1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’”
5Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and,
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”
7Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”
8Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.
12Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee. 13Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
15“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
toward the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
16the people who sat in darkness saw a great light;
to those who sat in the region and shadow of death,
to them light has dawned.”
17From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
18Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”
20They immediately left their nets and followed him. 21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them. 22They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.
23Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. 25Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
As the center of worship in Israel, the temple was the location of many significant activities of Jesus. Since Jesus Himself is "God with us" (Immanuel, Matt 1:23), whose very body is His tent (tabernacle) among men (John 1:14); and since He is the High Priest (Heb 3:1ff) who offered Himself as the final sacrifice for the sin of the world (John 1:29), it is most fitting that the temple in Jerusalem should be prominent in His life and ministry. He referred to Himself as "greater than the temple" (Matt 12:6), and to His body as the temple He would raise up in three days (John 2:19-21).
As an infant, Jesus' parents presented Him to the Lord in the temple (Luke 2:22-24), and Simeon blessed Him (Luke 2:25-35). At twelve, Jesus was interacting with the teachers in the temple, which He identified as His Father's house (v. 49; compare John 2:16). Satan tempted Jesus from the pinnacle of the temple (Matt 4:5; Luke 4:9). On two occasions Jesus drove out of the temple those who profited dishonestly from the sale of sacrificial animals (John 2:16; Matt 21:12; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45ff). Jesus often taught in the temple (Matt 26:55; Mark 12:35; Luke 19:47; 20:1; 21:37, 38; 22:53; John 7:14, 28; 8:2, 20; 10:23; 18:20); and healed in the temple (Matt 21:14). At His death, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). After His Resurrection, Jesus' disciples were continually praising God in the temple (Luke 24:53). The part of the temple-complex called Solomon's portico is probably where the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1ff; compare Acts 3:11; 5:12). -DG