Matthew 4

Study Guide 82: Matthew 3-4 JESUS’ PREPARATION Overview Matthew’ s Gospel skips over Jesus’ childhood and adolescence. From the birth story it moves directly to introduce Jesus’ ministry. But Matthew gives two chapters to the theme of preparation. The first preparation theme focuses on the preparation of the Jewish people for Jesus. Matthew 3:1-17 reports the preaching of John the Baptist, who announced the approach of the Messiah, and who baptized with water those who wished to publicly repent. Matthew 4:1-25 tells of the personal preparation of Jesus. Our Lord overcame three temptations, demonstrating His sinlessness and His complete commitment to God. With His humanity and His obedience both established, Jesus is seen to be qualified to teach others how to live in intimate union with God. REPENTANCE. Both John and Jesus called on people to “ repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17). “ Repent” (in Greek, metanoia) means to change one’ s mind and attitude. It is a decision which changes the total direction of one’ s life. BAPTISM. The word is an intensive form of the Greek bapto, and means “ to immerse.” In the New Testament it is a technical theological term with different meanings (see Matthew 3:11). This unit looks at “ John’ s baptism.” For a discussion of the others see my Expository Dictionary of Bible Words (Zondervan).

Commentary In a.d. 28 one of the Old Testament prophets returned. It had been nearly 400 years, and God had been silent. Malachi, the last of those Old Testament greats, closed his book with a promise — and a warning. “ Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. And He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6, KJV). Thus, the Jews had been guided to turn their eyes ahead, and look for the day of Messiah’ s coming. They were promised a forerunner, someone to warn them and turn their hearts back to God’ s ways. Implicit in Malachi’ s words was a choice. Unless the hearts of God’ s people were turned, the Messiah’ s coming would not bring Israel the expected blessing, but would bring a curse. Later Jesus would tell crowds that John, then executed by Herod (a son of Herod the great), was the greatest of all the prophets and was, in fact, a messenger sent to prepare Messiah’ s way. And Jesus added these words: “ If you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come” (Matthew 11:14). Israel did not accept John’ s Elijah-ministry. Their hearts would not turn. The golden opportunity slipped by. The Messiah’ s body came to fit a wooden cross rather than an ivory throne, and Israel was destined to know another 2,000 years of scattering, of ghettos, of pogroms, of unrealized hopes. History would now pivot to focus on the second coming of Messiah. The fulfillment of Malachi’ s words would await another Elijah.

John: Matthew 3:1-12John’ s background. Luke 1:1-80 tells us about John’ s birth. He was born into a priestly family. His father, Zechariah, was one of the many politically unimportant men who served the temple two weeks a year, and lived the rest of the time at his own farm in the countryside. Probably John was trained for the priestly ministry as well. The privilege was passed on from father to son, reserved by Old Testament Law for the descendants of Aaron. Perhaps John, like Habakkuk, was shaken by the