The Grace Commentary – Your free verse-by-verse Bible commentary Matthew 4

Matthew 4:1

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

(a) Tempted. The original word (peirazo) means tested (e.g., Rev. 2:10). It is not a sin to be tempted and Jesus our High Priest was tempted in all things yet remained without sin (Heb. 4:15). For this reason, Jesus is able to aid us when we are tempted (Heb. 2:15). “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation” (2 Pet. 2:9).

The devil tempted first Adam in the garden and in the wilderness he tempted Last Adam. On both occasions he baited his line with three temptations: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life (1 John 2:16).

(b) The devil is also known as the tempter (Matt. 4:2, 1 Th. 3:5), the evil one (Matt. 13:38, 1 John 2:13), the accuser (Rev. 12:10), Satan (Matt. 4:10), and the great dragon and the serpent of old (Rev. 12:9, 20:2).

He is a fallen angel who disguises himself as an angel of light (Luke 10:18, 2 Cor. 11:14). His modus operandi is deception (Rev. 12:19, 20:10). The devil is a defeated and disarmed enemy (Heb. 2:14). Like a toothless lion his growl is worse than his bite (1 Pet. 5:8).

Matthew 4:3

And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

(a) The tempter. God will never tempt you to evil (Jas. 1:13), so those who tempt you are doing the work of the tempter (i.e., the devil; 1 Th. 3:5).

The Tempter can only tempt you. He cannot force you to sin for sin no longer has dominion over you (Rom 6:22). But if we succumb to the Tempter, we can stumble into sin. From time to time, we all stumble (Jas 3:2). But when we do we are acting out of character. This is why we’re miserable when we sin – we’re doing the things we do not want to do (Gal. 5:17). Feeling wretched is actually proof of our new life coming into conflict with our old habits of walking after the flesh. It is evidence that we are no longer sinners by nature. We resist temptation through prayer and by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus (Luke 22:40).

(b) The Son of God. The apostles recognized that Christ’s identity was defined by his relationship to God the Father (see entry for John 20:31). In contrast, the unbelieving Jews doubted Christ’s sonship (Matt. 27:40, John 19:7), and the devil questioned it. “If you are the Son of God” (Matt. 4: 6, Luke 4:3, 9).

(c) These stones. The stones represent the law. The tempter will tempt you to find your sustenance through the law. If he can get you to rely on your law-keeping performance, you will have fallen from grace and cut yourself off from Christ (see entry for Gal. 5:4).

(d) Become bread. Jesus was hungry and the devil tempted him with bread. This temptation represents the lust of the flesh. See entry for The Flesh.

Matthew 4:6

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, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”

(a) If you are the Son of God. The devil will always try to get you to question your identity. You are a dearly loved child of God (1 John 3:1). See also the entry for Matt. 4:3

(b) The Son of God; see entry for Matt. 4:3.

(d) Angels; see entry for Heb. 1:4.

Matthew 4:7

Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”

The Lord your God. Although the Old Testament is riddled with a variety of names for God, the New Testament has relatively few. Most of the time when Jesus spoke about God, he called him Father (see entry for Luke 2:49). But when speaking to the devil he called him Lord God.

Matthew 4:8

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

(a) Showed Him. The final temptation was the lust of the eyes. “All you see could be yours.” The devil tried to seduce Jesus by putting the world on a platter.

(b) The world does not refer to people in general. “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16) and Jesus is the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). In context, the world (kosmos) refers to fallen humanity and sin-marred creation. It is the self-serving civilization which remains under the influence of Satan and the powers of darkness (1 John 5:19). It is the City of Man, which stands opposed to Zion, the City of God. It’s Babylon the Great, the “dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit” (Rev. 18:2). It is Satan’s home from where he has exported untold misery and pain. Like a sinking ship, the fallen order has no future (1 John 2:17).

Matthew 4:10

Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”

(a) Satan. The original noun satanas means “adversary” or “accuser.” In the New Testament it is used as a proper name for the devil, the adversary and accuser of God’s people (Rev. 12:9–10).

(b) The Lord your God; see entry for Matt 4:7.

(c) It is written. Jesus is about to quote the old covenant law that says “Fear the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Deu. 6:13).

(d) Worship the Lord. Jesus deliberately misquotes the law, replacing the word fear for worship. Or rather, he translates the heart of God better than Moses did.

There is no fear in love. Your heavenly Father does not want you to live in fear because the one who fears has not been made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). You have nothing to fear from the One who loves you with a love that surpasses knowledge (Eph. 3:19).

To fear God is to worship him. It’s giving him the reverence and honor due his name. This sort of fear has nothing to do with pain and punishment but is a proper response to a God who is holy, righteous, awesome, and good.

Further reading: What is the fear of the Lord?

Matthew 4:11

Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

(a) The devil; see entry for Matt. 4:1.

(b) Angels; see entry for Heb. 1:4.

Matthew 4:17

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

(a) Preach. The original verb (kerusso) means to herald as a public crier. This is one of three words that are commonly translated as “preach” or “preaching” in the New Testament. See entry for Acts 5:42.

