Mathew 4

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

·         He likely stayed in the region a day or two before going into the wilderness, then goes to the other side of the river into the wilderness.

·         Jesus must have been tempted and tried as we were in all things, yet be without sin, otherwise He could not be a faithful high priest.

·         Just as Israel was baptized in the red sea then went into the wilderness, so Jesus would do the same.

·         Adam, after his commission, faced temptation as well, but the Second Adam who enjoyed none of the other benefits, would not fail.

² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

·         Moses fasted 40 days (Deut 9:9, Ex 34:28), as did Elijah (1 Kings 19:8). But more to the point Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness.

·         This speaks to His humanity. It’s to be expected that after 40 days He would be hungry. He was true man.

³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

·         Since you are the beloved Son, then do not wander hungry in the desert, but eat and be comforted.

⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”^[a]

·         Quote is from Deut 8:3. In context the nation was to go hungry so they could see God’s amazing provision for them in the form of mana. The principle is that man is to live on God’s provision and blessing, that God would take care of everyone in time.

·         This sounds plausible to us, which is very cunning, which should make us fearful and dependent on God.

⁵ Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

·         If this is in a vision then it eclipses the full power of the temptation. If it’s in reality, it’s somewhat hard to explain how Jesus lets Satan take him there.

·         Could be near the SE wall, because the temple roof had spikes to keep birds off.

·         This next challenge is to demonstrate that He is the messiah of His people, He is the one they were waiting for. God’s plan was to reveal this in His own way, at His own time, and Satan wanted Him to do the same, just do it sooner.

⁶ and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

·         Satan appeals to Scripture to tempt Jesus. If Jesus was the Son of God it would be evident to all in the Temple because those Scriptures would immediately come to the watchers mind.

·         (In Luke’s account this comes third.)

·         Satan is quoting from Ps 91:11-12. Notice however that Satan understands this principle of the Scriptures being about Jesus- his application of Ps 91 being to Christ and about Christ is actually on the money. We can’t even get that far!

·         In the Psalm the trust in God produces this confidence. Satan has taken it to mean test God, and wrest proof from Him.

⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

·         This one comes from Deuteronomy 6:16. The idea is that Israel (men in general) were/are not to throw themselves headlong into danger and expect sovereign protection. They were not to arrange themselves against how God runs his natural world and then demand special exemption from it, because the created order itself brings God glory.

·         Putting God to the test is lunacy, there is no value in it, and it turns God into our servant.

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

·         This is clearly a desperate gambit, as it makes little to no sense otherwise. The other two tests were to seize outside of God’s own timing something He would get anyway, this asks Him to completely toss all love for God away and worship Satan as God.

·         I’m of the opinion that this takes place in a vision, if Jesus can see the kingdoms of the world.

·         Satan is the ruler of this world, 1 John 5:19; John 12:31; Eph 2:2; 2 Cor 4:4.

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

·         This is a command here that Satan cannot disobey, and the reminder comes from Deut 6:13.

·         How much of our problem in society is as a result of not obeying this command?

·         It’s likely the Matthew account has the chronological order here, because it contains how Jesus banished Satan

·         The temptations of Satan are disguised as real and good things, except the last one which was a base appeal to a lust for power.

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

·         The angels having been withheld until Jesus stood or fell. Their only purpose is after all, as ministering spirits, Heb 1:6

·         Unlike Adam, and later Israel in the desert, Christ withstood the tests. In every other instance mankind is the unfaithful covenant partner, who ruined things, but here, there is a man who has not betrayed God.

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.

·         Barnes thinks that Jesus went to Galilee to start His ministry because of the unbelief in Judea and Jerusalem.

·         John’s ministry was: The messiah is coming. It only made sense that he could not say that anymore and would go to jail when the messiah did come.

¹³ And leaving Nazareth,

·         Luke has the account of how Nazareth rejected Him and tried to kill Him, Luke 4:16-30

He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:

·         This is where Jesus lived, and spent most of His 3 years.

