Chapter BY Chapter

Matthew 4:1-17 – The Temptation of Jesus

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“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 

 

But he answered,

“It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

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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,

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“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,

    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

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Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 

 

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 

 

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

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“‘You shall worship the Lord your God

    and him only shall you serve.’”

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Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him."

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Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

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“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

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.”

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

 

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So Jesus was led to the wilderness by the spirit to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.  Man, I get hungry after just 40 minutes.  One wonders how he could fast for 40 whole days.  Some people doubt that someone can live that long without food, but studies have shown that it is possible to live up to 21 days without food and water, and if water is available, up to 8 weeks without food.  (https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/how-long-can-you-live-without-food#individual-time-period) 

So Jesus is 40 days hungry.  If I was 40 days hungry, I think I could eat 4 deluxe pizzas, 3 Chateaubriands for 2, 12 Big Macs, one of those 72 ounce steaks that they offer if you eat the whole thing it’s free, 10 Admiral’s Feasts at Red Lobster, a whole pot of chili using the giant pot that I use to cook chili, AND 8 waffles at IHOP with 4 3-egg omelettes.  So the devil waits till Jesus gets this hungry, and he says, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 

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Now, that probably would have been easy for Jesus to do.  And isn’t that just the way that the devil tempts us?  He waits till we are down, and he tempts us with something we need, but he adds a little twist to it.  Would it have been okay for Jesus to turn some stones into loaves of bread?

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It probably would have been okay for Jesus to do that on his own, but here, the Devil is telling him to do it to prove that he is the Son of God. 

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This is very wrong.  This is not the right motivation.  God does not do miracles just to prove that he is God.  In the Old Testament did God ever do a miracle just to prove that he is God? 

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One possibility is when fire from God consumed Elijah’s sacrifice.  1 Kings 18:36-39,

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“And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.  Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”  Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”

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For sure, this miracle was done to prove that the Lord is God, but there are also some other reasons.  Reason 2: to let them know that Elijah is his servant, and has done things at God’s word.  Reason 3: to turn back their hearts to God. 

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If someone asks us to perform a miracle to prove God exists, should we try to do that? 

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Not unless God tells you to do that.  The advantage that Elijah had is that God was telling him what to do.  This started when God told Elijah that there would be no rain except by the word of the Lord. 

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In 1 Kings 17:1, it says,

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“Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

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In 1 Kings 18:1, it says,

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“After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.”

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By saying “Go show yourself to Ahab,” God is telling Elijah to confront Ahab.  So, this was already an elaborate plan by God to prove that he is God, and not the Baals.  One might ask, “Why doesn’t the text show God telling Elijah the specifics of the confrontation?” 

 

The answer is simple.  The Old Testament writers were good storytellers.  Giving these specifics in advance would have ruined the suspense in how this story plays out.  So, Elijah has the prophets of Baal present  a sacrifice to Baal and ask Baal to consume it.  Elijah taunts the Baal prophets saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”  They cry out loud, but nothing happens.  Then Elijah prepared his sacrifice and had them pour 4 vats of water over it 3 times.  Elijah prays, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”  Notice that Elijah says, “I have done all these things at your word.”  So all these things that Elijah did, including having the contest of the sacrifices and pouring water over the sacrifice, Elijah did because the Lord told him to do it.  Then what happened?  Then the fire fell from the lord and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up even the water. 

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So, God will do great things at His word and His command, not at the word or command or desire of another.  The reply that Jesus has is perfect. 

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“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

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Verses 5-7,

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

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“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

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and

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“‘On their hands they will bear you up,

    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

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Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

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Again, the devil tempts Jesus by using doubt.  This is something that the devil uses commonly today.  Non-believers will say, “If God exists and you can get an answer to prayer, then why don’t you always get what you want when you pray – and pray for something and prove it to me that God exists.” 

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First of all, if God always gave us what we wanted when we prayed, it would be prove of a scientific phenomenon, and not necessarily proof that God exists.  We see seldom and seemingly random miracles because God has a will.  He chooses what miracles to perform, and there are reasons for his miracles and they are his choice and his reasons. 

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Secondly, God performs his will by not performing a miracle as well as by performing one.  Sometimes, God’s answer to a prayer is “No.”  Sometimes God’s answer to a prayer is “Later.”  Sometimes, God’s answer to prayer is, “Something else.” 

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Now the devil also tempts Jesus by quoting scripture.  This is also another tactic that non-believers will use.  Scripture is quoted, but it is taken out of context, or twisted, or misapplied.  When someone tries to counter your faith by quoting scripture, study that passage well.  The verse they use will be out of context, twisted, or misapplied. 

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Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11-12.  This Psalm talks about the protection that God gives to the one that puts their trust in God as they go about their life.  But Satan is trying to test Jesus again.

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Jesus gives the perfect answer for this, “For it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to test.”  Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16.  He shows that Satan is misapplying scripture.  Jesus’ answer also has a direct and interesting message for Satan.  Jesus told Satan not to put the Lord to test.  Is Jesus putting the Lord to test?  No.  Only Satan is putting the Lord to test.  Jesus speaks directly to Satan by saying, “You.”  Who is Satan directly trying to test?  Jesus.  So Jesus is referring to himself as the Lord. 