ritualism and emptiness of the religion of his day. We do know that from birth John was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, as an adult, John left home to live in the wilderness. He ate wild honey and protein-rich locusts, and wore a scratchy shirt made of camel’ s hair. When the time was right, John began to preach beside the Jordan River. John’ s ministry. John’ s stern and bold preaching echoed the messages of earlier prophets. They too had condemned sin and called God’ s people back to the way of holiness outlined in Old Testament Law. But there were differences. The content of John’ s message was not really new. Luke 3:10-14 gives specific content: to each group or individual who came for guidance, John’ s prescription was a return to the righteousness and the love expressed in God’ s Law. But several things about John’ s preaching were new. There was its sense of urgency. “ Hurry,” John urged the crowds who came out to hear him, or simply to gaze at the spectacle. “ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2). John focused the attention of his listeners not on some distant future, but on the immediate situation. Another new focus in John’ s ministry was on the personal responsibility of the individual for his own actions. There had always been a thread of teaching on personal responsibility in the prophets’ messages. But now John warned against any hope anchored in relationship to Abraham. “ Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘ We have Abraham as our father’” (Matthew 3:9), he cried, and then urged each individual to repent and to show by his changed life his inner, personal commitment to God. The third new element was baptism, as a sign and symbol of repentance. Baptism had been known in Judaism before. But John transformed baptism, giving it fresh moral and eschatological significance. One who was baptized by John confessed his sins, identified himself with the renewal of the kingdom under the coming Messiah, and committed himself to live a holy life. There was a final unique aspect to John’ s preaching. John recognized himself as the forerunner, sent to prepare the Messiah’ s way. Seven times the New Testament records John’ s announcement that the One to follow him will be greater than he (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; John 1:27, John 1:29-30; Acts 13:25). The warning — and the invitation — were both given. And the crowds came. They listened. Many were baptized. Many, particularly those of the religious elite who were quick to put themselves in the forefront of any popular movement, could see no harm in the rite. But they were withered by John’ s angry denunciation of them as a “ brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7). Soon everyone in the tiny land of Palestine had heard of God’ s firebrand in the desert. They gossiped excitedly about whether he might be the Messiah, and they waited to see what would come next! LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Tape record a dramatic reading of John’ s preaching and his interaction with the crowds as found in Luke 3:7-18. Open your group session by playing it, and explaining the “ new” elements in John’ s preaching. If you wish, work together to develop a different tape, expressing what John might say if he were to preach to our generation.

