Matthew 4

Mt 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

The Temptations of Christ

1. Appetite: the desire to enjoy things, Mt 4:2 ff; Lu 4:2 ff.
2. Ambition: the desire to achieve things, Mt 4:5 f; Lu 4:5 ff.
3. Avarice: the desire to obtain things, Mt 4:8 ff; Lu 4:9 ff.

(Source unknown)  Compare 1Jo 2:16

‘Three times did the Lord conquer Satan; three times did he repulse him (in the temptation) and drive him off, lawfully vanquished. And thus Adam’s breach of the law of God was cancelled by the obedience of the Son of man, keeping the statutes of God.’ (Irenaeus)

The link between Jesus’ sojourn in the desert and that of Israel is very striking:- ‘Matthew begins by noting ‘forty days and forty nights.’ Except for 1Ki 19:8 and the flood account, every time this phrase is used in the Old Testament it refers to Moses on Sinai. Matthew notes this detail because he is quite aware of the parallel. Notice also that all of the responses Jesus gives come from Deuteronomy 6-8, where Moses is exhorting the Hebrews after narrating the story of Israel in the wilderness. So in De 8:3 we read, ‘He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. The reference is to the manna, which was given when the people were hungry and did not trust God, but instead demanded food. Jesus trusts God and does not demand food. De 6:13, quoted in this passage, follows De 6:12 “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” This verse reminds us of the golden calf at Sinai (the reason for Moses second fast of forty days) when Israel got tired of waiting for Moses and instead made the calf, of which they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” {Ex 32:4} Again, we have a reference to the failure of Israel in the wilderness. Finally, look at the full context of De 6:16 “Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah.” Again we have a reference to Israel’s failure in the wilderness.’ (Hard Sayings of the Bible)

‘Satan’s intention in the temptation was to make Christ sin so as to thwart God’s plan for man’s redemption by disqualifying the Savior. God’s purpose (note that the Spirit led Jesus to the test) was to prove his Son to be sinless and thus a worthy Savior. It is clear that he was actually tempted; it is equally clear that he was sinless.’ {2Co 5:21} (Ryrie)

Mt 4:3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

“If” - ‘What force there is often is a single monosyllable! What force, for instance, in the monosyllable “If,” with which this artful address begins! It was employed by Satan, for the purpose of insinuating into the Saviour’s mind a doubt of his being in reality the special object of his Father’s care, and it was pronounced by him, as we may well suppose, with a cunning and malignant emphasis. How different is the use which Jesus makes of this word “if” in those lessons of Divine instruction and heavenly consolation, which he so frequently delivered to his disciples when he was on earth! He always employed it ot inspire confidence; never to excite distrust. Take a single instance of this:- “If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” What a contrast between this divine remonstrance and the malicious insinuation of the great enemy of God and man!’ (Daniel Bagot)

Mt 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

‘If it is true, as Jesus said, endorsing Deuteronomy, that human beings do ‘not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’, {Mt 4:4 De 8:3} it is equally true of churches. Churches live, grow and flourish by the Word of God; they wilt and wither without it. The pew cannot easily rise higher than the pulpit; the pew is usually a reflection of the pulpit.’ (John Stott, The Contemporary Christian)

Mat 4:5  Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

Mat 4:6  “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Mat 4:7  Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Mt 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

‘We have to contend every day with the same imposture: for every believer feels it in himself and it is still more clearly seen in the whole life of the ungodly. Though we are convinced, that all our support, and aid, and comfort, depend on the blessing of God, yet our senses allure and draw us away, to seek assistance from Satan, as if God alone were not enough. A considerable portion of mankind disbelieve the power and authority of God over the world, and imagine that every thing good is bestowed by Satan. For how comes it, that almost all resort to wicked contrivances, to robbery and to fraud, but because they ascribe to Satan what belongs to God, the power of enriching whom he pleases by his blessing? True, indeed, with the mouth they ask that God will give them daily bread, {Mt 6:11} but it is only with the mouth; for they make Satan the distributor of all the riches in the world.’ (Calvin)

Mat 4:9  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Mat 4:10  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Mat 4:11  Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Mat 4:12  When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.

Mt 4:13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali-

According to Lu 4:16-30, he left because they tried to kill him.

Capernaum - A flourishing city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and the base of his ministry in Galilee.

Mt 4:14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

To fulfill - Isa 9:1-2. {cf. Isa 42:6-7}

Mat 4:15  “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-

Mat 4:16  the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Mt 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

From that time - Jesus had been preaching and teaching prior to this, in Judea, and had made and baptised many disciples, Joh 4:1. But here is the beginning of a new phase in Jesus ministry, and here is introduced a section of Matthew’s Gospel which extends to 16:20, and which concentrates on Jesus’ public ministry in and around Galilee. What follows indicates what it was that Jesus preached first and most frequently. Cf v23.

