Matthew 4

CHAPTER 4THEME: The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, the beginning of His public ministry at Capernaum; the calling of four of His disciples by the Sea of Galilee

Matthew 4:1

THE THREEFOLD TEMPTATION OF JESUSLet us follow the movement of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus came down to be born among us and so to be identified with us. He grew up as any other child would, except that He was harmless and without sin. Now, in His baptism, He has been identified with us. He has put on our sin. Now He is going to be tested because there are some real questions to be answered. Is the King able to withstand a test, and can He overcome? The word tempt has a twofold meaning:

1. “Incite or entice to evil; seduce.” There is something in each of us which causes us to yield to evil. This was not true of Jesus. “…the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (Joh_14:30). He was “…holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners …” (Heb_7:26). So the temptation for Jesus had to be different from that which would cause me to fall, in that it needed to be a much greater temptation.
2. “Test.” God does not tempt men with evil according to Jas_1:13. Yet, we are told “…God did tempt Abraham …” (Gen_22:1). This means that God was testing the faith of Abraham. Jesus is now to be tested. Could Jesus have fallen? I want to answer that with an emphatic no! He could not have fallen. If Jesus could have fallen, then you and I do not have a sure Savior at all. Perhaps you are asking, “Well then, if Jesus could not have fallen, was His temptation a legitimate and genuine temptation?” May I say to you that His temptation was much greater than any that you and I have ever had. When a new model Chevrolet or Ford or Dodge is developed, it is thoroughly tested to prove it can stand the test. And every genuine diamond is tested to show that it is not a phony. In a similar way, the Lord Jesus Christ was tested to demonstrate that He was exactly who He claimed to be. Let me illustrate with this little story. When I was a boy, I lived out in West Texas. It was a sparsely populated area in those days. The Santa Fe railroad came through our little town, but it went on by and stopped in the next little town. But it crossed the left fork of the Brazos River near our town. In the summertime there wasn’t enough water in that river to rust a shingle nail, but in wintertime you could float a battleship on it.

One winter we really had a flood, and it washed out the Santa Fe bridge. We were without a train for a long time. Finally, they put in a bridge. They worked a long time on it. Then one day they brought in two engines, stopped them on the bridge, and tied down their whistles. Believe me, that was more whistling than we had ever heard in our little town!

All twenty-three of us ran down to see what was happening. As we were standing around, one brave citizen went up to the engineer in charge with our question,“What are you doing?” The engineer answered, “Testing the bridge.” Our man said, “Are you trying to break it down?” The engineer almost sneered, “Of course not! We’re testing it to prove that it can’t be broken down.” May I say to you, that was the exact reason the Lord Jesus was tested. It was to prove, to demonstrate, that He could not be broken down. His testing, therefore, was greater than ours. There is a limit to what we can bear. You give me enough temptation, you build up the pressure, and finally I’ll succumb to it. That is true of you too. But Christ never gave in although the pressure continued to increase. In other words, a ten-pound fishing line will break when twenty pounds of pressure is put on it, but a hundred-pound line can bear more than twenty-five pounds of pressure. Now, I’m the ten-pound fishing line, and He is the one hundred-pound line. Another really interesting feature of this temptation is the comparison and contrast with the testing of Eve in the Garden of Eden. To begin with, Christ was tested in a wilderness while Eve was tested in a garden. What a contrast! He was to be tested by the Devil.

Matthew 4:2

This is the same kind of temptation that came to Eve. The first one was physical. She saw that the tree was good for food (see Gen_3:6). The Lord Jesus was told to turn stones to bread. 1Jn_2:15-16 says that such temptation for the Christian is the “…lust of the flesh.”

Matthew 4:4

That is found in Deu_8:3. Jesus surely knew Deuteronomy, and He believed it was the inspired Word of God. Now the second testing:

Matthew 4:5

The Devil is quoting Psa_91:11-12, although he does not quote it accurately. Now, this is the spiritual temptation. For Eve it was that she saw the fruit was “…to be desired to make one wise …” (Gen_3:6). For the Christian, it is the “…pride of life …” (1Jn_2:16).