(b) Repent. To repent literally means to change your mind. In a biblical sense, repentance is not an isolated intellectual act but a response to spiritual revelation that leads to transformation. In context, Jesus is inviting us to change our unbelieving minds and receive the glad tidings of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Note that there is no suggestion of sin or penance in this context. In the new covenant, repentance does not mean “reform your sinning ways.” In the old covenant, repentance implied a turning from sin (see for example; 1 Kings 8:35, 47-48, 2 Chr. 7:14, Eze. 14:6, 18:30, Jer. 36.3). But in the new covenant, repentance involves a turning to God (Acts 20:21). Paul preached that we should “repent and turn to God” (Act 26:20). Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin and both are a response to God’s love and grace. Repentance is the ability to receive the truth that sets us free. It’s a change of mind that causes us to see as God sees and think as God thinks. To repent and believe is the same as “hear and believe” (Acts 15:7).

See entry for Repentance.

(d) At hand. The Old Testament prophets spoke of a coming kingdom from heaven (Dan. 2:44). The last of these prophets, John the Baptist, said the kingdom had arrived or was at hand. He was speaking of the imminent arrival of Jesus Christ, the promised King (Dan. 7:13–14). Jesus began his ministry with the same words.

The gospel is not a there and then message, but a here and now message. Today is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2).

Matthew 4:18

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

(a) Simon was a common Biblical name. Since there were two disciples named Simon, they were distinguished as Simon Peter and Simon the zealot (Matt. 10:4). In addition, the New Testament names seven other Simons including Simon the step-brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55), Simon the leper (Matt. 26:6), Simon of Cyrene (Matt. 27:32), Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36–40), Simon, the father of Judas Iscariot (John 13:2), Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:9), and Simon the tanner (Acts 10:6). Simon Peter lived with his brother Andrew in Bethsaida (John 1:44) near Capernaum (Mark 1:21, 29).

(b) Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, had been a disciple of John the Baptist when he first encountered Jesus (John 1:35–40). Later, Jesus called both Andrew and Simon Peter to follow him (see next verse).

Matthew 4:19

And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

I will make you. You may think you lack the personality or skills to win souls, but Jesus will make you into fisher of men. Jesus is the wise winner of souls, and he wins souls through you. Our part is follow or trust him.

Matthew 4:21

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; and He called them.

(a) James, the son of a fisherman called Zebedee, was one of Jesus’ first disciples. He is always mentioned with his brother John, and he is almost always listed first suggesting that he was the older of the two (cf. Acts 1:13). (Interestingly, neither of the brothers is mentioned by name in John’s Gospel; see John 21:2.) James and John must have been rowdy and passionate men because Jesus called them “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). James was the first apostle to be martyred and the only apostle whose death is recorded in scripture (Acts 12:2). He was executed by Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, around AD44.

(b) John, the son of Zebedee, was a fishermen like his brother of James. Their mother was probably Salome (Matt. 27:56) who was probably Mary’s sister (Mark 15:40, John 19:25). If so, James and John, were Jesus’ cousins. Their family lived in Capernaum (Mark 1:21) and they were prosperous enough to own a fishing business (Mark 1:20). Like his brother, John walked away from all that to follow Jesus. Following the ascension of Jesus, John became a prominent leader within the church.

Matthew 4:23

Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

(a) Synagogues. Jesus preached in the Jewish assemblies or synagogues (Matt. 12:9, Mark 1:21, Luke 4:44, John 6:59) and the apostle Paul followed his example (Acts 17:1–2). The first Christians were Jewish and when they travelled they proclaimed the good news in Jewish assemblies. To a large degree, the Christian church was birthed in Jewish synagogues. See also the entry for Jas. 2:2.

(b) The gospel revealed in the Bible goes by several names. There is the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1) or the gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19, 1 Cor. 9:12, 2 Cor. 2:12, 9:13, 10:14, Gal. 1:7, Php. 1:27, 1 Th. 3:2). There is the gospel of God (Mark 1:14, Rom 1:1, 15:16, 2 Cor. 11:7, 1 Th. 2:2, 8, 9, 1 Pet. 4:17), gospel of the blessed God (1 Tim. 1:11), and the gospel of his Son (Rom 1:9). There is the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 9:35, 24:14, Luke 16:16), and the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). These are different labels for the one and only gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). See entry for The Gospel.

(c) The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of the King Jesus’ dominion and reign on earth as it is in heaven. This kingdom is not far away but right here (Mark 1:14-15).

(d) Proclaiming. The original verb (kerusso) means to herald as a public crier. This is one of three words that are commonly translated as “preach” or “preaching” in the New Testament. See entry for Acts 5:42

Matthew 4:24

The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

(a) The news. The good news of the kingdom spread through word of mouth. Those who were set free and healed told others.

(b) Syria was a Roman province located to the north of Judea. In New Testament times, its capital city was Antioch. Syrians were among the first to respond to Jesus’ ministry.

(c) He healed them. Jesus healed every sick person who came to him (Matt. 8:16, 12:15, Luke 6:19, Acts 10:38). The early church experienced similar results (Acts 5:16).

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Matthew 4