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 does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “ Matt 4:1-4 (NIV)
1. Who is the devil?
The devil is Satan, Gods most beautiful and perfect angel. His original name was Lucifer which means “brilliant one”. At some time in the past he led a rebellion against God. He and 1/3 of the other angels were cast out of heaven. Hell was prepared for Satan and the other rebellious angels known as demons.
Isaiah 14:12-14 ” How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart:’ I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,I will be like the Most High.’
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,I will be like the Most High.’
The bible identifies him as the ruler of this corrupt fallen world until his eventual defeat.
Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
2. Isn’t that a logical question? Since you are the Son of God, and you’re hungry, why not make food out of rocks, surly you have the power to do it.
Deut. 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
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.’ ” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Matt 4:5-7 (NIV)
3. The devil was quoting scripture to Jesus, what wrong with what he was saying?
4:5 pinnacle of the temple. This was probably a roof with a portico at the SE corner of the temple complex, where a massive retaining wall reached from a level well above the temple mount, deep into the Kidron Valley. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, this was a drop of nearly 450 ft.
4:6 for it is written … You will not strike Your foot against a stone. Note that Satan also quoted Scripture (Ps 91:11, 12)For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.12In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
—but utterly twisted its meaning, employing a passage about trusting God to justify testing Him. Satan is using this scripture out of context. This scripture is speaking of trusting God, not throwing yourself off a high place to test God.The Devil is quoting Psalm 91:11–12, although he does not quote it accurately. Now, this is the spiritualtemptation. For Eve it was that she saw the fruit was “… to be desired to make one wise …” (Gen. 3:6). For the Christian, it is the “… pride of life …” (1 John 2:16).The Devil can misquote Scripture for his purpose. Satan left out a very important phrase from the passage which he quoted from Psalm 91. He omitted “… to keep thee in all thy ways” (Ps. 91:11). That is the important part of the verse. Satan was attempting to get the Lord Jesus to ignore God’s way.
Again Jesus answers with scripture. “It is written” 16 “You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.”
Christ replied with another verse from Israel’s wilderness experience (Dt 6:16)—recalling the experience at Massah, where the grumbling Israelites put the Lord to the test, angrily demanding that Moses produce water where there was none (Ex 17:2–7).
8 Again, the devil took himto 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.” Matt 4:8-9 (NIV)
4. What kind of temptation is this one?Satan showed Him the kingdoms of the world and their glory. This, you see, is a psychological temptation. Man lusts for power. Eve was subjected to the same temptation: “… ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”(Gen. 3:5).
Many of us succumb to this test.Another thing about this temptation which really raises a question is that the Devil offered the Lord Jesus the kingdoms of this world! Does the Devil have the kingdoms of the world to offer? Think that one over before you attempt to answer it. Well, let me give you my answer, and I have thought about it a great deal. The Lord Jesus did not challenge his statement that he had the kingdoms of the world to offer. Jesus didn’t say to him, “You can’t offer Me the kingdoms of the world because you don’t have them to give.” I assume that the Devil did have them to give. This fact gives us a little different viewpoint of the trouble we are having in the world today. The Devil is running everything!
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ “ Matt 4:10
You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him
Jesus again answers with scripture Deut. 6:13 and Exodus 20:3 ” You shall have no other gods before Me.
The Lord Jesus answered Satan every time out of the Word. He did not say, “Well, I think this” or “I believe there is a better way of doing it.” He said very definitely that the Word of God says thus and so. He used the Word of God for His answer. And for the child of God, that is enough.
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matt 4:11 (NIV)
5. What was the result of Jesus’ use of scripture to rebut Satan?
Luke 4:13 tells us that the devil left Him for a little season. He was back the next day—and was testing Him throughout His life. Especially do we see the temptation of the devil in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus endured indescribable suffering.
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned 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 to the sea, along 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.”Matt 4:12-16 (NIV)
4:15 Galilee of the Gentiles. This name was used even in Isaiah’s time because Galilee lay on the route through which all Gentiles passed in and out of Israel. In Jesus’ time, the region of Galilee had become an important center of Roman occupation. The prophecy cited by Matthew is from Is 9:1, 2. See Is 42:6, 7.
