Matthew 4
I. \\#Matt 1:1-3:17\\ The Presentation of the King
A. \\#Matt 1:1-2:23\\ The Offering of the King
1. \\#1:1-17\\ The King is Offered to the Reader
2. \\#1:18-25\\ The King Is Offered to Joseph
3. \\#2:1-11\\ The King Is Offered to the World
4. \\#2:12-23\\ The King Is Offered to Herod
B. \\#Matt 3:1-17\\ The Announcement of the King
1. Announced by John
2. Announced by the Father
II. \\#4:1-7:29\\ The Person of the King — This King is different. Israel had
many kings—some godly, some not, some more powerful, some less; but
Israel had never had a King like this!
A. \\#4:1-4:29\\ Powerful but humble
1. \\#4:1-11\\ Powerful but humble before Satan.
2. \\#4:12-17\\ Powerful but humble before government.
3. \\#4:18-22\\ Powerful but humble in the selection of His
disciples.
4. \\#4:23-25\\ Powerful but humble in ministry.
B. \\#5:1-7:29\\ Wise and Godly
I. \\#4:1-4:29\\ Powerful but Humble
A. \\#4:1-11\\ Powerful but humble before Satan. Some word of explanation
may be necessary as to why I describe Jesus as humble before Satan. It is
because Jesus could have easily and justly vanquished him to the realm of
damnation, but He did not. Mankind is not the only one who must pay for
sin. This evil being has much to give account for and God could require
it at any time.
1. \\#1-2\\ The Background
Matt 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of
the devil.
a. \\#1\\ Jesus was lead "of the Spirit" - The Holy Spirit directed
our Lord. Although still God, Jesus was now limited in His
abilities to that of a man. Throughout His earthly ministry,
Jesus relied on the work of the Holy Spirit. He is an example
of how Christians ought to be likewise dependent upon and obedient
to the Holy Spirit.
b. "into the wilderness" - The wilderness is a place that has no
inhabitants. Some believe that Jesus was taken to the mountains
between Jerusalem and Jericho.
c. "to be tempted of the devil"
(1) The warfare between God and the devil was not to be avoided.
It began at the very onset of Christ’s ministry and continued
to the very end.
(2) Note that the Holy Spirit directed Jesus into this warfare.
The notion that God does not direct His children to problems
is not Scriptural. It is during these problems that the
metal of the saint is tested and the backbone is
strengthened.
d. \\#2\\ "when he had fasted forty days and forty nights" - In the
Bible, forty is often the number of preparation. Jesus prepared
for His great battle with Satan by fasting for forty days and
nights.
e. "he was afterward an hungred" - The spiritual preparation of Jesus
made Him physically weaker. Satan will attempt to exploit that
very weakness.
2. \\#3-10\\ The Battle
a. \\#3\\ "the tempter came to him" - Satan is not called by his name
but his function. Satan is the one who tempts.
b. \\#3-4\\ First Battle - Pride and Need
(1) "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread."
(a) Satan strikes at man’s pride. "IF You are God, this won’t
be a problem for You. Show me what You can do." Pride
is always a weak area for the MALE.
(b) At the same time, Satan strikes at man’s need. Jesus was
hungry and needed food to live, especially after a forty
day fast. One of the easiest ways to get a person to
fail is to tempt them with something they really need
and want.
(c) Do not expect Satan to show us mercy. He will always
make his attacks as tough as possible.
(d) Christians must grow strong enough to resist their own
pride and to control their own bodies.
(2) \\#4\\ Jesus’ response.
(a) Jesus ignores the temptation to His pride for it had no
effect on Him whatsoever.
(b) "It is written" - Jesus does not give opinions to Satan
but Scripture. Jesus quotes from \\#Deut 8:3\\.
(c) "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." - Jesus was
not interested in just feeding His body.
(d) Jesus’ answer reflected that man has greater needs than
for substantial, namely, His soul must feast on the
things of God.
(3) What was the sin here? Jesus had the power to turn the stones
into bread. What was wrong with using it?
(a) Jesus came to demonstrate man’s ability to rely on God
and man does not have the power to turn stones into
bread.
(b) Satan was attempting to get Jesus to take the "short
cuts" and the "easy way outs."
(c) If Jesus did this, He would be compromising God’s plan
and sinning.