Repent - the message here is essentially the same as that of John the Baptist, Mt 3:2, and would later be echoed by the disciples, Mt 10:7. The gospel is a message of repentance, not only as it comes from the lips of John, who some considered to be melancholy and morose, but from the lips of Jesus, who was full of sweetness and graciousness. Some consider ‘repent’ a poor translation, on the grounds that (a) it represents the negative (forsaking sin), but not the positive (fruit-bearing), aspects of what is intended; (b) it too strongly suggests an activity of the emotions, rather than of the mind and will also. Hendriksen prefers, ‘be converted’. The message is similar to that of the OT prophets who summoned Israel to forsake their disobedient ways and to return to God. The gospel is the same in all ages. Preachers should seek no new terms upon which to offer God. ‘Christ had lain in the bosom of his Father, and could have preached sublime notions of divine and heavenly things, that should have alarmed and amused the learned world, but he pitches upon this old, plain text, ‘Repent’. This message is ‘good news’ (cf v23), for it is an unspeakable privilege that room is left for repentance.

‘Repentance should never be confused with penance. That was an unfortunate error committed by Christians throughout the Middle Ages. They took Jesus’ call to repentance in preparation for the kingdom {Mt 4:17} as an obligation to perform acts of self-denial in order to gain grace and find forgiveness. True repentance, however, is more inward than it is outward. It begins with the repudiation of one’s own spiritual worth and only then moves to any expression of self-denial.’ (Bruce Shelley, Theology for Ordinary People)

The kingdom of heaven - is the Messianic Age; God’s kingly rule, established in judgement and in salvation. The great events in the arrival of the kingdom are: (a) the coming of Jesus; (b) the outpouring of the Spirit; (c) the world-wide harvest of souls; (d) the final consummation.

Mat 4:18  As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

Mt 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

“Come, follow me” - ‘This was their call to service and illustrates the directness, profundity, and power of Christ’s commands (cf. “go…,” Mt 28:19 “Love one another,” Joh 13:34).’ (Ryrie)

In this we have the first thing that Jesus said to his disciples. Look at the last thing he said to them, Mt 28:16-20. What is similar about these?

Mat 4:20  At once they left their nets and followed him.

Mt 4:21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,

Zebedee - he was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee and father of James and John, two of Jesus’ first disciples. {Mr 1:19-20} Based at Capernaum on the north shore of the sea, Zebedee ran a considerable fishing business which included several hired servants, Simon Peter, and Andrew. {Lu 5:10} his wife, Mary, also followed Jesus and ministered to him. {Mr 15:40-41} The Bible does not say if Zebedee ever became a believer, but he did not stand in the way of his sons or wife becoming Jesus’ disciples.

Mt 4:22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him – ‘The first thing that strikes us here is the power of Christ’s voice. Not that his voice alone makes so powerful an impression on the hearts of men: but those whom the Lord is pleased to lead and draw to himself, are inwardly addressed by his Spirit, that they may obey his voice. The second is, the commendation bestowed on the docility and ready obedience of his disciples, who prefer the call of Christ to all worldly affairs. The ministers of the Word ought, in a particular manner, to be directed by this example, to lay aside all other occupations, and to devote themselves unreservedly to the Church, to which they are appointed.’ (Calvin)

Try re-telling this story from the point of view of Zebedee, the father of Peter, James and John.

Mt 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Teaching in their synagogues - ‘Jesus taught and preached with authority. Jesus soon developed a powerful preaching ministry and often spoke in the synagogues. Most towns that had ten or more Jewish families had a synagogue. The building served as a religious gathering place on the Sabbath and as a school during the week. The leader of the synagogue was not a preacher as much as an administrator. His job was to find and invite rabbis to teach and preach. It was customary to invite visiting rabbis like Jesus to speak.’ (HBA)

The synagogue-worship, developed by and after the exile…was also essentially popular, homelike, familiar, escaping from the exclusiveness of the priestly service. It had four principal parts:

a) the recitation of the shema’, composed of De 6:4-9 11:13-21, and Nu 15:37-41, and beginning, “Hear (shema’), O Israel: Yahweh our God is one Yahweh”;

b) prayers, possibly following some set form, perhaps repeating some psalm;

c) the reading by male individuals of extracts from the Law and the Prophets selected by the “ruler of the synagogue,” in later years following the fixed order of a lectionary, as may have been the case when Jesus “found the place”;

d) the targum or condensed explanation in the vernacular of the Scriptures read.

It is questioned whether singing formed a part of the service, but, considering the place of music in Jewish religious life, and its subsequent large place in Christian worship, it is hard to think of it as absent from the synagogue.

Mt 4:24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.

Mt 4:25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Decapolis - A district, originally containing 10 cities, S of the Sea of Galilee, mainly to the E of the Jordan River. These were cities with Gentile populations and typical Greco-Roman structures-pagan temples, hippodromes, etc.’ (Ryrie)