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Gospel of Matthew - Chapter 4

by Paul George  
1/21/2008 / Bible Studies

Testing of Jesus
Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptizer. Although there are number of reasons given by interpreters of the Bible, Matthew tells us the purpose of His baptism is to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). Following the baptism of Jesus the Spirit of God descends like a dove from heaven and lights upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims the good news, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:16-17). Following His baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, Satan. Before we move into Jesus' wilderness experience we need to clear up some of the misunderstanding concerning the wilderness experience. The wilderness experience is a time of testing. It is an attempt by Satan to convince Jesus to doubt God just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan does not care what you profess as long as you let a crack in the door of your heart so he can slip in and plant a few seeds of doubt. That is all Satan wants you to do, doubt God, question His love and mercy.

Having said that, the question that needs an answer is what can we learn from Jesus' wilderness experience that will enable us to pass the test when we find ourselves in the wilderness. Our survival depends upon our knowing who Satan is and who we are, and putting on the "full armor of God" so we will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. We must also follow the example Jesus has set before us.

While Satan's testing of Jesus is similar to his testing of Christians, the testing of Jesus was a unique event in history. It was Satan's attempt to nullify the purpose of the only begotten Son of God coming to earth. God did not send His only begotten Son into the world to establish an earthly kingdom, as some believer and the failure to establish the kingdom was due to the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. God sent Him to seek and save that which was lost through the offering of Himself, as the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Satan's testing of Jesus was direct and obvious. It was an attempt to disqualify Jesus as the Redeemer of humanity and the Restorer of the creation marred by sin, as he has done in the pass when he suspected an individual was the promised seed that would bruise his head.

Compared to the testing of Jesus, our testing is indirect, coming most often through the world and the flesh. The testing we face is an attempt to destroy our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and rob us of the blessings our heavenly Father wants to bestow upon us. The testing of Jesus was also unique in that He, unlike all of us, provided Satan with no fallen nature to which Satan could appeal. There was no inner inclination to rebel against God and no inner desire to sin. For us it is entirely a different matter. The inner inclination is toward evil, especially in the heart of the one who is following Jesus from a distance. Peter is an example of one who was following Jesus from a distance on the night Jesus was arrested.
In the time of testing, Satan will always use the dark difficult situations in life in an attempt to draw us away from the Lord. He will rarely approach us when we are on the mountaintop. It is when we are in the valley, walking under the shadow of death; Satan comes along side and begins to build doubt in our minds, if we let him. When he suggested Jesus turn stones into bread, he did it at a time when Jesus was physically weak, the effect of forty days and nights of fasting. Satan took advantage of Jesus' condition and tried to convince Jesus to use the power bestowed upon Him through the descent of the Holy Spirit to satisfy a vital need. Satan always appeals to the basic human instinct of self-preservation he did not advocate self-indulgence. From the human viewpoint, the challenge to turn stones into bread does not seem out of order if you have the power to turn stones into bread. After all, is there anything so wrong with meeting basic human needs? The situation Jesus was in setting aside normal rules is justifiable, or is it. Look around you. What do you see in every realm of society? What is the source of what you see? We know first of all it is a total disregard for the Word of God and a humble submitting to His authority and the setting aside normal rules of life, the glue that holds a society together.

In the three challenges in the testing of Jesus there are three primary avenues by which Satan seeks to make inroads into our lives and disrupt our spiritual walk with God through Christ. First, supplying a basic need or felt need and doing whatever is necessary to fulfill the need. Satan or one of his associates, human or spiritual will assure you there is nothing wrong with meeting a basic need or a felt need regardless of the consequences. When Satan suggested the turning of stones into bread, what was he doing? Bread is a basic essential of life, not a luxury food item. A few small loaves of bread would provide the nourishment Jesus needed Jesus knew this. What was evil in Satan's suggestion Jesus turn stones into bread? The evil was submitting to Satan's suggestion. The evil is satisfying the physical while ignoring the spiritual.

When Jesus entered the wilderness, He was doing the will of the Father, which He came to earth to do. When Jesus followed the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, He was putting His trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus had turned stones into bread, He would have done what many of us have been guilty of doing at some point in our lives. He would have turned from the will of the Father to self-will and from the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we do, our own thing we can be assured of one thing we are headed for a great fall like the house the foolish man built on sand, we are building our house on a foundation of truth and lies, and when the rain, floods, and winds beat against the house it will not provide the shelter we need. Only a house built on the solid rock Jesus Christ will withstand the beating of the rain, floods, and wind.

The problem in the world and in the organized church today is men and women have become so wrapped up in providing for the wants that they have overlooked the true need. They have provided food for the flesh while ignoring the feeding of the soul. What good is a strong healthy body if the soul is weak, sickly, and diseased because we have failed to provide the proper nourishment for the soul, the Word of God, the Bread of life, Jesus Christ?