·         This quote comes from Isaiah 9:1-2. The prophecy was that the two northern tribes, past the Jordan river, all the way up to the Northern portion (Hence, Galilee of the Gentiles, as opposed to Galilee of the Jews on the Southern side). This area was first destroyed by the invading Assyrians and Syrians, but God has promised a recompense for this in the life of Christ.

¹⁶ The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”

·         The light refers to understanding. In the times of ignorance they walked in darkness, but now they will walk in the light of understanding. See Is 40:16-17, John 3:19, 1 Peter 3:19. “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Ignorance is spoken of as darkness, ex: 1 Thess 5:5

·         The region of shadow of death probably speaks to how much worse off in ignorance they were in the north. Jesus makes His home amongst the most needy.

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

·         Jesus gives the same message as John, demonstrating the continuance of the message- but Jesus is going to build on it and take it to a place John couldn’t

·         This message was the same given the Apostles in Luke 24:42, which Peter took up in Acts 2.

¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

·         Jesus had seen them before, as Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist, as was the Apostle John. They followed Jesus briefly then returned to fishing for a time (I suspect when He was in the wilderness and John the Baptist was imprisoned).

·         Andrew brought Peter to Christ (See John’s gospel)

¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

·         They left everything behind to become the disciples of Jesus.

·         They were fishers of fish, salt of the earth, sort of an everyman trade.

²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

·         James was a strong personality, and seemed to be the spokesman for Christianity, which is why Herod Agrippa had him killed first, Acts 12:2.

·         These were the sons of thunder, whose mother also went with them.

²³ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

·         Jesus was well known in the region, teaching, preaching the Kingdom, healing diseases. For the next three years Jesus taught His disciples, preached to the crowds, and healed those who came to Him.

·         There were several synagogues that He visited. In Jerusalem there were apparently 480 synagogues before it was destroyed. These places were like our church service, Scripture was read, prayers were offered, a sermon was given on what had been read. This is where Jesus began His ministry.

²⁴ Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.

·         Syria is close and North East of Galilee

·         The demons afflicted the people with epilepsy, paralyzation, and the like. Having a demon then results in ill health effects.

²⁵ Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

·         The Decapolis were the 10 Gentile cities mostly east of the Jordan river.

·         Many people were coming up to hear and see Him, although the presence of the crowd and healing would prevent Him from being able to preach properly.

·         This ends the first division of Matthew- the introduction. Now he will move on to the real bulk of the Gospel account, the teaching.

Matthew 3

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

·         Each of the four gospels have John in them, which means he’s essential for understanding the appearance of the Messiah.

·         In those days probably means in the days while Jesus was still in Nazareth, as reported in Matt 2:23

·         The wilderness of Judea was almost a days walk north of Jerusalem, where the Jordan runs into the dead sea. Jesus immediately left John and went into this wilderness to be tempted by Satan.

² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

·         Jesus and John both start with this message, Repent. Peter also features it prominently at Pentecost.

·         John’s message is that the Kingdom has come at last, see also Daniel 7:14

³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’”

·         Quote is from Isaiah 40:3, and also seen in Malachi 4. John was to be the final prophet, the last stop before the messiah. This is where his popularity came from, the people were excited to realize that the Messiah was coming shortly. John would not have been nearly so popular if he just confined himself to moral correction.

⁴ Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

·         This is a link to the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) who wore a garment of hair and a belt around his waist. This fits with the prophecy of Elijah coming back before the great and awesome day of the Lord, although it should be mentioned that prophets since Elijah would wear this, see Zech 13:4

⁵ Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ⁶ and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

·         The baptism likely comes from a derivative of the washing and purification ceremonies, like Lev 15:13. The person was dipped in water after confessing their sins and vowing to live for God. The Gentile converts were baptized previously, now everyone is admitting their need for it.