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The devil has one more temptation he is going to try.  Verses 8-11,

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“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

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Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

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This time the devil tempts with material benefits.  This is much like what happens in the world today.  If you just do what the world wants, the world will reward you richly.  You will have to acknowledge them and not God in the process.  They will set your life up just right for you.  Join their system and they will assign a wife to you.  When my dad was working in Iran, I wrote him and asked if I could come over there and visit him.  He said, “Well, you could, but we would have to buy a wife for you.  She’ll be wearing a burka when you meet her and she’ll be oh, 9 or 10 years old.”  Well, I lost all interest in visiting my dad in Iran. Then there is the story of the Jew in Egypt that had a problem with alcohol.  A Muslim friend of his said, “Become a Muslim and we will take care of that problem for you.”  So he became a Muslim.  After he became a Muslims, his friend said, “Okay, not that you are a Muslim, drinking alcohol is forbidden.  So, if you drink any alcohol, we kill you, and if you ever leave Islam, we kill you.”  One day, someone came up with the bright idea of plastic.  Now, just about everything is in a container of plastic, and there is plastic all over the seas causing problems for other forms of life.  Another bright idea was socialism, the idea that everyone gets everything equal as everyone else.  “Let the government take care of everything,” is their motto.  So people get the same whether they work or don’t even want to work.  The problem is that the number of things that could be equalized is too numerous.  So one day some people value roses over daffodils, and some enterprising person grows roses on the side and makes a fortune selling roses.  Now things are unequal again.  So, any human system that promises to take care of everything for you isn’t from God.  It is from the world, Satan’s world.  By the way, these new progressives are saying that you have to get rid of your belief in God, in order to bring about a human system that makes everything equal and right.  What does that sound like? 

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Communism.  Communism is based on the idea that you need to get rid of all religion so that the ultimate authority is the state. 

So Satan told Jesus he would give him all the kingdoms of the world, if Jesus would just bow down before him. 

Jesus says, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Jesus gives us 3 tools for defeating temptation here.

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1. Tell Satan to leave.  If you don’t think you have the power to tell Satan to leave, remember that Jesus does, and he is with us at all times.

2. Quote scripture.Quoting scripture will repel the tempter, and take your mind off of the temptation.

3. Remember to worship the Lord God only.Ask yourself, “Does this take away from worshiping, serving, or giving thanks and glory to God in any way?”If so, you should not partake of it.

 

Then the devil left him, and angels came and administered to him. 

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Verses 12-17,

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“Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

​

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

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.”

​

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

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So, another prophecy was fulfilled proving Matthew’s thesis.  What is Matthew’s thesis?

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That Jesus is the Messiah.

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The verse quoted here is from Isaiah 9:1-2,

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“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles."

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"The people who walked in darkness

    have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

    on them has light shone."

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This passage is of great significance.  It is saying here that the Gentiles that walked in darkness will see a great light.  Matthew is attributing that great light to Jesus.  This ties in with What Jesus said in John 8:12,

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“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

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Notice also that this passage says that this light is also for the Gentiles.  An error that some people espouse is the notion that Jesus only came for the Jews.  Don’t believe these people.  They are trying to trick people into practicing the law of Moses. 

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In Matthew 15, there is an incident that, at first, seems to confirm the idea that Jesus came only for the Jews. Jesus was traveling through Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region, and “a Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly’” (Matthew 15:22). This Gentile woman recognized Jesus as the Messiah (“Son of David”), but “Jesus did not answer a word” (verse 23). As the woman kept up her appeals, Jesus finally responded, but His words seemed to hold little hope: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (verse 24).  In this passage, Jesus is trying to have a dedicated teaching for his disciples & this woman keeps harassing him with her request.  His humanity comes out a little in his denials.  Furthermore, we have to keep in mind that being sent to the lost sheep on Israel only does not exclude him ministering to Gentiles as well.  So, the woman did not give up, and Jesus eventually granted her request, based on her “great faith” (verse 28).

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Tyre & Sidon was a Gentile city, so it is obvious he did not go there to minister to Jews only.

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The fact that Jesus helped the Canaanite woman, even though His mission was to the Jews, is a significant detail in the Gospel narrative.

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Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus gave other indications that His power and compassion reached to all people.

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He healed a Roman centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1–10).

He traveled through the Gentile region of the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1).

He ministered in a Samaritan city (John 4).

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Jesus came to save everybody (1 John 2:2) “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” Jesus Christ is God Himself (John 1:1) “The Word was God.” Jesus died on the cross as the payment for all our sins, and He rose from death in resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). Jesus said He was the Good Shepherd, and He predicted that His flock would be greatly expanded: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16).

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It took a while for the early church to remember that salvation was available to the Gentiles. The Jewish Christians who fled the persecution in Jerusalem went into the Gentile regions of Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, but they were “spreading the word only among Jews” (Acts 11:19). Peter was hesitant to bring the gospel to a Gentile household, but God made it plain that Cornelius was also one of the elect (Acts 10). Verse 45, “And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.”

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“Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too” (Romans 3:29). Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, but He had come to offer salvation to everybody.

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The Messiah was to be a “light for the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6).

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“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the Gentiles,”

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So call on Jesus, because “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).

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Very Early in his ministry, large crowds followed him from Decapolis, a group of ten Greek cities. Matthew 4:25,

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“Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.”

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In John Chapter 3, Jesus teaches Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council and emphasizes that His mission is for everyone, for the whole world.

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Verse 14-17,

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

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"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

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Conclusion: Jesus maintained from his early ministry and all throughout it that he came to minister to the whole world.  Jesus is the light of the world!

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Song: LIGHT OF THE WORLD - CHRIS TOMLIN