jesus Departs on a Preaching Tour

42 And when it was day he went out, and went into a desert place, and the crowds sought after him, and came up to him, and [would have] kept him back that he should not go from them. 43 But he said to them, I must needs announce the glad tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for for this I have been sent forth. 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

The Great Catch of Fish

51 And it came to pass, as the crowd pressed on him to hear the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret: 2 and he saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen, having come down from them, were washing their nets. 3 And getting into one of the ships, which was Simon's, he asked him to draw out a little from the land; and he sat down and taught the crowds out of the ship. 4 But when he ceased speaking, he said to Simon, Draw out into the deep [water] and let down your nets for a haul. 5 And Simon answering said to him, Master, having laboured through the whole night we have taken nothing, but at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And having done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes. And their net broke. 7 And they beckoned to their partners who were in the other ship to come and help them, and they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were sinking. 8 But Simon Peter, seeing it, fell at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord. 9 For astonishment had laid hold on him, and on all those who were with him, at the haul of fishes which they had taken; 10 and in like manner also on James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Fear not; henceforth thou shalt be catching men. 11 And having run the ships on shore, leaving all they followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

12 And it came to pass as he was in one of the cities, that behold, there was a man full of leprosy, and seeing Jesus, falling upon his face, he besought him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou art able to cleanse me. 13 And stretching forth his hand he touched him, saying, I will; be thou cleansed: and immediately the leprosy departed from him. 14 And he enjoined him to tell no one; but go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing as Moses ordained, for a testimony to them. 15 But the report concerning him was spread abroad still more, and great crowds came together to hear, and to be healed from their infirmities. 16 And he withdrew himself, and was about in the desert [places] and praying.

Jesus Heals a Palsied Man

17 And it came to pass on one of the days, that he was teaching, and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every village of Galilee and Judaea and [out of] Jerusalem; and [the] Lord's power was [there] to heal them. 18 And lo, men bringing upon a couch a man who was paralysed; and they sought to bring him in, and put [him] before him. 19 And not finding what way to bring him in, on account of the crowd, going up on the housetop they let him down through the tiles, with his little couch, into the midst before Jesus. 20 And seeing their faith, he said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason [in their minds], saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins but God alone? 22 But Jesus, knowing their reasonings, answering said to them, Why reason ye in your hearts? 23 which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 24 But that ye may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralysed man, I say to thee, Arise, and take up thy little couch and go to thine house. 25 And immediately standing up before them, having taken up that whereon he was laid, he departed to his house, glorifying God. 26 And astonishment seized all, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to-day.

The Call of Levi

27 And after these things he went forth and saw a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, sitting at the receipt of taxes, and said to him, Follow me. 28 And having left all, rising up, he followed him. 29 And Levi made a great entertainment for him in his house, and there was a great crowd of tax-gatherers and others who were at table with them. 30 And their scribes and the Pharisees murmured at his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with tax-gatherers and sinners? 31 And Jesus answering said to them, They that are in sound health have not need of a physician, but those that are ill. 32 I am not come to call righteous [persons], but sinful [ones] to repentance.

The Question about Fasting

33 And they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often and make supplications, in like manner those also of the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink? 34 And he said to them, Can ye make the sons of the bridechamber fast when the bridegroom is with them? 35 But days will come when also the bridegroom will have been taken away from them; then shall they fast in those days. 36 And he spoke also a parable to them: No one puts a piece of a new garment upon an old garment, otherwise he will both rend the new, and the piece which is from the new will not suit with the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old skins, otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be poured out, and the skins will be destroyed; 38 but new wine is to be put into new skins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one having drunk old wine [straightway] wishes for new, for he says, The old is better.

15 (John bears witness of him, and he has cried, saying, This was he of whom I said, He that comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me;) 16 for of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses: grace and truth subsists through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him].

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites that they might ask him, Thou, who art thou? 20 And he acknowledged and denied not, and acknowledged, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he says, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. 22 They said therefore to him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said, I [am] [the] voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the path of [the] Lord, as said Esaias the prophet. 24 And they were sent from among the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him and said to him, Why baptisest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? 26 John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, 27 he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose. 28 These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptising.

Behold the Lamb of God

29 On the morrow he sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 30 He it is of whom I said, A man comes after me who takes a place before me, because he was before me; 31 and I knew him not; but that he might be manifested to Israel, therefore have I come baptising with water. 32 And John bore witness, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with [the] Holy Spirit. 34 And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.

The First Disciples

35 Again, on the morrow, there stood John and two of his disciples. 36 And, looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God.

37 And the two disciples heard him speaking, and followed Jesus. 38 But Jesus having turned, and seeing them following, says to them, What seek ye? And they said to him, Rabbi (which, being interpreted, signifies Teacher), where abidest thou? 39 He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. 40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard [this] from John and followed him. 41 He first finds his own brother Simon, and says to him, We have found the Messias (which being interpreted is Christ). 42 And he led him to Jesus. Jesus looking at him said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which interpreted is stone).

