Matthew 4:12

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry and the Call of the Four.

With a few rapid strokes the evangelist now sketches the opening of the Messianic work of Christ in Galilee. He is not so much concerned about offering a chronological sequence of events as about grouping the incidents so as to present a continuous narrative. He here omits the return of Jesus to the Jordan, John 1:35, His journey to Galilee, John 1:41, the marriage at Cana, the trip to Capernaum and that to Jerusalem before the imprisonment of John, and His ministry in Samaria, John 3:1; John 4:1. He gives a summary of Christ's varied activities in the North by way of introduction: Now, when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee.

In his usual fearless manner, John the Baptist had felt no hesitation about reproving Herod Antipas, the ethnarch of Galilee and Perea, for his adulterous union with Herodias, his niece and already the wife of his half-brother, Herod Philip. The consequence was that the enraged princess caused his imprisonment, Luke 3:19; Mark 6:17. John's last field of activity had been in Aenon, John 3:23, and he probably had extended his labors into Galilee. When the mouth of this faithful witness had been silenced, Jesus knew that the time had come for Him openly to enter upon His work as prophet. His ministry in Galilee began when the Baptist's came to an end, John 3:30.