The Word Is Alive The Gospel of Matthew

1. The Word Is AliveThe Gospel of Matthew Chapter Four Narrated by Tony Gillon

2. Chapter Four • Summary of Chapter Four • Forty days of testing by the devil.

3. Chapter Four • Summary of Chapter Four • Forty days of testing by the devil. • Jesus’ teaching ministry commences.

4. Chapter Four • Summary of Chapter Four • Forty days of testing by the devil. • Jesus’ teaching ministry commences. • First disciples chosen.

5. Chapter Four • Summary of Chapter Four • Forty days of testing by the devil. • Jesus’ teaching ministry commences. • First disciples chosen. • Jesus teaches and heals many in and around Galilee.

6. Chapter Four • Matthew 4:1–25 – Jesus the Messiah Begins to Advance the Messianic Kingdom

7. Chapter Four • Matthew 4:1–25 – Jesus the Messiah Begins to Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Jesus triumphs over the devil (vv.1-11). • He then proclaims the Kingdom of God (vv.12–17). • He calls his first disciples (vv.18-22). • Jesus teaches and heals many people (vv.23-25).

8. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Matthew 4:1–11 - The Temptation of Jesus

9. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Matthew 4:1–11 - The Temptation of Jesus • Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness: • It recalls Israel’s wilderness years. • Jesus provides a model for all tested believers. • It affirms the correct understanding of Jesus’ messiahship.

10. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Immediately following his baptism by John, which had taken place in the wilderness by the Jordan River, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit deeper into the Judæan desert, where he underwent severe testing as a man against Satan.

11. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Although this lasted almost six weeks, Matthew’s account seems to either select just three of many temptations or is a reflection of the final stages of the trial period. • Whichever part of the testing it reflects, Jesus was triumphant over his ancient adversary, who will continue to try to disrupt the work of Christ by attacking his disciples but will then suffer his greatest defeat through the Cross.

12. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • The temptations were a diabolical attempt to subvert God’s plan for human redemption by causing Jesus to fall into sin and disobedience, thus disqualifying him as the acceptable sacrifice and sinless Saviour.

13. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • 1ThenJesus was led up by the Spiritinto the wilderness to be temptedby the devil.

14. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • 1ThenJesus was led up by the Spiritinto the wilderness to be temptedby the devil. • Then implies that this occurred immediately following Jesus’ baptism, something made more explicit by Mark: • And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness (Mark 1:12).

15. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Jesus was led up by the Spirit: • The Holy Spirit guided Jesus in his earthly life, providing a pattern for Jesus’ followers to be empowered and led by the Holy Spirit.

16. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law (Galatians 5:16-18).

17. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Into the wilderness: • By being alone in the wilderness, Jesus was giving Satan every opportunity to attack him, although he was now Spirit-led and in communion with the Father.

18. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Most scholars hold the location of this testing to be Mount Quarantania, located north of Jerusalem not far from Jericho; others have suggested that it was as far away as Mount Horeb, which would link the account to that of Moses and Elijah, but there is no conclusive proof either way.

19. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Personal comment: • Some time before writing this I had a great conversation with a former pastor, who has experienced the Judæan wilderness and found that it was far from being a ‘God-forsaken’ place, but rather a place where ‘the presence of God is powerfully evident’. (Continued)

20. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • This makes the temptation of Christ, and of the rest of us, all the more interesting if it comes in a place where the presence of God is felt and known, i.e. at times when we feel most at ease, rather than at times when we may feel abandoned, alone or in peril!

21. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • The Greek word for tempted is peirazō, and can also mean test: • For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. • (Hebrews 4:15).

22. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • While God clearly never tempts anyone to do evil, something indicated by the Lord’s brother: • No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one (James 1:13), he does use circumstances to test a person’s character and faith.

23. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son. (Hebrews 11:17).

24. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

25. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Personal comment: • There are some believers who get hung up on the idea of Jesus being tempted rather than tested. • It should be remembered that the temptations which are resisted are not sin but are afflictions that have to be borne, here by Christ and in this life by all other disciples of Christ.

26. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • There were many biblical precedents of leaders who were tested before their true public ministry began, such as Abraham, Job, Jacob, Moses and David. • In each case, they failed to some degree, only to be sustained by God’s favour. • Jesus alone has fully withstood the test.

27. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Personal comment: • A successful measure of testing is not so much whether we pass or fail but whether we come out changed for the better at the end of it. Testing should help to strengthen our faith and reliance on God as our provider, trusting him with all that we have and are. (Continued).

28. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Sometimes we may get hurt in the process but that is OK for it is all part of the testing phase that forms the basis of life on earth. • However, the advice is: • Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. • (Matthew 26:41).

29. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • By the devil: • Diabolos is used in translations of the Hebrew word Satan, and in Greek also translates as slanderer or accuser. • Here it is preceded by the definite article to indicate that the one who tempts Jesus is uniquely the devil.

30. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Although the devil intended to thwart God’s plan and purposes, the Father used his evil intention for the good purpose of strengthening Jesus in his messianic role.

31. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • It should be noted that not all temptation comes from the devil: • But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it (James 1:14).

32. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • 2He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.

33. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • 2He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. • He fasted for forty days and forty nights: • Jesus’ experience of 40 days of fasting in the wilderness corresponds to Israel’s experience of 40 years of testing in the wilderness.

34. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:2–3).

35. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Personal comment: • Jesus did not need to fast for the purpose of repentance, helping him to focus on God or in preparation for intercessory prayer, as may be the case for some believers, although it would be symbolic of other believers directing their hunger toward God rather than any earthly comforts or even necessities. (Continued).

36. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • It would have physically weakened his body, making the temptations more attractive to him in his human nature. • Moses also fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights on two occasions (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28), and Elijah at least once (1 Kings 19:8). (Continued).

37. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Fasting was and still is a means of focusing intently on communion with God. • Forty days is about the longest a human can fast without permanent bodily damage. • For most people, liquids should be taken during extended periods of fasting and medical advice is recommended.

38. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Afterwards he was famished is an indication of Jesus in his fully human state, which was essential if the period of testing was to have any authentic symbolic meaning. • At other times, it appears Jesus could live in accordance with his divine nature.

39. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work (John 4:31-34).

40. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • 3The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’

41. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • The tempter is another name for Satan, a term also used by Paul: • For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labour had been in vain (1 Thessalonians 3:5).

42. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ (Genesis 3:1).

43. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ (Genesis 3:1). • He can in no way be blamed for all of it; indeed most of it comes from within the hearts and minds of ordinary people.

44. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • If Satan looks like an evil character, people would easily shun him. • If he looked attractive some may fall for his appearance. • He may appear as an angel of light.

45. An artist’s impression of Satan

46. Liz Hurley as the Devil in Bedazzled (2000)

47. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • If you are the Son of God: • This can also be translated ‘since you are the Son of God’, which fits better in this case. • It is clear that Satan recognised who it was he was dealing with.

48. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (Continued).

49. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. • (1 John 5:10-13).

50. Advance the Messianic Kingdom • Jesus was and is the Son of God, but he refused to be tricked by the devil into using his divine prerogatives to make the trial any easier for himself. • Jesus obeyed as a man, as the representative for all who believe, so as to fulfil all righteousness on behalf of his people.