Matthew Chapter 4
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Matthew Chapter 4 (The trials of Christ)
Matthew Chapter 4 (The trials of Christ)
Intro: We saw last Sunday in Chapter 3 of Matthew John, and John living in the wilderness around the Jordan River, eating on locusts and wild honey, preaching to the people.
Different groups from all around gathered toward John to hear him preach the true gospel of God, and he was baptizing them in the river,
Towards the end of the chapter, we saw that even Christ came unto John for baptism and the spirit of the Lord was Ascended onto him, revealing to all the people that this was the Son of God,
John new it from the beginning, and showed he recognized his inferiority to Jesus, but Jesus assured him that this was the will of God to be baptized by John in order for John to fulfill the will of God
Which was for John to preach His gospel and pave the way to lead Christ.
We closed chapter 3 with Jesus being baptized in the Jordan river by John, and the spirit of the Lord being revealed with him.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Jesus, was being lead by the spirit of God.
but notice it says here to be tempted of the devil,
Jesus was following the guidance of the spirit of God, but God still allowed Christ to be tested by the devil.
This is a very important note to pay attention to here, because
remember, Christ was God in the flesh.
Christ was sent here as God in the flesh to give us the perfect example to follow,
As man in the flesh, we constantly battle with trials and tribulations every day,
We read this recently on a Thursday study, but take a look at this verse here.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Exactly what we are seeing here with Christ.
God allows these temptations of the devil to take place in order to test and help grow our faith.
Jesus here is giving us an example to follow. Being lead by the spirit of God, through the temptations of the devil.
Make a note for a little homework assignment,
Hebrews Chapter 2, Read it, study it, its only 18 verses.
God gave man divine visions and knowledge and man still fell short.
And now we have Christ who set the perfect example for Mankind to follow.
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Were not going to focus too much on fasting right now, because in Matthew chapter 6, we are going to see Christ giving us example and instruction on fasting and how to fast, but
The practice of fasting during this time period mainly meant not eating.
Notice it says he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.
And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
After a ceremony with the elders at the time, God calls Moses to meet with him 1 on 1,
This is leading to the establishment of the 10 commandments and the covenant of the people of Israel to obey the laws of God given to them.
Moses waits there 40 days and 40 nights, to meet with God.
Now take a look at Numbers 14, 33-34
And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
This is the Israelite's being brought out of Egypt by God into the desert, and the majority of the people of Israel were questioning and doubting God’s plan.
Their were a select few that were trying to assure others to trust in God’s plan, but most were doubtful,
and notice again, 40 years, search the land and you shall know my promise.
Even Elijah’s 40 days on Mount Horeb in 1 Kings chapter 19.
The point is, looking back at Matthew verse 2 here what is a repetition we see even from the Old Testament?
40 days or 40 years right?
40 in biblical numeric representing, Trials, testing, probation period, leading to spiritual transformation and new beginnings.
That is what takes place throughout the Old testament examples, and that is what is starting here with Christ in his fast.
Those trials and tests leading to spiritual growth and transformation.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Remember who was the tempter? Satan
Jesus is fasting in the wilderness, we just saw he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and are now hungered.
I want to take a look at something.
This is Israel in the wilderness of the desert back in the old testament.
Remember, God is testing their obedience here.
And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
They are doubting the protection from God, that He will provide enough food for them.
This is what Satan is sort of referencing here against Christ,
“your the Son of God, if your so Hungary, why not turn these stones into bread”
Satan is spiritually trying to attack and tempt Christ into getting him to fall short in the very same way Israel did back in the Old Testament.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Jesus response to Satan’s temptation with scripture
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
“Manna is angels food, described like wild flaky grain that was soaked with honey” It is what God fed the Israelite's during their journey in the wilderness that they complained about.
Christ’s response to Satan was this very scripture right here.
God will provide our needs, most of all, don't worry about God’s plan, he will take care of his children, focus on following his commandments.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Holy city is a common term used for Jerusalem, and
pinnacle being the highest point of the temple
So Satan brings him up to the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem.
