Matthew 4:1-25. Proofs of Jesus’ Deity: Testing, Teaching, Preaching. Healing
Temptation, v.1-10. When equal Persons are submissive to each other, it is a wonderful example to us to submit to another in the fear of God. The grace, power, and glory of the Lord are exemplified in the early part of Matthew and were certainly stabilizing influences to the early believers in this church age as the New Testament book of Matthew was circulated among God’s people. The Lord Jesus Christ began His ministry on earth with the voice of the Father affirming
His pleasure in His Son. The silent but visible evidence of the Holy Spirit as a dove further identified the Lord Jesus as the Messiah to those who saw it. The Holy Spirit then went before the Lord Jesus Christ into the wilderness where proofs of His deity were given. None of those tests were seen by people, so the Spirit of God recorded them through Matthew for the assurance of all believers that our Lord Jesus was fully tested as to His physical need for food. Can God meet our daily needs? In difficult physical circumstances, can we trust God while we are going through them? He could create wine out of water instantly without any need for a sense of history, He could create bread enough to feed five thousand men, besides women and children. But the test of His character, His personhood, and as a Perfect Man; He suffered hunger for the full forty days of testing time without responding to the temptation of the devil’s word. In this first temptation relating to material necessities such as food and shelter, things that are temporal but essential as a man; the Lord Jesus responded with an appropriate passage of scripture from Deuteronomy 8:3. The King of the Jews is a Perfect Man!
Satan will always oppose the work of God and the people of God. In the wilderness, the children of Israel were tempted and failed the test. The second test was a test of His emotional need. It was a spiritual test as to His consciousness of the abiding and supreme, will and word of God. Can God be trusted to be true to His word? Satan tried the same tactic that had worked in the garden of Eden of casting doubt on what God said. It didn’t work with the Lord. God is for us. To doubt that in any situation, would show a lack of faith in God’s word. The Lord again used words from the book of Deuteronomy 6:16 to refute the words Satan misquoted and misapplied from Psalm 91:11-12. The King was tested by the devil to produce what was not wrong to have but was not in the will of God. The King was also tested as to whether faith is real and personal. The One who was the Mighty Creator had power over gravity but refused to respond by doing some spectacular or heroic act. The King of the Jews is a Trusted Man!
The third test of our Lord Jesus by Satan had to do with His purpose of coming to earth. He was born a king, yet He was born to serve, and equipped to serve. He was found in fashion as a man. The devil was lying about his power, although he is called the god of this world who blinds the minds of those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. All power in heaven and on earth belongs to the Lord Jesus. It seems that Satan was trying to misdirect the Lord by getting Him to focus on power rather than on the purpose of His coming. He came to save His people from their sins by bearing their sins in His own body on the tree, and suffering for our sins to bring us to God. His kingdom reign is yet in the future. His answer to the test was again from the book of Deuteronomy 6:13. God alone is the One whom we worship and serve. This test was the victory of a Man with God; a Man for men; a Man with God and for men over the devil. The King of the Jews is a Victorious Man!
Angels, v.11. Angels are heavenly beings created by God, who serve Him. In power and intelligence, they are higher than humans. In their service to God, they minister to believers as guides, protectors, providers, and comforters. For unbelievers, they bring destruction, a curse, pestilence, and death. In the life of Christ, we read about angels announcing His conception, heralding His birth, and sustaining Him in the wilderness as we read of them doing here. What they did we are not told, but perhaps they provided for Him that which was needed as a man – food and water. God ministered to His obedient Servant/Son. He takes care of His own!
Later in His ministry, an angel strengthened Him in the garden, and legions of angels were ready to obey His command. Angels witnessed His resurrection and accompanied Him when He ascended into heaven. They shouted for joy at creation. They were at Mt. Sinai and will bind Satan in time to come. When Christ comes for His church and His return in glory, they will accompany Him. On occasions, people saw them and talked with them. They speak the language of those to whom they are sent to give messages. Angels appeared to people in both the Old and New Testament times to give messages from God before we had the written word of God.
The written words of Matthew even in a short statement like we have in verse eleven, would have resonated in the minds and hearts of Jewish believers. They would have known about the ministry of angels from the Old Testament scriptures, and now they would be assured of God’s continuing preservation of His own. “He cared for Jesus, and He will care for us in the persecution and rejection we are going through,” they would have been able to say.
Capernaum, v.12-14. When the Lord Jesus had stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth to read the scriptures; He then gave the interpretation in which He identified Himself as the One to whom the passage from Isaiah 61 was referred. The opposition in the village in which He had lived and worked for over twenty years, must have been under the surface because they were furious at Him. In fact, they tried to murder Him. That may have been part of the reason He moved to Capernaum. To reject the message of the Lord Jesus Christ is to reject Him. Capernaum was the largest center in the region of Galilee, so He would have more people to bring the Gospel to and He would have an opportunity to connect with Andrew and Peter, John and James who had become His personal disciples. They were fishermen and were likely well- known to many in Capernaum.
