Jesus' Journey, Part Four

Matthew 4 (New International Version)

Matthew 4

The Temptation of Jesus

 ¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."  ⁴Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'^[a]"
 ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶"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.'^[b]"
 ⁷Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'^[c]"
 ⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
 ¹⁰Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'^[d]"
 ¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Jesus Begins to Preach

 ¹²When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. ¹³Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
 ¹⁵"Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
      the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
      Galilee of the Gentiles—
 ¹⁶the people living in darkness
      have seen a great light;
   on those living in the land of the shadow of death
      a light has dawned."^{[e]  17}From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

The Calling of the First Disciples

 ¹⁸As 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. ¹⁹"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.  ²¹Going 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, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Heals the Sick

 ²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴News 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. ²⁵Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,^[f] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Jesus being led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil

The devil quoted the Bible, wow, he knows the word of the Lord. . Just like many people who have let the evil inside them over take them. I am not sure how many of you knew that the devil knows the word of our Lord. This was news to me. I am sure I have read this passage before. I may have just overlooked this fact.

Now the fact that after the devil tried to test Jesus, he tried to tell him that he would give him "All this if you bow down and worship me." HA HA HA!!!! What the Lord gives you is what you truly deserve. For the devil to really think that Jesus was going to give up the Lord for "all this" is simply comical. All this must have meant the valleys they were looking at.. At least that's my guess. The devil is very sneaky, now knowing that he does know the word of the Lord. We should all be aware that even if a person has some words from Bible that sound pretty, maybe even some images that look peaceful, it might be the wrong God that the person is advertising for. In my eyes there is only one true way to know what is going on. You need to pray about it to the one and only true God. Pray that he will let you see these people as he sees them. If you are like me you will know when you look in there eyes that there is an evil force at work.


Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

It is that simple. Now keep in mind that to repent means to ask forgiveness with a sincere heart. SINCERE HEART! The Lord knows if you are being sincere, remind yourself that you must only ask for forgiveness with a sincere heart, it is very important. Your salvation can be lost and regained. The Lord is very merciful. At the same time, in knowing that your salvation can be regained, you must not lose it knowingly just because you are aware that it can be regained.  


 ¹⁹"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him. 

Can you imagine what those men felt inside of them when they heard Jesus speak? Oh my.. What an exhilarating rush of love that must have been.



As always I hope that you walk away from your computer with a better understanding, respect as well as a more ambitious willingness to learn.

                                          Stephie

P.S. I want you guys to come up with/submit your favorite quotes. I will use them on the up coming posts. Hope you do your homework! You will have to either post a comment or e-mail me to submit a quote. My e-mail address is in my profile information.