Jesus’ Baptism: Matthew 3:13-17“ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John” (Matthew 3:13). Here a fascinating confrontation took place. John objected! It would more appropriate for Jesus to baptize John; John was sure that Jesus did not need his repentance-oriented rite. It is tempting here to think that John recognized Jesus as the Messiah. But the Bible tells us that the day after the baptism John pointed out Jesus as the Messiah to two of his followers, and said, “ I would not have known Him, except that the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘ The Man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). All the four Gospels agree that John saw the Holy Spirit in dove form descend on Jesus when our Lord came up from the water after baptism. Clearly then, John did not object to Jesus’ baptism on the grounds of His messiahship. The mystery may be resolved when we realize that John and Jesus were probably related. Their mothers were very close (cf. Luke 1:36-45). Probably the two young men, both now about 30, had spent much time together, meeting each year as their families came to the three annual feasts in Jerusalem at which all males over 12 were to appear. And they must have exchanged visits during the rest of the year, as relatives and friends do everywhere. No, John’ s objection to baptizing Jesus may have been based on a simple fact: John knew that Jesus had no need to repent! John knew that Jesus’ life was in fullest harmony with the laws and the ways of God — in fuller harmony even than his own! Jesus overcame John’ s objection. It is only right, Christ pointed out, to identify oneself with right things (Matthew 3:15). Entering the water with John, Jesus was baptized, thus identifying Himself fully with John’ s message as well as with the men and women who flocked to receive that baptism because they did need it so badly. The baptism of Jesus launched His public ministry. But it did even more than that. It demonstrated how fully Christ as a Man identified Himself with humanity. One of the central doctrines of the Christian faith is that of Incarnation. Isaiah had foretold it: “ A virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, KJV). The name, giving it the emphasis of its Hebrew form, means “With us is God!” God, in the person of the Child of promise, would fully identify Himself as a human being. In every way this promised individual would be God, yet would be God with us. Both Matthew and Luke report the birth of Jesus and explain how Mary, before her marriage to Joseph was consummated, miraculously conceived through the direct intervention of God. The Child was in a totally unique sense the Son of God — God Himself, come to enter the race of man in the only way in which He could become truly human. Jesus is fully identified with us in our humanity. He is God, and He is Man. Hebrews 2:1-18 points out that it was fitting for Jesus to be like us in every way, including His subjection to human weaknesses and His susceptibility to suffering. “ Since the children have flesh and blood,” the writer explained, “ He [Jesus] too shared in their humanity” (Hebrews 2:14). Dying, Jesus could then deliver us from our lifelong slavery. God’ s concern for humanity drove Jesus to “ be made like His brothers in every way” (Hebrews 2:17) and, becoming a faithful High Priest, He offered Himself as the expiation for our sins. The writer to the Hebrews concluded, “ Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He was able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). The full humanity of Jesus is a basic teaching of our Bible. It was necessary for Jesus to be truly human for Him to become our sacrifice. It was necessary for Jesus to be truly human for Him not only to free us from lifelong bondage, but also to aid us in our own temptations and sufferings. No wonder John, meeting his relative Jesus on the Jordan riverbank, protested against baptizing Him. John recognized Jesus as a good and righteous Man. Jesus Christ, as a Person, was so completely identified with humanity, that even one most impressed with His spiritual qualities never dreamed He was the Son of God! There is a lesson here for each of us. What do we look for when we are seeking evidence of God’ s work in our lives, or in another’ s? Some startling, miraculous sign? Something that sets the person apart from all other men? Or are we looking for a work of God within: a work of God that produces the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control which God values so highly (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). Are we looking for a person who is different, or for a person who demonstrates the very best of what humanity can be? How strikingly our Lord’ s experience with John points it out. The spiritual person is, in fact, the most humane, and human of us all! Then, once the voice of God had spoken from heaven, “ This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), John realized the obvious. Of course Jesus is the Messiah! Of course this most perfect Man had to be the promised Redeemer. The virgin had brought forth a Son, a Son who was the “ with us” God. God had identified Himself in every way with humanity. God had come at last, to free us and lift us up to share His throne. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT There have been several theories advanced to explain Jesus’ baptism. List each, and ask your group to read Matthew 3:13-17 and determine which best seems to fit the facts. After they have discussed, you can introduce the perspective shared in the commentary above, if the group has not seen it. The theories: (a) Jesus was seeking forgiveness. (b) Jesus was dedicating Himself to His mission. (c) Jesus was entering the priestly office. (d) Jesus at this point became God’ s Son, when the Spirit anointed Him. (e) Jesus was identifying Himself with John’ s message and his movement. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Ask your boys and girls: “ How do your parents show they are pleased with you?” (Make a list of the ways they suggest.) Then ask: “ What do you do that pleases your mom and dad most?” (Again make a list.) Then read or tell the story of Jesus’ baptism, and the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove, while God said aloud how pleased He was with Jesus. Explain that God sent His Son to be our Saviour, and Jesus was willing to obey His Father. Young children can trace and color a dove form cut from cardboard. Print “ I love Jesus too” to help them remember God’ s approval of His Son for His readiness to become our Saviour.