·         Baptism means ‘to dip’ and would speak to Naaman

·         This doesn’t mean every last literal person, it just means a vast multitude

·         There was no forgiveness for sins, there was just confession of it, an awareness of it. This lead to the work of the messiah being to forgive the sins, once the people were ready for it and would admit their guilt.

·         The point of John was to point to the Messiah when He came. John 1:31

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

·         Since many people turned out to see him, the Pharisees and Sadducees were among them. These sects were opposites, and John rebukes both as unfit for the kingdom. John calls them malicious and evil who deserve death.

·         There was also a large sect at this time, the Essenes, who were monks and hermits. They never encountered Christ because they never left their caves and homes. That should speak to the danger of drawing into enclaves.

⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,

·         Repentance is a change of mind and heart which leads to a change of action.

⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

·         Since God had chosen Abraham and his seed to inhereit the blessing forever they assumed that meant them. It actually meant Christ, and John was trying to remind them of this

¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

·         This was very similar to what Malachi was reporting he would say, it was a message of judgment.

·         The ax being laid at the root means the whole thing is about to come down in total, not merely a part of it.

·         Jesus in John 14 compares them to a vine which will be cut down and burned, and Romans 11 has them as branches which will be burned.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

·         John here differentiates his baptism from the one of Jesus, which was confirmed in the Acts account (Acts 18:25, 19:4). It’s very inferior, its more than about repentance, it’s about a cleansing fire.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

·         Depending on who John is talking to this can either mean that the elect are going to get purified with fire, like Mal 3:2 says, or it means that the elect are going to get the Holy Spirit and the wicked are going to get fire.

·         The winnowing fan is more like a shovel. This foreshadows the parables which are coming about the wheat and tares, or good and bad fishes.

·         All that by way of introduction to why Jesus would go to him, and what John was about.

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

·         If we were in the shoes of John I think this is our thought as well. We have more need to receive the holy spirit than Jesus would have to be put in water

·         Obviously Jesus had no sins and was therefore not repenting.

·         Dabney thinks that since Jesus was 30, and that was he was being washed for priesthood service.

·         McAurthur thinks that this is Jesus identifying with sinners, and pointing toward his death, burial, and resurrection.

·         For myself, I think that this is done so John could see what follows, and would begin testifying not just that Jesus was coming, but that He had already come, so that John could start actively diminishing his crowd and tell them to come to Jesus.

¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

·         John then submits even though he doesn’t fully understand

¹⁶ When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ¹⁷ And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

·         I think it’s more likely the he in view of the vision here is John. See John 1:33 “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” This is therefore John’s vision, and John’s testimony, which changes his whole ministry.

·         John sees the Triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Just as this opens Jesus ministry, Matthew closes the ministry with the great commission, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

·         He also sees God testify that this man is His eternal Son in whom is all His delight, whom He is eternally delighted with, which was a fulfillment of prophecy. Compare to Ps 2:7 and Is 42:1.

Matthew 2

1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

·         This is pretty awesome that the stars line up with His birth, creation itself testifying He has come. In 2000 the planets all lined up in a row behind the sun. They line up in this way every 2000 years in fact.

·         This is right after Jesus was born, a matter of a few days, perhaps 8 or so, right after His circumcision, in the days of Herod the Great. I myself think that’s 1BC

·         Catholic history has 3 men because three gifts are mentioned, and how wise would they be if they didn’t all bring gifts?

3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

·         Obviously there was no room for a King in Herod’s world. He in fact killed his own sons because he believed they were planning on assuming the throne before he was dead.

·         Herod and all of Jerusalem were not happy about the coming of the Messiah. This continued right down into Jesus own time, where the leaders of the city rejected Him

·         The 24 division of priests were gathered, as well as the experts who were not from a particular group. This may have been a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

5So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:   6‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

·         The quote comes from Micah 5:2 – “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

·         The shepherd portion comes from the Jesus being the offspring of David the shepherd, but also from God as their shepherd Psalm 80:1, and the promise of the Messiah being like a shepherd who cares for His sheep – Isaiah 40:11. The word means ‘ruler’ but shepherd has a much better notion to it.

