Daily Bible Reading (Thursday, January 4th)
18Matthew 4 (ESV)
The Temptation of Jesus
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[a]
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”[b]20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And 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, and he called them.22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Footnotes:
- Matthew 4:17 Or the kingdom of heaven has come near
- Matthew 4:19 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women
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18 Comments
Arturo Jan 14, 2018 @ 10:49 pm
Amen pastor
Jody Boudreaux Jan 5, 2018 @ 6:31 pm
How gracious Jesus was to choose brothers to serve in ministry together.
Kelly Bellinger Jan 5, 2018 @ 9:10 am
After resisting His temptation, Jesus needed ministering to by the angels. I lingered on this verse, reflecting on the times in my life when I have been tempted and resisted. It can at times take all our reserves and leave us feeling spent. How important it is for us to have strong relationships with other believers so that we can bear each other up during times of temptation, when our spiritual batteries are spent! I thank God for all of you, my sisters and brothers, and our great love for each other that shows itself in so many ways! Let us all lean on each other all the more!
Jeanie Jan 5, 2018 @ 12:01 am
830 needs to know too!
Tyler T Bull Jan 4, 2018 @ 8:57 pm
"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
That's the passage that I am thinking the most on today. We want to see people saved, hopefully, we really want to see them saved. And Jesus promises He will use us for just that thing if we follow Him.
Keagan McLeese Jan 4, 2018 @ 3:40 pm
There’s no better way to meditate on His truth than a road trip to Dallas and the comments on this blog! Thanks, Believers. My meditation was on if there were any areas in my own life where Scripture was being twisted. This had been true in my past against some of the core doctrines of the Reformation (I grew up in the Restoration movement). Without question, the two rods of correction we have is His Word of Truth and His Holy Spirit to renew our minds into His wisdom instead of man’s.
Art Wachdorf Jan 4, 2018 @ 10:08 am
All of us struggle with sin and will until we are called home. Jesus, who was both God and man, was temped in all areas (see 1 John 2:15-16). He was tempted with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. In all these areas he responded by relying on the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit within him to overcome the temptation. That's a powerful example to us. We will never be effective in our struggle against the flesh unless we are grounded in the Word.
Nina wolff Jan 4, 2018 @ 9:38 am
Repent for the time of The Lord is near! I pray that for my kids and their dad! Follow me I will make u fishers of me! Lord give me the words to say to those who don’t know you! Thank u Jesus!!
Martha Taplin Jan 4, 2018 @ 9:28 am
Yes, Keagan, the Scripture can be twisted and abused.... very dangerous!!
Kelly Pilkinton Jan 4, 2018 @ 9:13 am
Thanks for the Fat and for sharing the SALT.
I keep commenting but am not seeing them show up. I am participating :)
Kelly Pilkinton Jan 4, 2018 @ 8:48 am
Thanks for the FAT and sharing the salt.
I was thankful for Pastor Blakey's encouragement (possibly in passing) during
Sunday school last week. To not rely on men and their interpretations or "notes" on scripture, but to seek out the Word for ourselves. To know the Word is to love the Word. Like craving milk **I think he said something along those lines in our Q&A**
Tommy Hard Jan 4, 2018 @ 8:14 am
Theme Summary: Jesus, the Son of God, begins establishing his kingdom with his first disciples and proclaiming the good news of that kingdom throughout Galilee, with crowds following.
Also of interest is that Satan tempted Jesus, The Bread of Life, to feast on bread instead of the word; the one who's body is the temple to test God by throwing his body off the temple; and the King of Kings who's kingdom was at hand to settle for earthly kingdoms and their glory.
Mike and Shauna / Beeville Jan 4, 2018 @ 8:06 am
there is only about 2% of the Canada/United States Christians that actually read and study the bible. That stat is very low. That being said, many will be deceived by false teachers and churches. They don't know scripture and Satan knows scripture. He twists it to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan hates God, it is very prevalent here and in Gen. 3 and a few other places in scripture. Satan's
pride and greed really stands out here. I must be careful and know Gods Word.
Forrest Tilger Jan 4, 2018 @ 7:52 am
As I read verse 16 I think of those dwelling in darkness under the shadow of death and that we are called to be light in darkness. My prayer is that Believers Fellowship shine bright in 2018.
Bruce Blakey Jan 4, 2018 @ 7:15 am
Matthew's Gospel is showing that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah/King. Chapter 1 shows the genealogy of the King. Chapter 2 shows the recognition of the King by the Magi. Chapter 3 shows the announcement of the King by His forerunner John the Baptist. Now in chapter 4 we see demonstrations of the King as we see His power over the devil, demons, and disease. Both John and Jesus called on the people of Israel to repent for the kingdom is at hand - it is imminent, ready. This was a repeat of the OT calls upon Israel. Sadly, the nation rejected Jesus and we still await the day when Israel will repent and the Kingdom will be established. As we wait we are called upon to follow Jesus and if we do He promises to make us fishers of men. I am praying that I and all of BF will faithfully follow King Jesus and lead many others to Him for His glory and honor.
Jason Adam Jan 4, 2018 @ 6:46 am
Keegan - I noticed that too (satan using scripture). The thing is that he had to twist the meaning of scripture in order for it to be used as a temptation. We see this a lot in all of the "Christian" cults and most of the denominations. If you think about it, it is one of the most powerful ways to tempt those who believe about the Bible but don't study it for themselves and know what it says. Not surprisingly, it didn't work on The Word who became flesh. As Spirit filled followers of Christ, who have access to His Word and an abundance of accurate teachers of His Word, it shouldn't work on us either.
Bruce M Jan 4, 2018 @ 6:21 am
As Satan is the great deceiver, he will always twist things including scripture, as it was evident here. This is what he has done with religions and cults to mislead people today. When we are tempted to sin, we must be solid in knowing biblical truth-having it on our minds and in our hearts-so we don't sin. This is also applicable in helping others as biblical thought will lead to biblical action, whether it be ourselves, our spouses, children, friends, fellow believers, etc.
Keagan McLeese Jan 4, 2018 @ 5:59 am
What a rich chapter, with so much to chew on. Jesus fasted for forty days; I rarely ever skip a meal for the sake of Christ! Jesus was tempted in every way and yet was without a single sin across the duration of His entire life! Satan used Scripture as a temptation; I need to meditate on this.