(d) Jesus never used His power solely to benefit Himself.
c. \\#5-7\\ Second Battle - Pride and Religion
(1) \\#5\\ "holy city… pinnacle of the temple" - Satan takes
Jesus to the religious capital, Jerusalem, and sets Him upon
the religious centerpiece, the temple.
(2) \\#6\\ "If thou be the Son of God" - Satan again strikes at
man’s pride.
(3) At the same time, Satan hits upon one of man’s greatest
sources of pride, his religion.
(a) To set the stage for this battle, Satan takes Jesus to
the religious capital (Jerusalem), sets Him on the top
of the most religious building (the temple), and tempts
Him from the most religious Book (the Bible).
(b) Everything concerning this temptation is as religious as
possible.
(4) "for it is written"
(a) Satan quotes \\#Psalm 91:11-12\\. Since this is a
religious temptation, it would have to be based on
something religious, and nothing fits that description
better than the Bible.
(b) Satan’s plan was to get Jesus to do something prideful
and reckless as He defended the Bible or the Jewish
religion.
(5) \\#7\\ "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God."
(a) Jesus again quotes from Scripture. \\#Deut 6:16\\
(b) Jesus saw Satan’s plan and refused to do anything that
would test or tempt God.
i. In this context, to test or tempt God would mean to
force God to do something.
ii. As much as a Christian might like to have power with
God like some have had, attempting to force God to
do anything, especially by public or rash behavior,
is always wrong.
(c) From Jesus’ response, we should see that God has no
desire to prove Himself.
i. That being the case, we should not attempt to devise
schemes to force Him to do so.
ii. The Christian’s purpose is to pray, seeking to serve
God; to preach, seeking to manifest God; and then to
let God manifest Himself to others as He sees fit.
d. \\#8-10\\ Third Battle - Purpose
(1) Since striking at Jesus’ pride had not worked, Satan omitted
that aspect in this temptation. This demonstrates to us that
Satan uses the things that WORK on his victims. When we show
him a weak area in our amour, he will continually attack
at that position.
(2) \\#8\\ "an exceeding high mountain" - No specific location is
given.
(3) "sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of
them" - Satan shows Jesus his possession. When Adam and Eve
fell, they lost possession of the world that God had given
them. These were Satan’s trophies.
(4) \\#9\\ "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall
down and worship me" - Satan knew that Jesus had come to
reclaim what Adam and Eve lost in the fall. His temptation
was to offer Jesus what was lost as a prize for doing wrong.
(5) Satan was offering Jesus a short-cut, the means of getting
what He wanted without the cross.
(6) However, some things should be noted.
(a) Satan did not own the souls of mankind. God never gave
those to Adam and Eve and so Satan never inherited them.
Eze 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine….
(b) Even if Satan did possess man’s souls, their purchase
price was not worship to him or anyone else. God has
set the price of the soul at death.
(c) \\#10\\ "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him
only shalt thou serve" - And even if Satan possessed
the souls of mankind and could sell them for worship,
Jesus would not have paid it; for to do so would have
been sinful.
(7) In Jesus’ answer, we see…
(a) "It is written" - Jesus continues to base His actions on
the Word of God, not opinions.
(b) "Get the hence" - When Jesus commanded Satan to depart,
he obeyed. Here is the humility of Jesus in that He
allowed Satan to tempt Him and did not command him into
hell itself.
3. \\#11\\ The conclusion
(a) "Then the devil leaveth him" - Satan’s reprieve was temporary.
No doubt, he was back, hard at work, before very long.
(b) "angels came and ministered unto him" - The angels continue
their ministry to and for Jesus, although this will be the
last reference the Scripture makes to them for a time.
B. \\#4:12-17\\ Powerful but humble before government.
1. \\#12\\ "when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison"
(a) Matthew does give us more information on John’s imprisonment, but
not until later in his writing. \\#Matt 14:1-12\\
(1) There we learn why John was arrested.
Matt 14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,
2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the
dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for
Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife.
4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they
counted him as a prophet.
(2) \\#Matt 14:6-12\\ tells of John’s beheading and his burial.
(b) In \\#Matt 11:7-15\\, Jesus pays tribute to John and tells how
John was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
(c) While a few more details of Jesus tribute to John are revealed in
the other gospel accounts, all the texts show a humble response
on Jesus’ part.
