Theophylact of Ohrid — Commentary on Scripture

Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Christ calmly repels the devil, teaching us to defeat the demons with meekness.

And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Some think that the high mountain is the passion of avarice into which the enemy strives to lead Jesus. But those who think this do not reason well. The devil appeared to Him visibly, for the Lord did not entertain any evil thoughts — far from it! The devil, therefore, visibly showed Him all the kingdoms, presenting them before His eyes in an image, and said, "All these things will I give Thee." In his pride, he considers the world to be his own. Even now the devil makes this offer to the greedy, with the result that those who worship him do possess these things.

Matthew 4:10

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

. The Lord became angry with him when He saw him appropriating what was God’s and saying, "All these things will I give Thee," as if they were his own. Learn how much the Scriptures benefit; for with them the Lord shut the mouth of the enemy.

Matthew 4:11

Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

The Lord conquered the three temptations of gluttony, vainglory, and avarice. These are the chief passions, and by conquering them, how much more so does He conquer the others. Wherefore Luke says that the devil "ended every temptation" (Lk. 4:13), having ended these chief temptations. Whereupon angels serve Him to show that the angels will serve us as well after our victory over temptation. For everything that Christ did and revealed was for our sake, since the angels are always serving Him as God.

Matthew 4:13

And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:

Jesus departs, teaching us not to throw ourselves into dangers. He departs into Galilee, which means "rolling down," for the Gentiles had rolled down into sin. He dwells in Capernaum, which means "house of comfort and consolation," because Christ came down from heaven to make the Gentiles the house of the Comforter. "Zabulon" means "nocturnal" and "Nephthalim," "a broadening." The life of the Gentiles, therefore, was both dark and broad, for they were walking not the narrow way, but the way leading to destruction (Mt. 7:13).

Matthew 4:16

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.

. "By the way of the sea" means "which is situated along the road of the sea." The "great light" is the Gospel, for the law, too, was a light, but a small one. "The shadow of death" is sin, for sin is the likeness and silhouette of death. Just as death overpowers the body, so too does sin overpower the soul. The light has dawned on us, for we were not seeking it, but it appeared to us as if it were pursuing us.

Matthew 4:17

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

From the time John was arrested, Jesus began to preach. For Jesus waited for John to first bear witness to Him and to prepare the way for Him, in the same manner in which servants make preparations for their masters. Being equal to the Father, the Lord also had John as a prophet, just as God the Father had the prophets who were before John; yet in truth these were the prophets of both the Father and the Son.

The kingdom of heaven is Christ and it is also the life of virtue. For when someone lives as an angel on earth, is he not heavenly? So the kingdom of heaven is within each one of us when we live as angels.

Matthew 4:18

And Jesus, 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.

These two had been disciples of John, and while John was still living they had approached Christ. But when they saw John arrested, they returned again to their fishing, and so Christ comes, fishing for them.

Matthew 4:19 · 2 passages

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

These two had been disciples of John, and while John was still living they had approached Christ. But when they saw John arrested, they returned again to their fishing, and so Christ comes, fishing for them, and says:

Behold obedient men, who followed Him immediately. From this it is clear that this is the second time that He called them. For they had been taught by Christ on a previous occasion [see Jn. 1:35-42], then left Him, and when they saw Him again followed Him readily.

Matthew 4:21

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.

In a boat with Zebedee their father: It is the greatest of virtues to care for one's father in his old age, and for the father to be supported by the just labors of his sons.

Mending their nets: They were poor and as they were unable to buy new nets, they were stitching together their old ones.

Matthew 4:22

And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

It appears that Zebedee did not believe and it is for this reason that they left him. Do you see when it becomes necessary to leave one's father? When the father becomes an impediment to virtue and reverence for God. When James and John saw the first two follow Christ, they rightly followed Christ as well, imitating their good example.

Matthew 4:23

And Jesus 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.

Teaching in their synagogues: Jesus enters the synagogues of the Hebrews to show that He is not opposed to the law.

And healing every disease and every infirmity among the people: He begins with miracles, to give credibility to what He teaches. By disease is meant chronic illness, and by infirmity, a temporary bodily disorder.

Matthew 4:24

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.

Christ did not ask for faith from any of the sick that were brought to Him, for the very fact that they were brought from a distance was a sign of faith. "Lunatics" means those who were possessed by demons. For the devil wanted to instill in men the belief that the heavenly bodies cause evil, and so would wait until the moon was full and then would set upon men. The devil does this so that the moon would appear to be the cause of suffering, and thus God’s creation would be slandered, as it was by the heretical Manichees in their delusion.

Matthew 5:1

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

. He teaches us not to do anything ostentatiously. For when He is about to teach, He goes up onto the mountain, thus instructing us also when we would teach, to depart from the bustle in the city.

The multitude comes for the miracles, but the disciples come for the teachings. So when He has finished the miracles and healed their bodies, then He heals their souls as well, that we may learn that He is the Creator of both souls and bodies.

Matthew 5:2

And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Why does the evangelist say, "He opened His mouth"? It would appear that this is superfluous; but it is not. For He also taught without opening His mouth. How did He do this? By His life and His miracles. But now He opens His mouth and teaches.

He taught not only His disciples, but the multitude as well. He begins with the beatitudes, "Blessed are they," just as David began the Psalms with the beatitude, "Blessed is the man" (Ps. 1:1).

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

First He lays down humility as a foundation. Since Adam fell through pride, Christ raises us up by humility; for Adam had aspired to become God. The "poor in spirit’’ are those whose pride is crushed and who are contrite in soul.

Matthew 5:4

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

. "Blessed are they that mourn" for their sins, not for things of this life. Christ said, "They that mourn," that is, they that are mourning incessantly and not just one time; and not only for our own sins, but for those of our neighbor. "They shall be comforted" both in this life, for he who mourns for his sin rejoices spiritually, and even more so in the next life.

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Some say that the "earth’’ is the spiritual earth, that is, heaven. But understand it to mean this earth as well. Since the meek are thought to be those who are despised and deprived of wealth, Christ says that it is the meek, rather, who possess everything. The meek are not those who never get angry at all, for such people are unfeeling and apathetic. Rather, the meek are those who possess the capacity for anger but control it, and become angry only when it is necessary.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Since He is about to speak about almsgiving, He first shows that one must pursue righteousness, and not give alms from what has been acquired by theft and extortion. And one must avidly practice righteousness, for this is what it means to "hunger and thirst’’. Since it is the greedy who are thought to be well off and satisfied, Jesus says that it is rather the righteous who shall be filled, even here in this life, for what is theirs they possess with surety.