seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”[f]
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”[f]
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[g] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 4:1 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested.
b. Matthew 4:4 Deut. 8:3
c. Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11,12
d. Matthew 4:7 Deut. 6:16
e. Matthew 4:10 Deut. 6:13
f. Matthew 4:16 Isaiah 9:1,2
g. Matthew 4:25 That is, the Ten Cities
The tax man, Matthew, wasted no time getting right to the ministry. He mentioned a couple of the fulfillments and then went right to the teaching and healing..... and Jesus was an instant hit.... drawing huge crowds.
This is from bible-studys.org.
For Christ to fall down and worship Satan would have been to acknowledge the Devil’s lordship over Him. In His direct rebuke “Get thee hence, Satan,” Jesus clearly asserts His lordship over the old serpent whose head He will soon crush. Matthew’s statement that Satan “leaveth him” shows that his order of the temptations is the chronological one (Luke 4:1-13).
This is from the easy English site.
Matthew does not explain here why Herod put John in prison. Matthew tells the whole story in Matthew 14:3-12. He did so because Herodias wanted it. She had been the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. Then Herod Antipas married her. John had said that Herod should not have married her. The details of what happened are in Matthew 14:3-12. John had finished his work. He had prepared the way for the Messiah. So Jesus could begin his own work now.
Galilee was a very rich area for crops. An enormous number of people lived there. Josephus lived at that time and wrote history books. He said that there were 204 villages. Each village had thousands of inhabitants. It was an area with many foreigners. There were foreign lands that surrounded Galilee too. So people called it ‘Galilee of the non-Jews’. (People who are not Jews are called ‘Gentiles’.) Main roads for trade went through Galilee. The people in Galilee were more willing than the people in Judea to believe new ideas. The people in Judea did not meet many foreigners. So people in Judea were less ready to change their opinions. Therefore, Galilee was an ideal area in which Jesus chose to work.
In Isaiah’s time, soldiers from Assyria attacked the region called Galilee. They caused the people in Galilee to suffer. Galilee was the area of the two tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. Isaiah’s message promised good things to the people in the future. It was like the sun as it rises after the dark night (Isaiah 9:1-2). Jesus came to Galilee. That proved that Isaiah’s message was true. In the darkness, people cannot see the right way to go. To do wrong is like being in the dark. Jesus came to Galilee like a light. He was like the sun that rises at dawn. He would show people the right way to live. Jesus later described himself as the ‘light of the world’ (John 9:5).
Simon and Andrew, James and John had not met Jesus before. John tells us in his gospel that they had been disciples of John the Baptist. (See John 1:35-42.) They had already talked to Jesus and they had probably listened to him several times. Now Jesus was telling them to leave their work and their families. They would not catch fish any more. He wanted ordinary people to follow him and to learn from him. He wanted them to help him in his work.
The news that Jesus could heal people spread quickly. And people with all kinds of illness came long distances to get his help, even from foreign countries. Many other people came just to listen to him. They wanted to see him heal people. And they wanted to hear what he was teaching. Epilepsy is a terrible illness. It suddenly causes people to shake a lot and fall down without control over themselves.
Jesus was the new best thing..... but before He became the next big thing.... He was out in the desert. I have a lot of "out of this world" ideas when it comes to Jesus. I sincerely believe that Jesus was around when God created everything. I believe that being the Son of God and then putting on the body of a stupid human..... well it's like driving a rocket and then driving a simple race car. I think Jesus might have gone out into the desert to see just what the stupid human body could endure before going out on His Mission. He found out how long the body would survive without food. He didn't test the bones by jumping off the top of the Temple..... He wasn't supposed to break the body.... only test it. That body checked out..... and when satan tried to make a deal with Him.... [like satan wanted to manage the ministry tour] Jesus turned satan down flat..... "get out of here" He said.Simon, Andrew, James, and John were followers of John the Baptist. John, the guy who dressed in weird clothes and ate weird food, had been preaching for some time. They were probably on the shore or maybe right off shore fishing in the river while John was telling people to repent. They might have even been there when John baptized Jesus. If Jesus did levitate.... maybe they saw it. At any rate.... seeing John so enamored with Jesus must have been the key to their quick reply. After John got locked up for telling it like it was.... the boys were more than happy to join Jesus. They left their jobs.... they left their families.... and they went on the road with the guy John identified as the Messiah.
The crowds Jesus chose to open His ministry with..... were diverse. He taught in the Temple. So He was like a "guest speaker". He drew such big crowds it was probably good business to allow Him to speak. People who came to the Temple would bring money.... and the preachers, priests, and teachers in the Temple all like the money..... they were preaching to the paychecks and free housing when Jesus arrived..... so those big crowds brought big business for them.
I can only imagine the crowds Jesus would have drawn today if people heard He was here to cure the virus running rapid across the globe. Then again... we have become so jaded.... maybe no one would listen today.... maybe people would call Him the new best fake. How far have the stupid humans progressed into pure darkness since Jesus was teaching? It seems to me that Jesus would gather large crowds today..... He would probably make Olsteen and West jealous. The people that would gather though.... would they be there for the teaching? My guess is.... today.... the people would show up for the healing and then turn down the teaching.