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Satan once again claiming to quote scripture when he says “for it is written” take a look here Christ’s response.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
This is referring to the Israelite's testing God in Exodus.
Satan, claiming to quote scripture that is false, but Jesus responding with true scripture, not acting out of emotions either, but using the word of God as his sword or his weapon against Satan.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Satan, trying to show Christ how the “glory of the kingdoms,”
and telling him he will give Jesus all these things if he would worship him.
Satan again trying to catch Christ slipping.
As we have studied before, Christ IS King of King’s and Lord of Lords.
These two verses here immediately made me think of one of Papa’s favorite verses to quote.
(Get Hank)
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Read this verse again.
Christ is within us, He has baptized our heart and soul with the Holy Spirit.
No kingdom on Earth could EVER compare to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Satan tried and tried to tempt Christ to fall to the corruption of sin, he even tried with something a 3 year old can understand.
The kingdom of man cant even compare to the kingdom of God,
and what even greater,
We saw it through Christs lineage and inheritance through adoption of Joseph,
Even through birthright, Christ is inherited the king of Jerusalem.
Satan was trying to bribe him with something he already had and was greater than.
So what was Jesus’s response?
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Christ’s response, rebuking Satan and again quoting scripture.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Exactly what Christ is doing here.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
We are going to see later in Mark and even later in Matthew, that Christ gives us the authority cast out devils in His name,
Christ being the example here in Matthew, He gives us the authority to cast away evil spirits.
Don’t let the devil and his army take the reigns on your life, stand with God and His word.
We are going to see in later on This word of God, IS our weapon, our sword against the principalities of darkness.
Use it, train with it, just like a weapon, study it, and learn how to use it.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Christ is quoting this here, swear by the name of God, and fear him out of respect, and serve Him and Him alone!
1st commandment,
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
God allows us to be tested and tempted by the devil in order to test and strengthen our faith in Christ, but by following Christ as our guide here, He gives us the power to cast away devils, those principalities of darkness, which takes us to the next verse in Matthew.
Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Jesus commanded him to leave and he did,
And where it says “angels came and ministered unto him”
This can mean that they assisted him spiritually, or that they sort of doctor him up.
I kind of read this as both,
Jesus just went through a 40 day and night fast, going through these trials and temptations of the devil,
He was eating just enough to survive so his body was most likely broken down and weak,
Also his spirit was just at battle also, constantly being tempted by the devil, even though YES he stood on the word of God,
Christ here went through these trials and tests that were both physically AND mentally, or spiritually exhausting,
The angels came to aid him in both ways.
Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
So here we hit our “shift” in the chapter,
Jesus is returning after this 40 day fast, battling trials and tribulations,
Some point here John has been arrested,
John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John was preaching to the multitudes of people back in the last chapter, but remember, Johns job from God was to pave the way for Christ.
Johns ministry is starting to die down but Christs ministry to the multitudes is just getting started.
And that's what John is talking about in
He must increase, but I must decrease.
and in Luke chapter 3, we are going to see that Christ was around 30 years old when this is taking place.
And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
Capernaum is a fishing village on the coast of the Sea of Galilee
This is northern Israel location today.
And again, it always helps to ground your faith by realizing that these places still exist today.
Capernaum is now a part of this big religious national park that is open to tourist right now.
and Zebulun and Naphtali were two Jewish tribes that were allotted land here in Galilee,
But remember, studying in the book of Daniel on Thursday’s,
The Persian empire
A lot of the Jews then were prosecuted and discriminated against during that time.
So the settlers that were here during Jesus’s time were mostly gentiles. (the non Jewish people) or were either descendants of Jews who resettled in this region.
Just for a little historical side of what and where this is taking place.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
remember Esaias is just the Greek translation for Isaiah,
So Jesus is here in Capernaum
and Matthew is narrating here, quoting the prophet Isaiah.
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Matthew is quoting Isaiah here in his narration of what is taking place in Jesus’s story.
