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| Matthew 4:1-4 |
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Lesson # Matthew 4:1-4 Study Material - Matthew 4:1-4 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Matt. 4:1-4 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, '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 on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.' 'Then', refers to the time immediately after the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. In the book of John we will see Jesus' return to the Jordan river and John's recognition of him and John's acknowledgment of Jesus as the one whom he saw the Holy Spirit descending upon. So this trip into the desert for testing took place after the baptism and before the selection of the disciples began. Jesus did not go immediately to Jerusalem and lay claim to the throne. He did not go immediately to where the largest population was to gain their following. He went into the desert, to a place where no one was. Followed certainly by Satan who observed him and waited until Jesus was really hungry. Jesus fasted 40 days, just as Moses and Elijah had. Wouldn't want Satan to accuse Jesus of not at least matching the fasting duration of them. But Jesus had no reason for fasting. He had not done anything wrong. Didn't need to serve out some kind of penance. But He did have a point to make in the desert. God had already acknowledged Him as the Christ, the Son of God. Satan followed Him to try and get Him to stumble in any way he could. God can make no mistakes. If He did, then He would not be God! Satan was out to win the angelic conflict at any price. We as humans who have believed in Christ were expendable as far as Satan was and is, concerned. Satan tries to make Jesus do things that He is certainly able to do, but would violate the principle of His dependence on the Holy Spirit. 'If you are God', and He certainly is, then make these rocks into bread, was the challenge. But man doesn't depend on the resources of this world. Our real support comes from God, and our real growth comes from Gods Word. Bread or anything from this world has no real value. Too many people trade their eternal inheritance for the immediate pleasures or immediate responses of this life. They close their eyes to their spiritual life and pursue their life as slaves to their sin nature. Jesus fasted for 40 days and 'then' became hungry. Jesus was certainly a superior man, not like those depiction's that we see of a Christ who appears to be a weakling, a long haired man, in art and such. He was certainly a man also because he did get hungry. Most of us can't go a day without whining about food. We are a society that snacks constantly. Food was never an issue for Jesus, nor were the earthly comforts that we are used to. Deu. 8:3, wherein the scriptures state that man lives by the Word of God and not by mere earthly food. Temptation came from Satan in this case, and Jesus answered it back with scripture. Scripture was clear in His mind despite His hunger from so long a period without food. This is how we apply doctrine to our daily lives. When faced with some temptation, we reach back into our soul and draw out the point of doctrine that applies to it and then simply walk away from the temptation. Doctrine is our greatest defense against sin and the workings of the sin nature. Jesus did not have a sin nature in Him, but we do. Jesus was open to attack directly from Satan. It's not likely that any of us will ever gain the direct attention of Satan during our life times. He is more interested in world leaders of various kinds like political, religious, and such. Jesus could have used His divine powers and agreed to the challenge of Satan, but God never performs for evil. God demonstrates His power through doctrine and the events of His plan, not that of Satan. God has nothing to prove. Satan on the other hand does. Sin and evil must always prove themselves. A person who is advancing in doctrine never has to prove them self. They just keep advancing and God will place them, promote them, use them as He wishes, and nothing in this world can prevent that. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
