THE HOLIEST Commentaries on St. Matthew
Tablet Five
"Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." (Matthew 4:11)
<1>With this he overcame the power of the tama guna over his Soul, "the devil leaveth him," and went to his higher self where there is Michael (raja guna) and Gabriel (satva guna) and their angels. They would serve him, and his knowledge and actions would become Divine. <2>Also the devil (tama guna) becomes Lucifer, or the shining light in his path.
<3>Only those who are in their higher selves will be served by Angels.
"Now when Esa had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;" (Matthew 4:12)
<4>Now after Esa became Christ and overcame his lower self, he started his mission. The mission of John was to find him, open his spiritual eye to his divinity and purpose in life. So John's mission would begin to decrease and his would increase.
"And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:"
"That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,"
"The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;" (Matthew 4:13-15)
<5>Christ left Nazareth because John was taken to prison. He went to Capernaum. With this, another prophecy was fulfilled.
"The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." (Matthew 4:16)
<6>"The people which sat in darkness" refers to the people of the north of the House of Judah, "Galilee of the Gentiles" (verse 15), whom Christ visited. They received a great blessing by the Lord and "saw great light." <7>The cities of Nazareth, Capernaum, and the regions Zabulon and Nephthalim were in the north part of Judaea and were in the region which was the home of the House of Israel before they were taken away captive.
<8>The people of the House of Israel (the northern kingdom) started to become idol worshippers after it was separated from the southern kingdom. Their king Jeroboam "made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (I Kings 12:28) and people started to worship these calves.
<9>As it was explained in the book Children of Abram (Abraham), All Prophecies Are Fulfilled, it was the people of the House of Israel whom Christ came to gather together as was prophesied by Jacob, "until Shiloh [Messiah] come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." (Gen. 49:10). <10>But in order to make a new religion accepted by a people, first the previous religion should be weakened. Then when the new religion comes it can easily replace the old. That is why the people of the House of Israel went through such a period of change that even they are considered as the ten lost tribes. In reality they were not lost but were being prepared to receive the new teachings of the Shiloh (Messiah).
<11>That is the reason Christ lived and even started to preach in the north region of Israel (Ephraim) and gathered them under his banner so that the prophecy of Jacob would be fulfilled.
<12>Again we can see that what apparently seems to the human as some unrelated accidental events, in truth are planned and are interrelated happenings toward the goal God has in His Mind and is trying to fulfill. <13>He even declared that the reason the House of Israel was separated from the kingdom, was by His Will. That is, after the House of Israel was separated from the House of Judah (southern kingdom), king Rehoboam, the king of the House of Judah "assemble[d] all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin,...to fight against the House of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon" (I Kings 12:21).
<14>"But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God," (I Kings 12:22) that he should speak with the people of the House of Judah that, "Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; <15>for this thing is from me...." (I Kings 12:24). <16>Therefore this separation of the kingdom of Israel into two nations was done by Him for a purpose that is now revealed to us; for more detail read Children of Abram (Abraham), All Prophecies Are Fulfilled.
<17>Again that is the reason this verse is used here when Esa was still in the northern part of Israel. It was in this region that, "the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death [spiritual death] light is sprung up." <18>In truth he had come to awaken these people, not the Jews, because the Jews had so many concepts that no matter how many signs Esa would show them, they would not believe in him.
"From that time Esa began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)
<19>The mission of John was finished and the work of Esa began. However, he also brought the same message and showed the way, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," that only with repentance and change of heart can the Kingdom Of Heaven be established (within and without). This is the same message as John's. <20>He did not say, "I will forgive you without you repenting and changing the way of your life," but, "The first step was shown for you to take, 'repent.' Then after that I will help you to progress and enter the Kingdom."
"And Esa, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers."
"And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
"And they straightway left their nets, and followed him." (Matthew 4:18-20)
<21>Also Esa started to select his disciples from those who were pure in heart, not from the Pharisees and Scribes or Sadducees who had created big false egos with many concepts. <22>Simon and his brother Andrew were so ready to follow the master that they left everything behind to go with him. They did not let anything keep them from being his disciples.
"And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them."
"And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him." (Matthew 4:21-22)
<23>The hierarchy of the importance of the beings in life starts with God, then the spiritual teacher, next the parents (especially if they help in one's spiritual progress), and lastly the spouse. That is why here we see John and his brother left their father and followed Christ.
"And Esa went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." (Matthew 4:23)
<24>He started preaching his message, the gospel of the Kingdom. Also, to make people believe in him and follow his teachings, he then started to heal their sicknesses and diseases.
"And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them." (Matthew 4:24)
<25>He became famous not because of his teachings and the truth he was revealing, but because he had healing power. They did not come to learn the truth from him, to repent and establish the Kingdom Of Heaven, but they brought him their sicknesses to be healed.
"And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan." (Matthew 4:25)
<26>A great multitude started to follow him and ask to be healed or be given some favors. People started using him for their own selfish petty interests. That is why he left them as it was written in chapter 5, and started teaching his doctrine to his disciples, not to the multitudes. <27>The multitudes were deaf, blind, and dead.