Study Audio Download

Matthew 4:1-25 Jesus’ Temptation and the Beginning of His Ministry

[Study Aired March 17, 2025]

Introduction

Today’s study is about the temptation that Jesus went through before the start of His ministry. It also includes the teaching work he undertook, the places he preached, and the subject he preached. The chapter concludes with His calling of disciples, Peter and Andrew, James and John and the miracles He wrought in the lives of the people and the resulting crowd that His ministry attracted.

The Temptation of Jesus

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 
Mat 4:2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 

Jesus being led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil indicates that the temptation by the devil we go through in this life is part of the grand design of the Lord. If we are to become overcomers, then it means that we need to have victory over the devil who operates through our flesh. The fact that Jesus had to go to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil implies that the devil operates best in an environment where there is the absence of the truth of the word of the Lord. It also means that our victory over the devil is through knowing the truth of the word of the Lord. As we are aware, Jesus is the word of the Lord, and therefore there was no way that Jesus could have been defeated by the devil.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.    

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (the word of God). 

The number forty represents our trials. Jesus fasting for forty days and forty nights is to show us that we must deny ourselves or die daily if we are to overcome the onslaught of the devil. 

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

Jesus feeling hungry after the fast is to show us that it is our point of weakness which serves as the pedestal for the devil to attack us. However, it is in our point of weakness that we are made strong. 

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

The question that comes to mind is that “Should we fast even as our Lord Jesus fasted?” To answer this question, I will refer to part of what Brother Mike posted on the website about fasting.

The last time chronologically that fasting is mentioned in the New Testament is in Acts 27. Paul is in the process of being delivered to Caesar, and the Lord has brought Paul and all on the ship with him to death’s door. All “276 souls,” have endured being tormented by the perception of being hopelessly lost at sea in the mist of a terrible storm:

Act 27:19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
Act 27:20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

How many days?

Act 27:33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.
Act 27:34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
Act 27:35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
Act 27:36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.
Act 27:37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.

Under such dire circumstances, why would Paul tell these people to “be of good cheer?”

Act 27:22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.
Act 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
Act 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
Act 27:25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

“All hope that we should be saved had been taken away.” All on board were fasting. I seriously doubt that their reason was ‘to be seen of men.’ Their very hope of life was taken away. They were ‘afflicting their souls’ and denying their flesh. To these lost souls, their “bridegroom had been taken away from them.” Just as with the disciples of Christ, the outward circumstances seemed to be clear. Three and one half years of casting out demons, healing the sick and feeding thousands were all for nothing. Where was their Savior right now? “All hope that we should be saved was taken away.” This is the time to afflict one’s soul:

Luk 5:35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

We might think that Paul’s faith was not being tried through all of this. How little do we understand the pulls of the flesh upon the Son of God Himself:

Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

It seemed at that moment, even to our Savior Himself, that His ‘bridegroom had been taken away.’ Would the apostle Paul have had more faith than our Lord? No, Paul was given the assurance by the angel because he needed that assurance to stand up under the circumstances that seemed to all 276 people on board that ship, that “all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” This is the experience not just of our Lord. Neither is this experience just for His apostles, like the apostle Paul. This experience of having “all hope that we should be saved… taken away” is common to all of God’s elect. It is a time for “afflicting our souls.” But let us never forget this Truth:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh [and the suffering of the flesh] profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The Words of Christ concerning ‘fasting’ and ‘afflicting your soul’ are as spiritual as any words of scripture. So what, in the final analysis, is the fast that God wants of us all? How would He have us to spiritually ‘afflict our souls?’ How spiritually should we ‘deny ourselves… and die daily’ to the things of the flesh?

Isa 58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
Isa 58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
Isa 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Isa 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

There it is. “This is the fast that I have chosen…” This is the fast that God really wants. This is “a day for a man to afflict his soul.” This is the ‘fast’ that God would prefer for either David or for us. And what is this spiritual fasting and affliction of the soul?

“... This is the fast that I have chosen. To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke! … To deal bread to the hungry… bring the poor that are cast out into your house… when you see the naked, you cover him… and hide not yourself from your own flesh.”

Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 
Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

Here in verse 3 the devil is called the tempter. This name refers to the role the devil plays in tempting us to sin against the Lord. In Isaiah 54:16, the devil also plays the role of blowing the coals in the fire. That is to say that he is the one whom the Lord uses to judge us as we can see from the story of Job.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 
Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. 

This temptation of Jesus Christ is parallel to the temptation in the garden of Eden. In the case of Adam and Eve, they failed woefully because they did not do what the Lord told them to do – that is, they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.  

Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 

In the case of Jesus Christ, His victory was in focusing on what God has commanded. His response to the devil that man shall not eat by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God means that our focus should be on fulfilling every word of the Lord. This temptation of Jesus by the devil highlights the lust of the flesh – turning stones to bread to satisfy the flesh. Spiritually, turning stones to bread is seeing the Lord’s people (stones) as opportunity to physical riches. The churches of this world have emphasized the Levitical priesthood, which is of the Law of Moses, to enrich themselves at the expense of the Lord’s children.