Besides the more suitable location and more access to a larger population who would listen to His teaching; was the spiritual darkness of the area. There were not only Jews there but also Gentiles who would have connections to areas beyond Galilee. Jesus had waited until John’s ministry was fulfilled before He took open and purposeful actions to reach all “His own.” This new start was approximately a year after His baptism and the temptation in the wilderness. During that time some of John’s disciples came to Jesus and followed Him in a personal way. It was in those months He turned the water into wine at Cana. He also cleansed the temple for the first time when He presented Himself to His own people. Likely it was during that time Nicodemus came to Him at night, and His disciples baptized people under His authority at a different location than John.
When John was imprisoned, Jesus began His ministry officially. His forerunner had finished his work. His work as the King proclaiming His kingdom was to begin. It was then He came to Capernaum and established residence there after His own brothers and kindred rejected Him.
Prophecy, v.15-16. The move to Capernaum was the fulfillment of another prophecy of Isaiah 9. The spiritual, moral, and political darkness of that area under the leadership of Herod, had the Light of the world move right into their area. Geographically it was an important part of that area of Israel with the road to the Mediterranean Sea, to Syria on the north, and the Jordan River going south along which roads would be followed going around Samaria. Gentiles were on the east of the Sea of Galilee. These specific words in the book Matthew wrote, would have added further emphasis to the written words of the New Testament to the early church believers and strengthened their faith. The fulfillment of prophecies like this shows the seriousness of God’s word as well as the unifying effect it has on God’s people through the different dispensations.
Kingdom of Heaven, v.17. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ were the same as those of John the Baptist, as Jesus stepped out into the public and began to preach. This is one of the fundamental themes of the Gospel of Matthew. The King of the Jews had come, and he was the long-looked-for Messiah. The kingdom began when He was here but it will not be a full kingdom until He returns in glory and rules on David’s throne in Jerusalem. Those who believed in Him when He was here in the body; saw Him, heard His words, and saw Him perform miracles. Some of them watched Him die on the cross and hundreds saw Him after He rose from among the dead. But those people are no more in the kingdom, than any person who is born again today by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trusting in Him to save us from our sins and make us a new creature in Christ, places us in that kingdom. Our work and service for Him doesn’t save us. Our faith doesn’t save us. It is God Himself who saves us and welcomes us into His kingdom. Our response to that blessing of salvation and forgiveness of sins is to walk in the light as He is in the light, and we will find there are many more in the kingdom beside us. We yield ourselves, our ambitions, and our hearts to Him to use us as He chooses.
Call to service, v.18-22. Walking by the seashore where fishermen gather and bring their catch of fish to sell; is a good place to find people to talk to. There were men of Capernaum who Jesus already knew from way down south where John had been baptizing, and where Jesus was baptized. Andrew and Peter knew Him personally and believed in Him. James and John also would have known Him and had been with Him when He had done miracles, taught people, and preached the message of the kingdom. They were disciples who had heard his personal call before. Fishing was still their business and occupation. Peter and Andrew were offshore fishing when the Lord Jesus called out to them to follow Him, and He would make them “fishers of men.” That was it. They left their nets and responded to His call to a new service for Him.
James and John were in the fishing business with their father Zebedee, when He called the two young men, but He didn’t call their father. To leave their father and their work immediately was not a small act, but the impact was great on the whole family. Their mother also was a follower of Jesus and was there at Calvary watching from a distance when Christ died for the ungodly. Fishing for men was new to them but they learned over the next years they spent with the Lord, what it really meant. The main thing was at that time; their only motivation to leave their work and follow the Lord Jesus Christ was Him. He was their motivation. What He said, those true disciples were willing to do. Where He went, they followed Him. “Christ is our life.” They didn’t have excuses as to why it wasn’t a good time just then. They just dropped everything and followed Him, putting their faith in Him. That is the same faith He expects in us today.
Jesus’ ministry, v.23-25. “From that time…,” the words verse seventeen begins with, opens up a whole new line of truth in the Gospel of Matthew. Some of John’s disciples followed Jesus without hesitation and others stayed connected with John even when he was in prison. The news was out now. Jesus was openly teaching the scriptures and explaining what the Old Testament was all about and how His coming was foretold. His preaching would have been for people to face themselves before Him and make a commitment as to whether they believed in Him as
Christ or not. The healing of disease was not just to make people well but was to lead to their spiritual wholeness. “That ye may know the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, He saith to the sick of the palsy, ‘Rise, take up thy bed and go into thy house.’” That was an awakening of interest that could not be ignored.
The miracles of healing gave authenticity to the teaching and preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, which couldn’t be considered counterfeit. The words He spoke and the things He did, were proof that He was the Son of God. Matthew summarizes the ministry of Jesus, before giving the characteristic of kingdom living in the sermon on the mount. Before getting specific about what He taught and preached, He made plain who He was without a doubt. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is the Messiah and He is Lord. When all of that would have been made clear to those who read this Gospel account; the impact of the teaching would have reason to take deep root in those who had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They could commit themselves to living for Him and dying for Him when they were absolutely sure that there was much more to gain than to lose by suffering and dying for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.