The suggestion to turn stones into bread struck at the very heart of the gospel, for the Lord Jesus had come to the earth in obedience to the will of the Father, to die on the cross for sinners, so that they might be forgiven and have eternal life. If Jesus would save His own life, contrary to the will of His Father, He could not achieve eternal life for all men. If Jesus would have distrusted and disobeyed the Father, He would pursue the path of death, not life, for life requires obedience to God, even more than the feeding of the body. If Jesus had turned stones into bread, He would have turned from the path that led ultimately to the cross. Our Lord's obedience to the Father and our salvation was on the line. Jesus' rejection of Satan's suggestion meant that He was determined to accomplish the will of God, even unto death, which paradoxically, was the way to life, for Him and for all who are found in Him. Exercising His divine power to meet His human needs would have meant the loss of His power to save. However, because of our Lord's obedience to the Father, He emerged not only sinless, but also mighty to save.

The priority of the spiritual above the physical, of obedience to the Father's will above mere existence shaped the teaching of our Lord. The result was that Jesus continually stressed the priority of man's spiritual condition over his physical state. In Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that the hungry were blessed (Luke 6:21), while He pronounced woe upon those who were well-fed (Luke 6:23). Giving the priority of the spiritual over the material, Jesus taught that men should seek first the kingdom of God, and that all of the other things, the necessities for physical life, would be added (Luke 12:31). We should be laying up treasure in heaven, and not on earth (Luke 12:33).

The first testing of Jesus occurred in the wilderness, the second in Jerusalem, and the third on the top of a high mountain. Satan takes Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. He then told Jesus "cast Yourself down from here; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning You:'" and "On their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone" (Luke 4:9).

We can all agree on one thing: Satan was seeking to persuade the Lord Jesus to jump from the pinnacle of the temple. But why? The answer to this question is not as obvious. Satan was suggesting Jesus do what he is doing. Satan is testing Jesus and in this testing, he is suggesting Jesus test God. Christians fall into this trap when they tell God they will do something for Him if He will do what they are asking Him to do. Testing God is doubt and unbelief. If Jesus had jumped from the pinnacle, it would have been a sign He doubted God's love and protecting Him from the consequences of a foolish act would prove God's love.

If Jesus would have jumped off the pinnacle He would have committed the sin of presumption. We know sin brings death. There are Christians who often commit the sin of presumption and then wonder why God does not bless them. Satan may have known if Jesus jumped from the pinnacle, He would have committed the sin of presumption and as a result would die. Once again, Jesus refused to do what Satan wanted Him to and used Scripture to support His response and point the error in Satan's suggestion. The response is found in Deuteronomy chapter 16.

In our relationship with Jesus, we need to realize presumption, that is putting God to the test, is a perversion of faith. It is faith taken too far. There is a fine line of distinction between trusting God and testing God. Testing God is founded on the idea that God is able to do what He has promised, but it is sinful in resisting God's timetable for fulfilling His promise. Trusting God involves receiving what God has presently provided, but waiting for what is yet future. Testing God is trying to force God to provide now what He has promised for later.

Putting God to the test, what does this mean in practice? How do we put God to the test in our lives and culture? We put God to the test when we claim future promises as present realities. Putting God to the test can have a very godly appearance, when in reality it is man's demand that God jump through his own hoops. Putting God to the test is often the result of our own impatience, of wanting now what God will give us later. Such impatience demands that God hurry up what He is doing. It is often in times of adversity that our tendency to put God to the test becomes evident. We may place conditions on God, things that He must do for us in order for us to acknowledge that He is present with us, and for us to worship Him. For instance, if we are sick and God does not heal us, we question His presence and His goodness. If God does not make our marriage a haven on earth or cause our wayward child to act as we think he should, we begin to act and speak as though God were not with us. In effect, we have put conditions on God, things that He must do, if we are to worship and serve Him.

We put God to the test when we live recklessly. Some people like to flirt with danger. Living on the ragged edge of survival, or death, or disaster is the thrill that keeps them going. Ever hear this "I couldn't afford this car, but I am trusting God to provide the payments." Faith is not foolishness attributed to trusting God.

The third testing involves power and control. In the third, testing Satan offered Jesus prestige and power if He would bow and worship him. Jesus rejected this offer because man's worship and service can only be directed toward God. Since the worship of Satan would have necessitated serving him, Jesus would have become Satan's servant.

In the final analysis, Jesus taught that we must give up our lives in order to save them (Luke 9:23-25; 12:4-5).