Matthew 4:7

He is quoting Deu_6:16. The third testing is psychological.

Matthew 4:8

Satan showed Him the kingdoms of the world and their glory. This, you see, is a psychological temptation. Man lusts for power. Eve was subjected to the same temptation: “…ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen_3:5). Many of us succumb to this test. Notice the answer of the Lord Jesus

Matthew 4:10

He is quoting Deu_6:13 and Deu_10:20. Friend, we see that our Lord answered each time with Scripture. Certainly, that ought to have a message for all of us. Why is it that many of us are having trouble living the Christian life? May I say this very kindly: It is ignorance of the Word of God. Notice that our Lord always answered by giving the Word of God. I believe that the Word of God has an answer for your particular problem. That doesn’t mean that I know the answer for your problem. It doesn’t mean that your psychologist or psychiatrist knows the answer for your problem. But God has an answer for your problem, and it is in His Word. That is the reason we should know the Book better than we do. Let me repeat, the Lord Jesus answered Satan every time out of the Word. He did not say, “Well, I think this” or “I believe there is a better way of doing it.” He said very definitely that the Word of God says thus and so. He used the Word of God for His answer. And for the child of God, that is enough. By the way, the Devil seemed to think it gave good answers because in the next verse we read

Matthew 4:11

Luk_4:13 tells us that the Devil left Him for a little season. I think he was back the next dayand was testing Him throughout His life. Especially do we see the temptation of the Devil in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus endured indescribable suffering. Now let’s make a very brief recapitulation of this episode in the life of our Lord and notice some things that it clearly teaches. First of all, we have seen that Jesus was born a King, He was introduced as a King, He was baptized as a King, and now we have seen that He was tested as a King. All the way through Matthew’s Gospel He is a King. This testing revealed several things. One of them is that the Devil is a person. In this contact with Jesus, he is treated as a person. This ought to answer any Bible believer who has questions about him, because there are those who insist that the Devil is only an influence. Also, we notice the very subtle insinuation of the Devil. He first said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (v. Mat_4:3). In other words, prove it in a way which is not God’s way. There was no attempt, of course, to tempt Jesus to commit a crime. For Him, that would not have been a real temptation because the inclination of Jesus was to do good. Since bread was the staff of life, to make stones into bread would be a very good thing. And later on in His ministry He fed the multitudes with bread. But the inherent evil of Satan’s temptation was to get Jesus to go outside of the will of God for His life. Also, we see that all the way through the temptations, the Lord Jesus answered the Devil from the Word of God. In other words, He used the sword of the Spirit (see Eph_6:17) to meet the enemy of God and man. Every time His answer was, “It is written.” Oh, my friend, if only we were more adept at using the sword of the Spirit! It is our weapon in this day, and it is a very effective weapon. Another interesting point is that Jesus quoted from the Book of Deuteronomy. The second thing the Devil wanted Jesus to do was to become a religious leader by a stupendous miracle rather than by offering His credentials in the manner that God had prescribed. The Devil’s way would miss the Cross of Christ. Much of what is called Christianity today is “Devil-anity” or “Satan-anity” because it leaves the Cross of Christ out altogether. The Devil is asking Jesus to become a great religious leader by a miracle. Friend, it’s very dangerous today to be led astray by miracle workers. Right now many people are going after so-called faith healers. I don’t know why so many folk go after that type of thing when a little investigation would reveal that there are no real miracles taking place in their services, although there is a great deal of emotion and folderol involved. In Southern California I have made an offer of one hundred dollars to anyone who will come forward and present their credentials and demonstrate that they were actually healed by a miracle worker, a healer. Frankly, I have been amazed that only two or three have come. These were very sincere folk who really believed that they had been healed.