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation,When at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,And afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea,Beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Again, divine prophecy being fulfilled, Isaiah was given the prophecy of this and the Messiah,
Matthew is documenting the prophecy coming to pass.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Take note of the beginning of this verse “From that time”
this is showing us that this was the initial start of the public ministry of Christ.
John walked so Christ could run basically, paving the way for His ministry to be great among the multitudes.
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
So there has been some time between verses 17 and 18 here,
Jesus’s has been preaching over the kingdom of heaven being at hand,
and Capernaum isn't a very big area, it’s estimated population during this time was around 1,000 to 1,500 settlers.
So these two Peter and Andrew probably new Jesus by this time and his sermon.
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Like we saw in verse 18, they were fishermen, drawing fish from the sea,
and Jesus calls them to Follow him , drawing in people now instead of fish.
being servants and disciples of Christ.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
These men, leaving behind the ways of the world to follow Christ.
Exactly the way we should be,
A couple Sunday’s ago, we learned about using our talents, which are gifts from God in order to perform our works unto Him, and use our gifts to also reflect the light of Christ onto others.
That is what we are seeing here with Peter and Andrew,
Pastor Arnold Murray makes the note,
They went from being fishermen to fishers of men.
Fishermen, following Christ and becoming Fishers of Men,
And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
Make note here, this is not John the Baptist, remember he has been locked up,
This is the Apostle John,
Two different men same name.
And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
Again, these men leaving away their fleshly works,
Being called by Christ and following his lead.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
So all throughout the land, Jesus is not only preaching THE Gospel,
He is proving it with his works, he has followers, they are going throughout the land teaching and witnessing to others, healing the sick, casting out wicked spirits, demons,
Christ is living the gospel as he teaches it.
And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
Multitudes of people from all over the lands were following him, why?
Because again, as he and his followers are preaching and teaching the word of God,
Christ is Living the words he speaks.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus Christ, the son of God,
God in the flesh,
IS THE LIVING WORD.
Conclusion,
Remember, Christ went through these temptations and trials in order to give mankind a perfect example to follow,
Parents often tell their children after they told them to do something “I’d never ask you to do something I would not be willing to do myself”
God in the beginning of this world age gave men signs, divine visions, spiritual guidance etc etc,
Man kept falling short, Mankind could not stay clear from the temptations of the devil and kept falling into the corruption of sin,
Even from Adam and eve in the garden.
So God sent his son Emmanuel which literally means ( God with us) To be that physical example to follow,
And Christ being our perfect example to follow,
He was being tested by the temptations of the devil, but what was his defense against Satan, the word of God, scripture,
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
In our spiritual armor, the word of God IS our sword of the spirit. Use IT.
It’s not for arguments, not for “proving our points”
Just like we have talked about before, using tools are fantastic, but there are a right and wrong way to use them.
Just like Christ here earlier in this chapter, he uses the word against Satan, against the principalities of darkness
Again.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
As we go through trials and tribulations like Christ does here, a lot of times we start getting worked up and start acting out of emotions and start snapping at others around us,
Christ again being our example here, this is why spiritual discernment is SO VERY important.
we have to pause and remember, we aren’t fighting one another here, we are fighting against the rulers of darkness of this world,
and by studying and understanding the word of God, we put on the WHOLE armor of God,
and use this scripture, this book, to do what Christ does, practice and prove your faith during temptations from the devil, and use the sword of the spirit, this book to rebuke those rulers of darkness and of this world.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;And lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him,And he shall direct thy paths.
Study, the word of God, don’t just read it.
Let Christ guide your life, not your own understanding,
and remember that EVERYTHING we do in life weather it be the most simplistic task, or the most in depth work you could imagine,
Do it with Christ as the center point,
God gave us the most perfect example to follow, literally this scripture walking and working on this Earth, exactly the way it was written even before he was born.
The secret to Life is written right here in these pages, all we have to do is take the time to read and study and understand and follow them.
Matthew Chapter 4 (The trials of Christ)
Matthew Chapter 4 (The trials of Christ)