·         The scribes and leaders knew immediately where the Messiah would be born, although they didn’t realize the meaning of Micah 5:2 was not the same as what they quoted. That they didn’t understand ‘whose going is from old, from everlasting’ is obvious.

·         The other difference is Micah has Ephratah whereas Matthew has Judah, although they speak to the same place.

7Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

·         After calling the council on where Jesus was to be born Herod found out when He was born.

·         Herod was close to death, and very occupied with other events, which is why he doesn’t even send a person to escort the Magi.

9When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

·         So the star shows itself to be another miracle, of setting over the house where Jesus was in Bethlehem.

·         Since the star is once again mentioned it seems safe to assume it had gone away. This might be a comet or meteor that sank over the house of Jesus.

11And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

·         Jesus is always mentioned first, Mary is always mentioned second.

·         This is likely the house they stayed in when everyone left after the census, but Mary was not fully recovered.

·         This is similar to Psalm 72:10-15.

·         Frankincense was for offering to God in a burning, Myrrh was to embalm the dead because it was such a wonderful perfume, Esther 2:12. Gold was what you gave to kings. Kingdom, priesthood, sacrifice of Christ are noted here, because God could have had these men come from anywhere to honor Him, and He chooses this area of the world, which produces these gifts, which is symbolic.

12Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

·         Now the angel is going to appear again to Joseph

13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

·         They flee to the land of bondage where they will be safe from destruction. Just as Israel and his sons found safety from death by starvation in Egypt, or as the nation faced extinction by marriage of foreign wives but fled to safety, Jesus too finds safety there.

14When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,

·         It was no more than about 60 miles, 2 or 3 days journey to get to a place where there were other Jews and synagogues and places of rest and shelter to live there for a short period of time.

·         This is likely the night that the Magi visited and left, which meant Herod likely had a spy on them, who was going to make sure the family didn’t go anywhere and was down for the night before reporting back that the Magi had found their king.

15and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

·         This comes from Hosea 11:1, where God calls Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and Matthew has appropriated the language to Christ.  At first glance it looks nothing like the context, but this is because the Bible is about Christ. Israel itself is a shadow of Christ, and they find their existence in Him.

·         He has bent all human history about Himself, their works and actions were predestined to this because it foretells the person and work of Christ.

16Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

·         Reading this closely it seems like this is just done in rage, just because. My guess is he already knew Jesus slipped through his fingers.

·         If the star appeared when Jesus was born then they would have taken about 40 days to walk there, about the time of Mary’s purification and His dedication. It’s likely Herod picks this as a rough number just to be safe.

17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:   18“A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”

·         This is taken from Jeremiah 31:15, in context talking about the deportation to Babylon, and how Israel is destroyed.

·         The mothers are weeping over the tyranny and brutality of oppression, the loss of the ones they loved

19Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” 21Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

·         I’m not sure if this happened after the temple dedication in luke or before, but this seems to be the last thing that happens in the narrative of Jesus birth.

·         Herod the Great died in Jericho shortly after Jesus was born, about April, 1bc, just before the Passover.

·         Child and His Mother, those who sought the Child’s life continually place emphasis on Jesus. He must be raised a Jew among the Jews, so he returns to the promised land.

22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.

·         That year there was a huge riot at Passover, and 3,000 people were killed. Archelaus, Herods son was likely faulted, and as a consequence Rome deposed him and installed a governor. Pontius Pilate was the 5^th governor in less than 30 years.

23And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

·         Notice that there is no quotation of ‘prophet’ but prophets, plural. There is no prophecy that makes sense of this, it’s likely this meant more Is 53, ‘he was despised and rejected.’ Compare to John 1:46. He was born in a manger and his early life would be of the same stuff.

·         Herod Antipas ruled in Galilee, and he was the one who liked to listen to John the Baptist before he was pressured into killing him.