(1) The one who killed John is Herod the Great’s son.
i. Herod the Great reigned when Jesus was born and killed
all the babies around Bethlehem.
ii. When Joseph heard that this Herod reigned instead of his
father, he was hesitant to return to south Israel and
went to Nazareth instead.
(2) Jesus, God’s Son, could have spoken the words to kill Herod
with a bitter death and a given him an even more horrible
eternity, but outside of calling him a "fox"
\\#Luke 13:32\\, He did not.
2. Yet Jesus did do something.
Matt 4:12 Now when… he departed into Galilee;
(a) Jesus began His own ministry in earnest when John was arrested.
(1) Whether these two events were linked or not is hard to say,
but the text makes it appear as if they were.
(2) John was to prepare the way for Messiah to come. Now that
the main thrust of John’s ministry is over, Jesus steps into
His.
(b) \\#13-16\\ Jesus left where He was and moved into Galilee, the
main arena for His ministry.
(1) \\#12\\ Galilee is in north Israel around the Sea of
Galilee.
i. The area of Galilee is to the south, west, and north of
the Sea of Galilee.
ii. This fulfilled a prophecy given in \\#Is 9:1-2\\.
aa. The "light" that sprang up was Jesus.
bb. Jesus gave the light of salvation to all that heard
and saw Him.
iii. It is interesting that this prophecy of Jesus
ministering in this area specifically says that Jesus
will minister in Galilee of the Gentiles.
aa. Galilee is divided into upper and lower Galilee.
bb. Upper Galilee includes up to Tyre and Zidon.
cc. Jesus did make His way all the way up this region
once in His ministry \\#Matt 15:21-28\\
dd. It would appear that the Gentiles were never far
from the mind of God.
(2) \\#13\\ Capernaum will be Jesus headquarters in Galilee.
(c) \\#17\\ Jesus took up the message that John the Baptist had
preached.
(1) "Repent"
(2) "the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
C. \\#4:18-22\\ Powerful but humble in the selection of His disciples.
1. \\#18-20\\ Simon Peter and Andrew
(a) \\#18\\ "Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee" - There were
several port cities long the Sea of Galilee where Jesus settled.
(b) Peter and Andrew…
(1) …were brothers.
(2) …were fishermen.
(3) …were working.
(c) This was not the first time Jesus had meet these men.
(1) \\#John 1:37-42\\ tells us that there was at least one other
time—maybe several others.
(2) We need to remind ourselves that the gospels are not complete
and the accounts are not always in chronological order.
(d) \\#19\\ "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" - Jesus
calls them into His service.
(e) "they straightway left their nets" - They immediately followed.
2. \\#21-22\\ James and John, sons of Zebedee
(a) \\#21\\ These men were also brothers, fishermen, and at work
mending their nets.
(b) "they immediately left the ship and their father" - They likewise
followed Jesus.
3. We know that these men will become powerful witness for our Lord;
however, their beginnings were very humble. Jesus could have selected
better—at least my the world’s standards.
D. \\#4:23-25\\ Powerful but humble in ministry.
1. \\#23\\ Galilee
(a) "And Jesus went about all Galilee" - The center of Jesus’ ministry
was in Galilee.
(b) His ministry was "teaching…preaching…healing."
(c) Some doubt that Jesus actually performed miracles. The question
the doubters need to answer is, "If Jesus did not have miraculous
power, how did He attract so many?"
2. \\#24\\ Syria
(a) Jesus fame soon spread beyond his immediate area. Syria was
generally north of Galilee, but runs up to Assyria.
(b) "and they brought unto him sick…diseases and torments…
possessed with devils… lunatick… palsy" - As people came to
Jesus, they brought their needy people to Him.
(c) Another question the doubters must answer is, "If Jesus could not
heal, what did Jesus do with the multitudes of sick that were
brought to Him?"
3. \\#25\\ "Galilee… Decapolis… Jerusalem… Judaea… beyond Jordan"
Word of Jesus not only spread to the north but in all directions.
4. Jesus’ power not only lay in the miracles that He could perform but in
His popularity with the people. With such popularity, a carnal man
might have easily become a military power, but not Jesus. His
humility is seem in that He was content to serve God and the people.
<Outline
Index> <Close Window>
