Matthew 4
Bible Passage: Matthew 4
Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to be tempted before He began His ministry?
Jesus did not need to be tempted, just as He did not need to be baptized.
But He still went through this process before coming out to serve, in order to leave an example for us to follow.
When Jesus was tempted by the weakness of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, He did not succumb to these temptations. Instead He fought them with the Word of God. Through His response to Satan, He showed us that God’s word must dwell in us and rule over our hearts.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the form of Jesus Christ (John 1:14) who is also our king. When Jesus fought Satan with the Word of God, He put God’s principles before His own human needs and desires, i.e. He obeyed God.
Today, we profess Jesus as our King. But how much do we obey Him?
Sometimes when we face temptation, a Bible verse will pop up in our minds but we may not respond to it because we are not obedient to the Word of God.
However, if we want to overcome temptation, obedience to God’s Word is key.
In addition, obedience to God’s Word is one of the prerequisites for serving the Lord.
What else does the record of Jesus’ temptation show us?
It shows us how we should prepare ourselves to serve God. Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights, overcame His temptations with the Word of God and then started to preach the gospel. Similarly, serving God today requires that we pray for God’s guidance and wisdom and that we allow the Spirit and Truth to fill and equip us. In fact, we need to do so continuously, before and while we serve the Lord.
As we read on in this chapter, we discover that God truly blessed, empowered and guided Jesus’ subsequent ministry. He came out and began to preach the gospel just in time to follow up on John the Baptist’s work (Matt 4:12), i.e. He was given wisdom to coordinate his work with others well. When He called the first disciples, they immediately left everything they had to follow Him, thereby reflecting the same obedience as Jesus had earlier proved towards God’s word, i.e. He was able to motivate others to serve God by setting an example. When He went to Galilee to preach the gospel, signs and wonders accompanied His work, i.e. He received power to push God’s work forward.
May the Lord help us to constantly rely on Him in prayer and to be obedient to His Word, so that we can be useful vessels in the House of God.
3 Comments
LittleDust
Thanks Love & Respect for such a timely reminder & sharing – Obedience to the word of God is indeed the key to live such a life that is pleasing to God.
Knowing the word of God is likened to the foolish man who built the house on the sand, which will suffer great fall during trial time (Matt 7:24), IF, we do not allow the word to work effectively in us.
To let the word work in us means we allow the word of God to purify ourselves (I Peter 1: 22) and the Holy Spirit to cleanse our heart, when met with temptations, difficulties or any sort of circumstance in life. The author of Hebrews encouraged us to “give the more earnest heed” to the word, meaning to (I quote from a recent sermon) “honour and respect” the word.
May the Lord continue to guide us, and that we ought not only be the hearer but also the doers of the word (James 1: 22).
biblereadingcompanion
The lesson of obedience is well known but many a times we allow our pride and lusts to get in the way of God’s Word and we fail miserably. But Jesus has shown us His example … and that Satan can be defeated. We just have to pray more, trust and obey!
Besides the lessons that Love&Respect has so clearly shown us, the following verses engaged my heart….
Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“ The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.” ~ Matt 4:12-17
When Jesus started His ministry, He went to the places which the so called religious people looked down upon. In fact, the term “Galilee of the Gentiles” was a derogatory term to emphasize the lowly status of the people in Galilee. The people in Jerusalem viewed the people of Galilee and Nazareth to be of bad morals, customs and status.
But when Jesus came and brought the good news of the kingdom of God…
“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
Can you see this beautiful picture that the Gospel brings?
From darkness to a great light.
From the shadow of death to the dawning of Light.
From sickness to health.
From one who is despised to one who is loved.
Not by men alone…. But by God Himself!
When I see this beautiful picture, I cannot help but feel that I have fallen far short of God’s glory. His will is for me to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel…. And yet… This is one area that I have certainly been very slack in the last few months and am no longer as urgent in doing this work as I used to.
What has changed? Certainly not God. And certainly not the desperate hopeless people needing the light of Jesus to shine upon them.
It is I who have changed.
Lord! Help me to be obedient like Peter, Andrew, James and John…. To hear the Master’s voice and obey Him to be true Fishers of Men. Because this work of preaching is worth doing…. It’s a work of snatching souls from fire…. It’s the work that Jesus wants me to do.
The question remains… Will I be obedient and love them like Jesus?
PS
When i read today’s passage, i try to recall how i feel during fasting prayer?
It draws on me that i m making a wrong comparison.
Lord Jesus fasted for 40 days!
The fasting till 4 o’clock is a completely wrong comparison!
When Lord Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” He meant every single word he said!
Lord Jesus in the flesh should be dead if not for the nourishment of the words of God in the 40 days.
1 other person survived without food for 39 days by the power of God in history was Elijah (1 Kings 19:8).
When He rebuked the devil with “You shall not tempt the LORD your God.” He meant every word He said too! The word of God is written for us to believe, entrust and live by, not to put to test.
By the third time when He rebuked the devil with words from the Scriptures that “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.”, He might be telling the Father (ie talking to Himself in His heart, John 10:30 ), “The heavens and earth are created by Me, why would I be interested in these kingdom of the world and their glory?”
Did the devil believe that Lord Jesus is the Word became flesh (John 1:14)? Seem not.
The bible is written so that we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we have life in His name.(John 20:31)