They thought that I was way out in left field because I didn’t believe they had been healedand I didn’t. But don’t misunderstand, I believe in miracle healingthat is, I believe that you go directly to the Great Physician. When you have something seriously wrong with you, you don’t go to an intern or a quack doctor. What you do is go to a specialist in that particular field. I’ve taken my case to the Great Physician, and I can recommend Him. I believe in going directly to Him and not through some of these so-called miracle-workers.

No man can perform miracles. Not even the Lord Jesus would become a religious leader the way the Devil wanted Him to become one, and that is very interesting. You’ll notice that the Devil came back and quoted Scripture also. He said: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee…. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psa_91:11-12). The Devil was pretty good at quoting Scripture, but he wasn’t quite accurate. Shakespeare said that the Devil could quote Scripture for his purpose; but, actually, the Devil can misquote Scripture for his purpose. Satan left out a very important phrase from the passage which he quoted from Psalms 91.

He omitted “…to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psa_91:11). That is the important part of the verse. Satan was attempting to get the Lord Jesus to ignore God’s way. My friend, it is not always God’s will to perform something in your life or in my life that is miraculous. There is an idea circulating in our contemporary society that we can force God to do something, that He is sort of a Western Union boy or that He is more or less working for you and is under your command to do what you desire Him to do. Oh, my friend, we can’t do that!

God is sovereign, and we happen to be the creatureHe is the Creator. We must yield to the will of God. That may not be pleasant at times, but the will of Godnot your will or my willis that which is all important. Another thing about this temptation which really raises a question is that the Devil offered the Lord Jesus the kingdoms of this world! Does the Devil have the kingdoms of the world to offer? Think that one over before you attempt to answer it. Well, let me give you my answer, and I have thought about it a great deal. The Lord Jesus did not challenge his statement that he had the kingdoms of the world to offer. Jesus didn’t say to him, “You can’t offer Me the kingdoms of the world because you don’t have them to give.” I assume that the Devil did have them to give.

This fact gives us a little different viewpoint of the trouble we are having in the world today. The Devil is running everything! Some Christians tend to fight the evils of communism without realizing that behind communism is Satan and that behind the confusion and turmoil in the world is Satan. Let’s remember who our enemy really is. He is a spiritual enemy. He wants to become God.

Remember that he said to Jesus, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me”! In verse Mat_4:11 we saw that after the third temptation, the Devil left the Lord Jesus for awhile. Certainly, he did not leave Him alone permanently.

Matthew 4:12

JESUS BEGINS HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY AT CAPERNAUMJesus withdrew from the Jerusalem area because John had been taken by Herod and put in prison. Now we have the Lord Jesus shifting His headquarters from the south to the north and from Nazareth, His hometown, over to Capernaum. Matthew does not give us the details of this move in his record. This is an example of the fact that the four Gospel records do not attempt to parallel each other. One is not a carbon copy of any of the others. The attempt to harmonize the Gospels is a big mistake.

I have written a booklet entitled Why Four Gospels? in which I attempt to show that each one is written for a definite purpose. Not one of them was intended to be a biography of the Lord Jesusno one could write that. Each book presents its case to reach a certain segment of the human family. Matthew was written to reach the religious element and is primarily for the nation of Israel. Actually, it was written in HebrewPapias and Eusebius, church fathers, both say that, as well as others of that period. Although Matthew gives us no details of the move to Capernaum, we learn from other Gospels that Jesus had been rejected by His hometown. Capernaum became His headquarters and continued as such, as far as we can tell, until the hour that He went to Jerusalem for the final time to be crucified. Matthew will give us the reason He moved His headquarters from Nazareth to Capernaum. The other Gospel writers do not tell us this, but Matthew records it to show that in everything the Lord Jesus did, He was moving in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies

Matthew 4:14

We find this prophecy in Isa_9:1-2 and Isa_42:6-7. I won’t take the space to go into the background of this area called Galilee of the Gentiles, but if you want to do some research, you will find it very profitable to see the condition of that area at the time the Lord Jesus was there. Remember that He also spent His boyhood there. It was called Gentile country because out of the Roman Empire many folk had migrated to that area. There was a marvelous resort section around the Sea of Galilee, but it was very worldly and even wicked. The people in that area were very far from God. The great light of the Lord Jesus broke upon them, and His very presence created a responsibility for them. They witnessed many of His miracles, but there was little response. Later, in Mat_11:20-24, He pronounces judgment upon them when He says, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin!” In Capernaum Jesus picked up right where John the Baptist left off.

