THE TEMPTATIONS
Matthew 4:1-111Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But 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. 5Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6And 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. 7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10Then 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. 11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. (Matthew 4:1‑11). In the Lord sealed with the Spirit, we see the One who is Jehovah’s delight, as before in His baptism, we see His delight is with the sons of men (Prov. 8:30,3130Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:30‑31)). He is “the Second Man, out of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:4747The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47), New Trans). If so, He must be tested to see if He can overcome the enemy of our souls. The first man was tested in the garden of Eden, where in his circumstances, he had everything to help him. The second Man is led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he had nothing to help Him, there to be tried on every point wherein man had failed.
When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered; then the devil, the tempter, came to Him and said, “If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” Was He not hungry? And there was nothing wrong in making bread, and He had the power to do it. But Jesus had taken a servant’s place, a dependent man’s place, and He had no order from His Father. His Father’s will must be best. He has no question about that, such as our poor sinful hearts would raise. He is perfect, no sin in Him. He could not fail, though He felt it. All depended on His victory. He won it by obedience, a man that kept His place in dependence on God.
“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” (Deut. 8:33And 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. (Deuteronomy 8:3)). This is what Israel failed in. Israel’s history begins afresh with the Lord. He would not exercise His own will. He did the Father’s will alone. His physical wants could not give Him a motive for action. His living, as men say, was not His object in this world. What a lesson for us!
The second temptation is on the ground of privilege. Will God be as good as His word? It is this time on the pinnacle of the temple in the Holy City that the devil says to 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,” as if he said, See if God will keep His word. Jesus, ever perfect, answers “Thou shalt not tempt (or try) the Lord thy God,” It is written in Deuteronomy 6:1616Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16). (For the meaning of “tempt” see Ex. 17:77And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not? (Exodus 17:7).) His confidence in His Father is perfect. He does not need to try Him. He knows and trusts God implicitly. The pattern for us all.
These two temptations were wiles of the devil. In the next, Satan the adversary is plainly seen. The devil takes Him up into an exceeding high mountain and shows 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.” This is plainly against God. Jesus ever true to God the Father, will accept nothing from Satan. He will wait the Father’s time and go through all the needful suffering. He at once answers. “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord Thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Deut. 6:1313Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. (Deuteronomy 6:13)). Satan is foiled and driven from Him.
Here is an important lesson for us all: Satan promises a man that he will get on in the world, and get rich faster, if he will only take His way. How many young people, both men and women fall into this trap, because they did not put God first in their hearts. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
The Lord quoted the Scriptures, all from one book; the book given to Israel, with instructions to dwell in their land; one of the five books of Moses that higher critics (so-called) have set aside. The Son of God confirmed them as the word of God, out of God’s mouth, but these wolves in sheep’s clothing set aside the Lord, also to their eternal destruction.
Perfect Master, make us more like Thee.
Now the trial is over; the devil leaveth Him and angels came and ministered unto Him. A picture of the Father’s care over us also (Heb. 1:1414Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)).
Matthew 4:12-1712Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:12‑17). Having heard of John being in prison, Jesus leaves Judea and goes into Galilee. It was on this journey He passed through Samaria (John 4). The sphere of His ministry is Galilee, fulfilling Isaiah 9:1, 21Nevertheless 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. 2The 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. (Isaiah 9:1‑2). If the Romans held them in captivity, yet their King that could deliver them was there; He was the great and true light of the land.
But His people are in such a condition, blessing can only come to them on the ground of repentance. He announces this, and that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:18-2218And 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. 19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21And 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. 22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. (Matthew 4:18‑22). Simon Peter, and Andrew his brother, at His call, straightway leave their nets and follow Him to become fishers of men. James and John also leave the ship, and their father, and follow Him; companions of Jesus during His ministry, and called to share His rejection and His glory.