The Temptation: Matthew 4:1-11If the baptism of Jesus impresses us with the complete identification of the Saviour with us in our humanity, His temptation stretches our minds to grasp the depths to which Jesus stooped. In theology, Jesus’ self-humbling is called the kenosis: the emptying. Paul develops it briefly in Phi 2:1-30, speaking there of Jesus “ who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!” (Phi 2:6-8) Simply stated, the Bible affirms that when Jesus entered our world He set aside the power and the privileges of Deity. He consciously limited Himself to live here as a man. Even the miracles Jesus would later perform would be attributed by Him to the power of the Spirit (see Mark 3:22-30). The emptying process Paul described is one of progressive humiliation. Jesus . . . emptied Himself was born in man’ s likeness was obedient even when it meant death accepted even the shameful death of an outcast criminal! Tempted as a man. When we read about the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-25, we have to read the story against the background of the kenosis. When a physically weakened Jesus, after 40 days of fasting in the desert, was tempted by Satan, He did not seek strength from His divine nature to resist! The very first words of Jesus in response to Satan’ s initial temptation sets the tone. “ If You are the Son of God,” Satan challenged, “ tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered with a quote from Deuteronomy: “ Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:2-4). Note the first word. “Man does not live by bread alone!” Addressed as the Son of God, Jesus affirmed His intention to live on our earth as a human being. Subject, as you and I are, to the hungers and drives and needs which throb within us and seek to pull us into sin, Jesus met every one of Satan’ s temptations. Rejecting the privilege that was His by virtue of His deity, Jesus cast His lot fully with you and with me. It is because of this great act of self-emptying that you and I can find hope. Jesus overcame temptation — as a human being! Because Jesus met temptation in His human nature, you and I can find victory too, by meeting our temptations as He met His! The three temptations. There are three temptations recorded in Matthew, as there are in Luke. But the order differs between the two Gospels. Each writer reported the experience of Jesus with a view to highlighting the culminating test from his own perspective. Luke, whose focus is on Jesus as a warm and real human being, saw the temptation to throw Himself down from the temple pinnacle (and so prove the Father was with Him) as the culminating test. We all have times when we feel deserted by God; when things have gone wrong and we doubt His continued concern for us. As the Old Testament passages quoted by Jesus stress, the issue in this temptation was that of putting God to the test, to see “ is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7) But Matthew saw this temptation as less significant for Jesus than the vision Satan spread before Christ of all the kingdoms of the world. “ All this I will give You,” the tempter enticed, “ if You will bow down and worship me.” The Man born to be King was shown the kingdoms that would be His, and was reminded that they could become His now. All the suffering would be avoided — all the anguish, all the rejection, all the pain of a death in which the weight of the world’ s sins would bear down on the sinless One. And again Jesus chose. “ It is written: ‘ Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only’” (Matthew 4:10). Complete commitment to the will of God was Jesus’ pathway to the throne. There could be no shortcuts. There could be no other way. Before Jesus could rule, He had to learn by experience the fullest meaning of submission to the Father’ s will. The crown lay beyond the Cross. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT A helpful study can be made of the temptations. Put on the chalkboard a three-column chart. Label the first column “ source.” In each temptation, what seems to have been the particular human vulnerability which Satan attacked? (For instance, the challenge to make bread was a temptation because Jesus was hungry: it was directed against His physical nature and needs.) Label the second column, “ victory principle.” Jesus in each case returned to the Old Testament to select a biblical principle to act on. (For instance, “ Man shall not live on bread alone” teaches that we are not to let the physical dominate, for as spiritual beings we are attuned to God, and can choose to live by His Word.) Label the third column “ additional temptations.” Brainstorm with your group to list the kinds of things that tempt human beings that flow from each of the three sources you identify. For a more detailed discussion of each temptation, see study guide on Luke 4:1-44. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Draw a face on poster board. Cut out holes where the eyes would be. On a strip of paper make two black round dots to represent the pupils of one’ s eyes. In class show the face, and manipulate the eyes so the person seems to be looking furtively to each side. Tell your children that this boy (or girl) is about to do something he knows is wrong, and is looking to see if anyone is watching. Ask them to guess what he is about to do. Make a list of their guesses. These will suggest some of the things that may be temptations to your boys and girls. Talk about why children and grown-ups too sometimes want to do things they know are wrong. Tell the story of Jesus and how He remembered God’ s Word, and chose to do what is right. Return to your face, and make the eyes look up. When we are tempted to do something wrong, we can remember that God will help us, and make the right choice as Jesus did. As a project, let each child copy your face, and draw the eyes looking up as a reminder to look to God’ s Word for help to obey Him when he or she is tempted.