Matthew 4:17

Jesus message was, “Repent, turn around, come to Me, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It was at hand in the person of the King, of coursethey couldn’t have the Kingdom of Heaven without Him. As we have seen the Kingdom of Heaven, simply stated, is the reign of the heavens over the earth. This is what the Lord Jesus will bring to this earth someday. This earth will become “heaven” for Israel, an earthly people, and they will go into eternity right down here. The church has a heavenly hope, but the earthly hope is also a marvelous hope, and it is the hope of the Old Testament.

Matthew 4:18

JESUS BEGINS TO CALL HIS DISCIPLESNow Jesus begins to gather disciples about Him. Notice the following verses. In the Gospels the Lord makes at least three calls to these men, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that three meetings took place between Christ and these men. The first meeting took place in Jerusalem, as recorded in Joh_1:35-42. Their second meeting took place by the Sea of Galilee, and apparently this is the record of it. They had seen Him before this, but at that time He had not called them to be with Him. Now here at the Sea of Galilee when He meets them again, He calls them to follow Him. And then we will find that they went back to fishingMark and Luke give us that detail. And finally He called them again, and that was to apostleship. The wonder of it all is that Jesus called men like this. I have always felt that since He called imperfect men like the disciples were, He may be able to use me, and He may be able to use you. It is encouraging to know that we don’t have to be super-duper saints to be used by Him. He may not make you a fisher of men, if you are not in the fishing business. But whatever business you are engaged in, He can use you. Whatever your talent may be, if you will turn it over to Him, He can use it.

Years ago a lady in my church was absolutely tongue-tied when it came to witnessing for Christ, but she could bake the most marvelous cakes! She used to deplore the fact of her inability to witness, and I said to her one day, “Did it ever occur to you that the Lord may want you in the church family to bake cakes?” That may seem ridiculous, but it is not. The important thing for us is to give ourselves to Him. Under His direction He won’t have us all doing the same thing because He gives us separate gifts. The body of Christ has many members in it, and they all have different functions to perform.

Matthew 4:20

These are very interesting men, and we will get better acquainted with them as we move along, especially as we see them in the other Gospel records. Now remember that Jesus is in the northern section of Israel at this time

Matthew 4:23

Notice that Jesus is teaching in their synagogues, and He is preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. What is it? The gospel (good news) of the Kingdom is that it is at hand in the person of the King. They are to accept and receive Him. Also, He is healing their physical illnesses. Friend, there were thousands of people in that day whom Jesus healed.

Matthew especially lets us know that. If we will pay attention to the text, we will find that there were not just a few isolated cases, but thousands of folk were healed. That is the reason the enemies of Jesus never questioned His miraclesthere were too many of them walking around. By the way, I live in Southern California where many so-called faith healers claim the healing of thousands of people, but we don’t see these purported miracles walking around, at least they don’t come my way.

Matthew 4:24

Notice the multitudes.

Matthew 4:25

Decapolis was a district containing ten cities in the northeastern part of Galilee, east of the Jordan River. (I have had the privilege of visiting one of those cities.) Also, folk came up from Jerusalem and from Judea, the southernmost division of Palestine, and from beyond Jordan, which means a long way off. Jesus is ministering there in the north of Palestine. It should be kept in mind as we consider the Gospel of Matthew that Matthew is making no attempt to give us a chronological record of the life of Christ. He is presenting Jesus in his Gospel as King, and he follows a pattern which is a movement in bringing the King and His claims to the nation Israel. This is important to observe. If we miss the movement in Matthew, we miss the purpose of this Gospel.