Day Four – Monday, January 6, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Matthew 4

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

First Temptation

Mark 1:12, 13; Luke 4:1–4

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Points to Ponder:

• After Jesus’ anointing and commission to ministry at the Jordan River, Jesus was sent into the wilderness to fast and to be tempted by the devil in preparation for ministry.
• We often gloss over the fasting, but this was an epic fast, forty days, and rivals that of Moses’ fast on Mount Sinai, Elijah’s fast as he fled the prophets of Jezebel, and Daniel’s 21 day fast in Babylon.
• Each of these fasts provided spiritual strength, clarity, and power.  Many churches call the membership to a 21 day fast at the beginning of each year.  If you are in this fasting period now, consider it a powerful expression of identification with Jesus Christ and these other powerful prophets of the Bible.
• After the fast, the devil came to Jesus as He was hungry, and tempted Him to turn stones into bread so that He could eat.  This temptation was appealing to Jesus’ flesh, and is often categorized as tempted the lust of the flesh.
• Jesus used the Scriptures to combat Satan, and send him away dumbfounded every time.  In this case, He told Satan that internalizing and obeying the Word of God is more important than satisfying one’s physical hunger.

Second Temptation

Luke 4:9–12

⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

Points to Ponder:

• In this second temptation, Satan calls Jesus to prove that He is the Son of God by performing some self-serving trick.  This would be to satisfy Satan’s curiosity, not to glorify the Father.
• This is a temptation of the pride of life.  If the angels did catch Jesus after He jumped off the wall, then He would be proving Himself to Satan, which was not necessary.  Satan already knew with whom he was dealing.
• Jesus again uses the Scriptures to combat Satan, reminding Him that such an act would be tempting the Lord (or testing the Lord), which is in itself arrogant and prideful.  

Third Temptation 

Mark 1:13; Luke 4:5–8, 13

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Points to Ponder:

• In this third temptation, Satan arrogantly offers Jesus kingdoms that are already the property of God.
• He showed Jesus great kingdoms and beauties of magnificent proportions.
• He appeals to what Jesus could see.  This is a temptation of the lust of the eye.
• He asked Jesus to worship him, which would have been blasphemous and uncharacteristic of the Son of God.  
• Again, Jesus offers Scripture to show Satan the error of his words, that only the Lord God should be worshipped and served.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

Mark 1:14, 15; Luke 4:14, 31

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles:

¹⁶ 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.”

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus’ ministry begins in earnest.
• Jesus somehow got news that John was in prison, and went to Galilee, perhaps to visit His family, and then settled in Capernaum, on the Northwest side of the Sea of Galilee, which became the northern headquarters of His ministry.  
• His actions again fulfilled prophecies that were spoken of the Messiah hundreds if not thousands of years prior.  
• Jesus preached the same basic appeal as John did:  Repent!

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

Mark 1:16–20

¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus went to the Sea’s edge and called Simon and Andrew to follow Him as His disciples.  
• Even though fishing was their livelihood, Simon and Andrew left it all behind to follow Jesus.  Another gospel describes a miraculous occurrence (a huge catch of fish) as happening at the hands of Jesus.  This could have been why they so readily left their occupation and normal life behind.
• Whether by hearing of Jesus, or just because of His anointing, two other brothers, James and John, were called and left their fishing occupations behind as well.

Jesus Ministers in Galilee

Mark 1:39; Luke 4:44

²³ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. ²⁴ Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. ²⁵ Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

Points to Ponder:

• After calling His first four disciples, Jesus went all around the regions around Capernaum with His traveling caravan of poor disciples.
• They did ministry, especially healing, and Jesus’ name became famous throughout Syria (north).  People from all over Israel and some of the rest of the Middle East and even further east beyond the Jordan River.
• Jesus was becoming an extremely magnetic figure in Israel, and His ministry was welcomed everywhere.

All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page.