For Satan, life was but mere physical existence. In order to maintain this kind of life it was necessary, according to Satan's value system, to disobey the will of God, to act independently and in rebellion against God. Christ's definition of life was life in its fullness is fellowship, harmony, and union with God. In order to maintain this kind of life Jesus found it necessary to obey God, even though it meant experiencing death.

Fishers of Men
Matthew 4:12-25

Nearly a year has passed between Matthew 4:11 and 4:12. Before returning to Galilee, which John records in 4:43, Jesus met and called the first disciples, turned the water to wine at Cana, resided for a short while in Capernaum, returned to Jerusalem for an early Passover, drove the money changers from the temple, talked to Nicodemus, conducted an early teaching ministry in the Judean countryside, and had his encounter with the woman of Samaria on his way north again (John 1:19-4:42). It is at this point that Matthew picks up the account of the ministry of Jesus. In verse 11, Jesus was in the desert near the Jordan. In verse 12, Matthew tells us "when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee."

Leaving Nazareth Jesus settled in Capernaum in the region of Zebulum and Naphtali.

Because this was Jesus' home base, a number of miracles were performed there, including the healing of the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-13), and Peter's mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-17, casting out an unclean spirit (Mark 2:1-12). and the healing of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof (Mark 2:1-12). No wonder Jesus could say that Capernaum was worthy of greater condemnation (Matthew 11:23-24).

What is so important about Capernaum and Galilee that Matthew makes such a point of telling us about these places? Matthew wants his readers to know that Jesus' withdrawal to Galilee was no mistake; it was, in fact, the fulfillment of prophecy, another proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah (Isaiah 9:1-2).

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee He saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea. Jesus said, to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (v 19), immediately Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus. Going on from there Jesus saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, Jesus called to them, and they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.

What is unusual about this calling of Simon, Andrew, James, and John? Normally, disciples chose their master. However, in this incident Jesus chose His disciples. Why did Jesus call these four men; Jesus called men who would learn what He had to teach them about the kingdom of heaven. This is surely a clue to the kind of ministry Jesus came to carry out. He selected those whom He would empower and leave behind to proclaim the message of the Gospel. In addition, in the end, He would instruct these men to make disciples of others (Matthew 28:18-20).

We should keep in mind that the greater portion of Jesus' ministry occurred in Galilee. In this account of the calling of Simon, Andrew, James, and John, Matthew describes the commencement of Jesus' Galilean ministry as being successful. Jesus' ministry included teaching, preaching, and healing; no ailment was too difficult for Jesus to heal. Jesus also gathered a following from a wide geographical area, Syria, Decapolis, Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Before we move on, we need to ask ourselves, "What is the point of this passage?" Why did Matthew place this passage between the temptation of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount? What are we supposed to learn here?

The first thing we should note about this passage, is that the calling of Simon, Andrew, James, John, the healing every kind of disease and sickness, and the gathering of large crowds who followed Jesus occurred in Galilee. This may sound like an insignificant point, but it is more important than it may seem. Joseph and Mary were from Galilee. Jesus would have been born there other than the providential guidance of God, in order to fulfill the prophecy that He would be born in Bethlehem of Judea. Jesus was raised in Galilee. God directed Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, and then to Nazareth of Galilee. Jesus was a Galilean in that this was His home. Jesus began His earthly ministry in Galilee. He went from Galilee to Jerusalem. Many Galileans followed Jesus to Jerusalem, particularly His disciples and the women who accompanied Him. Most of Jesus' earthly ministry was in Galilee. Jesus met His disciples in Galilee, after His resurrection.

Consider this; Galilee not only had a higher concentration of Gentiles than did Jerusalem or Judea, it was also a place of great spiritual need. The people were living in darkness. It was a place where people sat in the shadow of death. Upon such a needy place and people, the Light dawned. This is not to say that the people of Judea were more spiritual, or that they were less in need. It is to say that they did not perceive it to be this way. The people of Jerusalem and Judea saw themselves as those who were spiritually enlightened, those who were not in need. They were certainly wrong.

You and I, like the people of Galilee, we live in darkness, under the shadow of death. That is because God is holy, and we are sinners. We all rightly deserve God's eternal wrath. However, God in His mercy sent His Son to seek and to save needy sinners. Jesus lived a perfect life, unstained by sin. Jesus died on the cross of Calvary in order to bear the penalty for our sins, not for any sins, He committed. God raised Jesus from the dead as proof that His sacrifice for sins was satisfactory. Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the day of His return. He is coming to establish His throne on earth and to punish those who oppose Him. Have you trusted in the work of Jesus Christ?

Retired pastor,Church of the Nazarene

Author of web site Exploring God's Word

www.thewordofgodonline.net

New American Standard Bible

King James Version

The World English Bible

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