The Call of Philip and Nathanael

43 On the morrow he would go forth into Galilee, and Jesus finds Philip, and says to him, Follow me. 44 And Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip finds Nathanael, and says to him, We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth. 46 And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip says to him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Behold [one] truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile. 48 Nathanael says to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he says to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 1:15-51

Commentary on John 1:15-18

(Read John 1:15-18)

As to the order of time and entrance on his work, Christ came after John, but in every other way he was before him. The expression clearly shows that Jesus had existence before he appeared on earth as man. All fulness dwells in him, from which alone fallen sinners have, and shall receive, by faith, all that renders them wise, strong, holy, useful, and happy. Our receivings by Christ are all summed up in this one word, grace; we have received "even grace," a gift so great, so rich, so invaluable; the good will of God towards us, and the good work of God in us. The law of God is holy, just, and good; and we should make the proper use of it. But we cannot derive from it pardon, righteousness, or strength. It teaches us to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, but it cannot supply the place of that doctrine. As no mercy comes from God to sinners but through Jesus Christ, no man can come to the Father but by him; no man can know God, except as he is made known in the only begotten and beloved Son.

Commentary on John 1:19-28

(Read John 1:19-28)

John disowns himself to be the Christ, who was now expected and waited for. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, but he was not the person of Elias. John was not that Prophet whom Moses said the Lord would raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him. He was not such a prophet as they expected, who would rescue them from the Romans. He gave such an account of himself, as might excite and awaken them to hearken to him. He baptized the people with water as a profession of repentance, and as an outward sign of the spiritual blessings to be conferred on them by the Messiah, who was in the midst of them, though they knew him not, and to whom he was unworthy to render the meanest service.

Commentary on John 1:29-36

(Read John 1:29-36)

John saw Jesus coming to him, and pointed him out as the Lamb of God. The paschal lamb, in the shedding and sprinkling of its blood, the roasting and eating of its flesh, and all the other circumstances of the ordinance, represented the salvation of sinners by faith in Christ. And the lambs sacrificed every morning and evening, can only refer to Christ slain as a sacrifice to redeem us to God by his blood. John came as a preacher of repentance, yet he told his followers that they were to look for the pardon of their sins to Jesus only, and to his death. It agrees with God's glory to pardon all who depend on the atoning sacrifice of Christ. He takes away the sin of the world; purchases pardon for all that repent and believe the gospel. This encourages our faith; if Christ takes away the sin of the world, then why not my sin? He bore sin for us, and so bears it from us. God could have taken away sin, by taking away the sinner, as he took away the sin of the old world; but here is a way of doing away sin, yet sparing the sinner, by making his Son sin, that is, a sin-offering, for us. See Jesus taking away sin, and let that cause hatred of sin, and resolutions against it. Let us not hold that fast, which the Lamb of God came to take away. To confirm his testimony concerning Christ, John declares the appearance at his baptism, in which God himself bore witness to him. He saw and bare record that he is the Son of God. This is the end and object of John's testimony, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. John took every opportunity that offered to lead people to Christ.

Commentary on John 1:37-42

(Read John 1:37-42)

The strongest and most prevailing argument with an awakened soul to follow Christ, is, that it is he only who takes away sin. Whatever communion there is between our souls and Christ, it is he who begins the discourse. He asked, What seek ye? The question Jesus put to them, we should all put to ourselves when we begin to follow Him, What do we design and desire? In following Christ, do we seek the favour of God and eternal life? He invites them to come without delay. Now is the accepted time, 2 Corinthians 6:2. It is good for us to be where Christ is, wherever it be. We ought to labour for the spiritual welfare of those related to us, and seek to bring them to Him. Those who come to Christ, must come with a fixed resolution to be firm and constant to him, like a stone, solid and stedfast; and it is by his grace that they are so.

Commentary on John 1:43-51

(Read John 1:43-51)

See the nature of true Christianity, it is following Jesus; devoting ourselves to him, and treading in his steps. Observe the objection Nathanael made. All who desire to profit by the word of God, must beware of prejudices against places, or denominations of men. They should examine for themselves, and they will sometimes find good where they looked for none. Many people are kept from the ways of religion by the unreasonable prejudices they conceive. The best way to remove false notions of religion, is to make trial of it. In Nathanael there was no guile. His profession was not hypocritical. He was not a dissembler, nor dishonest; he was a sound character, a really upright, godly man. Christ knows what men are indeed. Does He know us? Let us desire to know him. Let us seek and pray to be Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; truly Christians, approved of Christ himself. Some things weak, imperfect, and sinful, are found in all, but hypocrisy belongs not to a believer's character. Jesus witnessed what passed when Nathanael was under the fig-tree. Probably he was then in fervent prayer, seeking direction as to the Hope and Consolation of Israel, where no human eye observed him. This showed him that our Lord knew the secrets of his heart. Through Christ we commune with, and benefit by the holy angels; and things in heaven and things on earth are reconciled and united together.