Lessons for Living Matthew 4:1-25 concludes with a brief sketch of Jesus as He launched His public ministry. Jesus took up John’ s theme and preached that the kingdom was near at hand (Matthew 4:17). He chose disciples (Matthew 4:18-22). He went about Galilee teaching in the synagogues and healing (Matthew 4:23-24). Soon the crowds that had followed John swirled around our Lord. But Matthew gives us only the briefest sketch of these events. He does not seem concerned here with the public ministry. All the hurry, all the excitement, all the converging of the crowd eager to see miracles and hear the Man who spoke of God with such authority, seem unimportant compared to two initial portraits of the King. First there is the picture of Jesus submitting to John’ s baptism, identifying Himself fully with humanity. And then comes the picture of an emptied Jesus — suffering, tested, opening Himself to the full force of temptation in His vulnerability as a human being. What is the meaning of this emphasis for us? We see at least four lessons immediately brought home. (1) Jesus truly was determined to be a servant. The Incarnation did not mean that Jesus stopped being God, but that He had freely set aside His rights as Deity. The outward exercise of power and glory was not essential to Jesus’ majesty. In choosing to empty and to humble Himself, Jesus displayed God’ s pathway to dominion. How different from our way. When Cathy and Earl met and fell in love, she determined to become the center of his world. Gradually, she shut out his old friends. After they were engaged she became even more adept in manipulating him to keep him for herself. Cathy took Herod’ s route in search of power. Manipulating, selfish, she always was trying to control. Cathy wanted to fill the throne of Earl’ s life. She wanted to be queen — but a commanding and not a servant queen. How different with Jesus. Whatever dominion may involve, and whatever it means for us to reign, our destiny is not to be found in selfishness, but in self-emptying. (2) Jesus’ full identification with us in our humanity offers hope. If Jesus had overcome the tempter in His nature as God, we could hardly expect to overcome. We are not divine. But Jesus met Satan’ s tests as a human. So we can dare to trust that our dominion destiny includes power to overcome! Ted, a young man, feels helpless. He sees himself as trapped, overwhelmed by a life that is out of control. Yet seeing Jesus become vulnerable — and victorious! — can change Ted’ s outlook. “ Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). In Jesus the human, you and I realize that we may be vulnerable, but we do have hope. (3) Jesus’ response to the tempter spotlights resources that you and I can draw on to overcome. In each case, Jesus went back to the Word of God and found a principle by which He chose to live. This is important. It is not simply “ the Word” that is our resource. It is the commitment to live by the Word. It is resting the full weight of our confidence on what God says, and choosing in each situation to do that which is in harmony with His revealed will. This same resource which Jesus used to overcome is our resource too. But we must use Scripture Jesus’ way. (4) Jesus is portrayed in Matthew 3:1-17 and Matthew 4:1-25 as a Person in full control — of Himself! In fact, we might even view this as the central message of these chapters. Jesus demonstrated His right to reign over us by proving that He had authority over the worst of man’ s enemies — Himself. Certainly Israel had known in Herod a king who had absolute power over others, but was powerless to control his own hatred and fears. Since then, in our Napoleons and our Hitlers and Stalins, we’ ve seen again and again that enslaving others brings the ruler no freedom within. Yet it is exactly here that our dominion rule as kings under the King of kings must begin. We must gain power over ourselves: power to humble ourselves, power to submit to God, power to give up our rights, power to obey. Jesus demonstrated just this kind of authority. In His humanity, Jesus was exalted above the greatest men our world has ever known. Jesus alone fully controlled the world within. No wonder Matthew wants us to grasp this truth. Jesus has overcome! He is worthy to be proclaimed King.

Teaching Guide Prepare Which of the temptations that Jesus overcame is most like temptations that trouble you? How can you apply the scriptural principle Jesus drew on to overcome your temptations?

Explore

1. As your group comes in, have on the chalkboard: What does “ incarnation” mean? What does Jesus’ incarnation mean to you? Let your members briefly discuss.
2. Give a minilecture explaining the Incarnation. Use Phi 2:1-30 to show that Jesus chose to live here as a true man, and to limit expression of His divine nature.

Expand

1. Examine the baptism of Jesus by listing the theories outlined in “ link-to-life” above. Use the method outlined there.
2. Study the temptations of Jesus, supplementing the “ link-to-life” idea above with material from Luke.

Apply Review the four lessons for living suggested in this guide. Let each person share which lesson is most important to him or her, and why.