6. Which John was in prison and why was he there?
Jesus withdrew from the Jerusalem area because John had been taken by Herod and put in prison. Now we have the Lord Jesus shifting His headquarters from the south to the north and from Nazareth, His hometown, over to Capernaum. Matthew does not give us the details of this move in his record. This is an example of the fact that the four gospel records do not attempt to parallel each other. One is not a carbon copy of any of the others. The attempt to harmonize the Gospels is a big mistake. I have written a booklet entitled Why Four Gospels? in which I attempt to show that each one is written for a definite purpose. Not one of them was intended to be a biography of the Lord Jesus—no one could write that. Each book presents its case to reach a certain segment of the human family. Matthew was written to reach the religious element and is primarily for the nation of Israel. Actually, it was written in Hebrew—Papias and Eusebius, church fathers, both say that, as well as others of that period.
Although Matthew gives us no details of the move to Capernaum, we learn from other gospels that Jesus had been rejected by His hometown. Capernaum became His headquarters and continued as such, as far as we can tell, until the hour that He went to Jerusalem for the final time to be crucified.Matthew will give us the reason He moved His headquarters from Nazareth to Capernaum. The other gospel writers do not tell us this, but Matthew records it to show that in everything the Lord Jesus did, He was moving in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies—Dr. J. Vernon McGee
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matt 4:17 (NIV)
7. Where have we heard this before?This is the same message from the previous chapter. John the Baptist came proclaiming the same exact words. The Greek word for repent is “metanoeo” which means to think differently or change your mind. The word picture is, you are walking north and you turn completely in the opposite direction and you walk south.
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 make you fishers of men.” 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. Matt 4:18-22 (NIV)
8. Why choose fishermen as followers? Why didn’t Jesus go to the religious leaders of the time to proclaim his message and get their approval to begin His ministry?
The Pharisees and the Sadducees, the priests, the scribes, all saw Jesus as a threat to their power to control the people. They accused Him of performing miracles under the power of Satan. He knew in advance they would do everything they could to oppose His ministry and eventually have Him killed.
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching 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, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. Matt 4:23-25 (NIV)
9. Why did Jesus heal people?
4:23 teaching … proclaiming the gospel … healing. The 3 main aspects of Christ’s public ministry.
Jesus was establishing His credibility as being the messiah, the Son of God.His healing ministry was prophesied in the bible.
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ” The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” 20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21· ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes· MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes · NIVSN…..NIV Study Notes. · JVM ….J Vernon McGee,· ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary· BN …..Barnes Notes· WBC…… Wycliffe Bible Commentary· CN …… Constables Notes · IC……….Ironside Commentary· NET………Net Bible Study Notes.· JFB…………..Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary· VWS……………..Vincent Word Studies· CMM………….Commentary on Matthew and Mark· BDB………….. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)· Darby………..John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT· Johnson………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.· NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary: Matthew and Mark.
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– The first synagogues may have been built by Jews held captive far from the temple during the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C., but synagogues were important religious and social institutions in the time of Jesus.
facing worshipers, were the “chief seats” for religious leaders.– Although a rabbi might be recognized as the leader because of his distinguished teaching, there was no official clergy. In fact, any Jew who felt himself qualified could ask for permission to teach the Scriptures-as Jesus did at Nazareth.
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During the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BC Jews began gathering to pray and study the scriptures in the synagogue A quorum of ten men was necessary to form a synagogue. Women sat in a separate section, and were not expected to take part.
Numerous synagogues were set up in Jerusalem, including one for freedmen, or ex-slaves. There were no less than 480 synagogues in Jerusalem during Jesus’ time. The well preserved synagogue at Capernaum dates from the first or second century AD and is almost certainly the site of the building where Jesus spoke.
– The original Greek word synagogue means merely “a place of meeting.”
– In the Jewish world synagogues were second only to the temple in Jerusalem itself as religious institutions. They also served as schools of religious instruction and communal halls for civic functions under the direction of a council of elders.
– Typically, a synagogue was a small structure built on a rise above the neighboring houses. Opposite the entrance, a portable ark contained the scrolls of the Law and the Prophets. In front of it,
– Men and women perhaps sat apart from each other in the congregation as they did in later times.
– For public worship, which was conducted on the Sabbath, a minimum of 10 adult males had to be in attendance.
– The five-part service included prayers, psalm-singing, blessings, readings from the Scriptures, and commentaries on the sacred passages, but there were no sacrifices and no standard liturgy.
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