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 

Jer 2:26  As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,

Jer 5:31  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 
Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 
Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

This temptation has to do with the pride of life. The desire to have people come to worship, minister to us and attracting attention to ourselves by what we do is a temptation that has plagued many of the Lord’s people. Here the devil quoted the scripture to substantiate his request for the Lord to yield to this temptation. In response, the Lord also quoted the scripture to counter the devil. In this instance, if Jesus leapt without God’s word, He would be tempting God.  The churches of this world is filled with many who are tempting God by their advertisement about crusades and church services that promised the people of their miraculous healing and financial breakthrough. Their motive pertains to the pride of life. Initially, at the beginning of the church, the disciples performed signs and wonders to attest to the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus. However, over time the Lord cut back on signs and wonders. Statements made by Paul in leaving Trophimus in Miletus sick, and telling Timothy to drink wine which would help alleviate his stomach troubles are all to show us that serving the Lord is not about signs and wonders. Of course, the Lord raising us from the dead and making us His sons and daughters is the greatest miracle that can happen to us.

2Ti 4:20  Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

1Ti 5:23  Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.      

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 
Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

This temptation pertains to the lust of the eyes. That is, what we see and want. What the Lord is demonstrating to us is that we should focus on serving the Lord alone and not to be distracted by the glamor of leadership in this world which has the footprint of the devil. As the Lord told us, our kingdom does not belong to this world.  

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 

As indicated earlier, the temptation of Jesus is similar to what happened to Adam and Eve. The temptation consists of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as shown in the following:

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. 

The angels coming to minister to Christ is the same as our brothers and sisters who come to minister to us at our point of need.

Heb 1:13  But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? 
Heb 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Jesus Begins His Ministry

Mat 4:12  Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 
Mat 4:13  And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 

The arrest of John the Baptist initiated the ministry of Jesus because it signaled the end of John’s role as the forerunner and the beginning of Jesus’ own public ministry. John the Baptist said concerning Christ “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The arrest of John commenced the fading light of his ministry and the simultaneous rise of the Lord Jesus Christ, our daystar.

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease. 
Joh 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 

Galilee was the boyhood home of Jesus Christ. It was historically known among the Jews as “Galilee of the Gentiles.” Galilee had such a mixed population that Solomon could award unashamedly to Hiram, king of Tyre, twenty of its cities in payment for timber from Lebanon.

1Ki 9:11  (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 

After conquest by the king of Assyria, Galilee was repopulated by a colony of heathen immigrants. For this reason many Jews despised the Galileans. Nazareth was part of Galilee. No wonder Nathaniel asked contemptuously, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” All the disciples of Jesus, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, came from Galilee. It was in Cana of Galilee that He performed His first miracle. Capernaum in Galilee became the headquarters of His ministry. 

2Ki 15:29  In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. 

2Ki 17:24  And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. 

Mat 4:14  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 
Mat 4:15  The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 
Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 
Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  

It was when we were in darkness that Jesus came into our lives to give us hope. The first step in our deliverance is repentance from sin. That is why Jesus reiterated the message of John the Baptist about repentance from our sins because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This process of establishing the kingdom of heaven within starts with repentance from sin. It is through repentance that times of refreshing come to us from the presence of the Lord. 

Act 3:19  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

Mat 4:18  And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 
Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 
Mat 4:20  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 
Mat 4:21  And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 
Mat 4:22  And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. 

Here Jesus called the first four of the disciples to become His followers – Peter, Andrew, James and John. The fact that they were four suggests that the whole of the Lord’s elect are chosen through the same means. In other words, we were minding our own business when Jesus came on the scene and caused us to follow Him. Although our conversion may seem like something that happened on the spur of the moment, we know that we were marked for salvation even before the foundation of the world.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  

Here in these verses, we are shown our role as the Lord’s elect in this age. In following our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall become fishers of men, just as Peter and Andrew were casting their net into the sea when the Lord called them to become fishers of men. The fact that they were two (Peter and Andrew) suggests that as witnesses of Christ, we are called to become fishers of men. The calling of the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, came at a time when they were mending their nets. Our call is also to mend the nets. That means to correct the wrong doctrines and emphasize the truth which is able to set us free. This is because the church system has fallen away in apostasy, and our role is to speak the truth (mend the net) irrespective of the opposition. As we can see, it was because of the truth that John found himself at the isle of Patmos.

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. 
3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. 

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

Mat 4:23  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 
Mat 4:24  And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 
Mat 4:25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. 

It is worth noting that Jesus’ ministry drew a significant following because of the miracles that He performed. He, however, did not commit Himself to them because He knew what was in man. 

Joh 2:23  Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 
Joh 2:24  But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 
Joh 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. 

To the great multitude that followed Jesus, He spoke in parables because it is not given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. 

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Thanks be to the Lord for opening our eyes to see and our ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom. Amen!