4
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert. There the devil tempted him. 2 After 40 days and 40 nights of going without eating, Jesus was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him. He said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ 4 Jesus answered, ‘It is written, “Man must not live only on bread. He must also live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ (Deuteronomy 8:3)
5 Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city. He had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down. It is written,
‘ “The Lord will command his angels to take good care of you.
They will lift you up in their hands.
Then you won't trip over a stone.” ’ (Psalm 91:11, 12)
8 Finally, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain. He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 ‘If you bow down and worship me,’ he said, ‘I will give you all this.’
10 Jesus said to him, ‘Get away from me, Satan! It is written, “Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.” ’ (Deuteronomy 6:13)
11 Then the devil left Jesus. Angels came and took care of him.
4:1–11 Jesus went to the desert. This helped him prepare to start doing his work among people. Right away the devil came to tempt him. The devil wanted to keep his power to do evil things in the world. But his power was in danger because Jesus had come to earth. Jesus had come to stop the power of sin, death and evil. The devil tempted Jesus to find help and strength in something other than God. He wanted Jesus to turn stones into bread. If Jesus did that, he would be providing for his own needs. He wouldn't be trusting God to provide for him. The devil tempted Jesus to jump down from the temple. The devil said that this would show everyone how powerful Jesus was. If Jesus did that, he would be acting with pride. He would be seeking glory for himself. He wouldn't be trusting God to honour him. Then the devil offered to give Jesus all the riches of the world. But if Jesus worshipped the devil, he couldn't serve and worship only God. Each time the devil tempted him, Jesus answered using words from the book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy Moses had urged God's people to be faithful to the Mount Sinai covenant. The Israelites didn't listen to Moses or stay faithful to God's covenant. Unlike them, Jesus did remain faithful to God. The devil left Jesus. But he kept trying to stop Jesus' work.
12 John had been put in prison. When Jesus heard about this, he returned to Galilee. 13 Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 In that way, what the prophet Isaiah had said came true. He had said,
15 ‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Galilee, where Gentiles live!
Land along the Mediterranean Sea! Territory east of the River Jordan!
16 The people who are now living in darkness
have seen a great light.
They are now living in a very dark land.
But a light has shone on them.’ (Isaiah 9:1, 2)
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach. ‘Turn away from your sins!’ he said. ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’
4:12–17 God had promised that he would send his people a new ruler. Prophets from hundreds of years before had announced this message. The new ruler would come through David's family line (Isaiah 9:7). Matthew showed that Jesus was that ruler. Jesus was from Galilee. Galilee was the place Isaiah had prophesied about. And Jesus brought God's light. The prophet Isaiah talked about people living in darkness. This was a way of describing what sin does to people. It controls them so they can't see who God is or enjoy his goodness. But Matthew showed that there was a great light was shining on people. Jesus was the light that showed people what God is like. He showed them what it meant to live for God. They started by turning away from sin. Through Jesus, God was bringing his rule to earth. That is what Jesus meant about the kingdom of heaven being near. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God.
18 One day Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. There he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the lake, because they were fishermen. 19 ‘Come and follow me,’ Jesus said. ‘I will send you out to fish for people.’ 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers. They were James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee. As they were preparing their nets, Jesus called out to them. 22 Right away they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.
23 Jesus went all over Galilee. There he taught in the synagogues. He preached the good news of God's kingdom. He healed every illness and disease the people had. 24 News about him spread all over Syria. People brought to him all who were suffering different kinds of illnesses. Some were suffering great pain. Others were controlled by demons. Some were shaking wildly. Others couldn't move at all. And Jesus healed all of them. 25 Large crowds followed him. People came from Galilee, from the area known as the Ten Cities, and from Jerusalem and Judea. Others came from the area across the River Jordan.
4:18–25 Jesus had work to do for the kingdom of God. He began this work by asking certain people to be his disciples. The disciples would join Jesus in his work and learn from him. Peter, Andrew, James and John saw that Jesus had authority. They left their work as fishermen and followed Jesus at once. Jesus' work included teaching and healing. He taught that God is the true King of the world. Through Jesus, God had come to save people. He came to save them from the power of sin, death and evil. This was good news! Jesus acted with power to make many people strong and healthy. The miracles he did showed that God is stronger than illness and pain. They showed that God is stronger than evil spiritual beings like demons. People heard about these mighty works and were excited. Large crowds gathered around Jesus.