Frameworks:
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 4
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
FRAMEWORKS:
Matthew, chapter 4
v.1-11
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
v.12-17
Jesus Begins to Preach
v.18-22
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
v.23-25
Jesus Heals the Sick
v.1-11
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
v.1
(The Holy Spirit
leads Jesus into this time) Then
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
by the devil.
v.2
(a
long fast and naturally at the end of it, he is hungry) After
fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
v.3
(Satan waits
and plays on his hunger, seeking to get him to use his power for
personal use) The
tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell
these stones to become bread.”
v.4
(Jesus quotes
scripture – there is a spiritual food that will keep me)
Jesus
answered, “It
is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.' [Deut.
8:3]”
v.5
(the devil tries
another approach) Then
the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest
point of the temple.
v.6
(check it out,
see if God will really take care of you) “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.'
[Psa 91:11,12]”
v.7
(more scripture
in Jesus' answer, don't test God, just trust Him) Jesus
answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God
to the test.' [Deut.
6:16]
v.8
(Satan
tries a third tack ) Again,
the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
v.9
(I
have power to give you these peoples if you submit to me)
“All
this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship
me.”
v.10
(I'm here to
worship God only; go away! (implied)) Jesus
said to him, “Away
from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve him only.' [Deut
6:13]”
v.11
(angels look
after Jesus as Satan departs) Then
the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
(Lessons:
times of testing come, even prompted by God sometimes and in times
of weakness, we need to rely upon God's word, what He has said
already. Draw near to God, resist the devil and he will flee –
Jas 4:7)
v.12-17
Jesus Begins to Preach
v.12
(hearing about
John, Jesus moves north) When
Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.
v.13,14
(he left his
old home and set up in Capernaum) Leaving
Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake
in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— to
fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
v.15,16
(just as Isaiah
had prophesied about a great light coming to Galilee) “Land
of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the
Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee
of the Gentiles— 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.” [Isa
9:1,2]
v.17
(he starts preaching)
From
that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
(Comment:
the scene is being set by the prophetic scriptures – Jesus will
be a great like in a dark land)
v.18-22
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
v.18
(walking by
the lake he sees two fishermen) 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.
v.19
(he calls them
a new form of fishing) “Come,
follow me,”
Jesus said, “and
I will send you out to fish for people.”
v.20
(they leave
them and go with him) At
once they left their nets and followed him.
v.21,22
(he repeats
his call with two more fishermen) 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, and
immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
v.23-25
Jesus Heals the Sick
v.23
(he starts his
itinerant ministry, preaching and teaching and healing) Jesus
went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming
the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness
among the people.
v.24
(as the word
gets out, crowds flock to him and he healed all the sikc people)
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.
v.25
(people come
from far and wide) Large
crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region
across the Jordan followed him.
(Comment:
note the comprehensive nature of his ministry – preaching (challenging),
teaching (informing) and healing (putting lives right))