DAY #4: January 4, 2009 - Matthew 4:1-22

After being baptized, Jesus was led immediately by the Spirit of God into the desert for a period of testing. This period of time was a necessary period under God’s direction—a time in which the Son obeyed (Hebrews 5:8). After fasting 40 days, when the Lord was hungry, the tests began. From God’s standpoint the tests demonstrated the quality of the Lord. It was impossible for the divine Son to sin, and that fact actually heightened the tests. He could not give in to the tests and sin, but He had to endure until the tests were completed.

The first test pertained to the matter of sonship. Satan assumed that if He were the Son, perhaps He could be persuaded to act independently of the Father. Satan’s test was subtle for since He is the Son of God, He has the power to turn the stones all around Him into bread. But that was not the will of His Father for Him. The Father’s will was for Him to be hungry in the desert with no food. To submit to Satan’s suggestion and satisfy His hunger would have been contrary to God’s will. Jesus therefore quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, which affirms that man does not live on bread alone, but by God’s Word. It is better to obey God’s Word than to satisfy human desires. The fact that Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy showed that He recognized the inerrant authority of that book, one often criticized by scholars.

The second test by Satan appealed to personal display or popularity. This test built on the first, for if He is the Son of God and the Messiah, nothing could harm Him. Satan took Him to... the highest point of the temple. Whether this was actual or simply a vision cannot be determined dogmatically. Here Satan made a subtle suggestion to Jesus as the Messiah. In effect he was reminding Jesus of Malachi’s prophecy (Malachi 3:1), which had led to a common belief among the Jews that Messiah would suddenly appear in the sky, coming down to His temple. Satan was saying, in essence, “Why don’t You do what the people are expecting and make some marvelous display?

After all, the Scripture says His angels will protect You and You won’t even hurt a foot as You come down.” Satan may have thought if Jesus could quote Scripture to him, he could quote it too. However, Satan purposely did not quote Psalm 91:11-12 accurately. He left out an important phrase, “in all Your ways.” According to the psalmist, a person is protected only when he is following the Lord’s will. For Jesus to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple in some dramatic display to accommodate Himself to the people’s thinking would not have been God’s will. Jesus responded, again from Deuteronomy (6:16), that it would not be proper to test... God and expect Him to do something when one is out of His will.

Satan’s final test related to God’s plan for Jesus. It was and is God’s design that Jesus Christ rule the world. Satan showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world with all their splendor. These kingdoms presently are Satan’s, as he is “the god of this Age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; cf. Ephesians 2:2). He had the power to give all these kingdoms to Jesus at that time—if only Jesus would bow down and worship him.

Satan was saying, “I can accomplish the will of God for You and You can have the kingdoms of this world right now.” This of course would have meant Jesus would never have gone to the cross. He supposedly could have been the King of kings without the cross. However, this would have thwarted God’s plan for salvation and would have meant Jesus was worshiping an inferior. His response, once again from Deuteronomy (6:13 and 10:20), was that God alone should be worshiped and served. Jesus resisted this temptation also.

Interestingly Satan’s temptations of Eve in the Garden of Eden correspond to those of Jesus in the desert. Satan appealed to the physical appetite (Genesis 3:1-3; Matthew 4:3), the desire for personal gain (Genesis 3:4-5; Matthew 4:6), and an easy path to power or glory (Genesis 3:5-6; Matthew 4:8-9). And in each case Satan altered God’s Word (Genesis 3:4; Matthew 4:6).

Satan’s temptations of people today often fall into the same three categories (1 John 2:16). The One who had identified Himself with sinners by baptism and who would provide righteousness proved He is righteous, and revealed His approval by the Father. Satan then left Jesus. At that moment God sent angels to minister to His needs.

Finally, Matthew presented an important time factor in his account when he noted Jesus did not officially begin His public ministry until John the Baptist had been put in prison. The reason for John’s imprisonment was not presented here, but it was stated later (Matthew 14:3-5). When Jesus learned of John’s imprisonment, He went from Nazareth and settled in Capernaum. Once there, Jesus began to preach. His words had a familiar ring: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. The twofold message of John was now proclaimed by the Messiah. The work of God was rapidly moving toward the establishing of the kingdom of God on earth. If one wanted to be a part of the kingdom, he must repent. Repentance was mandatory if fellowship with God was to be enjoyed.

Since Jesus is the promised Messiah, He had the right to call men from their normal pursuits of life to follow Him. This was not the first time these men had met Jesus. The Gospel of John relates Jesus’ first meeting with some of the disciples (John 1:35-42). Jesus now called these fishermen to leave their profession behind and to begin following Him permanently. He would take them from fishing for fish and make them fishers of men. The message of the coming kingdom needed to be proclaimed widely so that many could hear and could become, by repentance, subjects of His kingdom. The calling carried with it a cost, for it involved leaving not only one’s profession but also one’s family responsibilities. Matthew noted that James and John... left not only their fishing, but also their father to begin following Jesus.


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read?)

Wow, this passage is ripe with so much truth I can apply. What stands out the most? #1 - How Jesus was tempted and how he withstood the temptation. Without a doubt, we are tempted today the same way. I am reminded of 1 John 2:15-17 (NIV).

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

Lord, it seems I have many spiritual disciplines down cold. Yet I struggle with my weight. I struggle with the personal discipline to exercise regularly and eat nutritious. Lord, how can I ask our people to read the Word everyday and strive to attain that discipline and be such a poor example with my excess weight? I need your strength and power here Lord. Help me put my hide on the wall and go for it - again. (lose weight)

Lord, I claim your promise in Ephesians 3:20 (NCV) "With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine." For Your glory and your honor.

The second thing that stands out here is the type of preaching that Jesus did. He preached it. He called people to repent. He called people to a different life. He called people to obey the scriptures. He called people to a new and better life.

Lord, you know my heart. Sometimes I feel like the only one left these days in our valley to preach it. So many have gone to a method of watering down Your truth and words to draw a big crowd or build a big church. Lord, you know the pull on my heart, at times, to do the same. Lord, give me the courage to preach Your words, week after week, Your way. Draw people here. Change hearts and lives. Change families.

PRAYER

Lord, wake families up this morning. Speak to the hearts of mothers and fathers to get out of bed and be in worship. Lord, draw new people here today to hear your word and give them a heart to accept you into their lives. Lord, this is Your church. However I can serve and however I can lead better, show me. I empty myself for Your use today. Lord, give us a powerful morning.

"However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NIV)