Matt: Chapter 4

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The Temptation of Jesus

(1) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (2) And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. (Deuteronomy 9:18 ) – Then I [Moses] lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger. (3) And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, (Matthew 14:33) – Speaking about Jesus - “Truly you are the Son of God.” command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Back in Matthew 3:9 it is said “God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham” so surely he could turn the stones to bread. (4) But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Ephesians 6 speaks of the armor of God and verse 17 specifically speaks needing “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

(5) Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple (6) and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

(Psalm 91:11) “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and (Psalm 91:12) “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

(7) Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, (Deuteronomy 6:16) ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Isaiah 7:12) But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” (8 ) Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. (9) And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” (10) Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, (Deuteronomy 6:13)

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’” (1 Samuel 7:3) - And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

(11) Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

(Hebrews 2:18 ) – For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Amazing is the Lord Jesus Christ! He not only saved us from our sins but he can empathize with us in our sufferings and in our temptations as he himself went through them firsthand. Some argue that Jesus was almost like that of a robot, felling no pain and having no personality, but that is not who Jesus was. He pained as much as the rest of us, if not more. Just like David in the Psalms felt as if God was far from him, Jesus felt the same as he took on the sins of the world while upon the cross. David shouted in Psalms 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” Jesus too shouted in Matthew 27:46 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” when he was upon the cross taking on the sins of the world. Jesus felt the presence of God leave him just as David felt as if God was not there. Jesus has great empathy for his people and that is something that the Christian should never forget.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

(12) Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. (13) And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, (14) so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
(15) (Isaiah 9:1-2) “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
(16) the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.” (Psalms 23:4) – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

(17) From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

(18 ) While walking 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. (19) And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 13:47) - “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. (20) Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Imagine if the rest of us simply did as Christ asked without any knowledge of what is to come immediately as they had done. Imagine how that would enrich the kingdom of God. (21) And going 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, and he called them. (22) Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

(23) And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues He often preached in the synagogues as that is where the Jews met. He first preached to the Jews and then to the Gentiles (everyone else). and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. (24) So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. (25) And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Jesus did great works and became known for it. To deny his miracles is to deny who he is, God in the flesh. His miracles were evidence of who he was though some would later attribute his good works falsely to Satan.  Two things that can be seen through this chapter is Jesus empathizes with us and he can do something about what we might be going through.