Matthew 4:1-17

  1 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 temple 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,
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 Godand him only shall you serve.’”

  11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

  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.”


 Sometimes I find it hard to think of anything new to say about passages that I've read so many times. I'm sure that if only we knew what temptation must have been like for Jesus we would be very moved by this passage. One passage that this brings to mind is Hebrews 4:14-16:

   14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

These are such precious words. I so often find myself frustrated to the point of tears with the weakness of my mind and body. I long to be free from this body of sin. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! There is victory to be had in this life and even more wholly in the next.

I find it interesting that Jesus waited until the work of John the Baptist had been completed before starting the full work of his ministry. I had never noticed that before.

I'm always struck by how Jesus' message was so simple: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” If only we knew how much is meant by that one word 'repent.' Synonyms that come to mind are 'change your ways', 'stop sinning', 'correct your course', Do you have any other suggestions?

'The kingdom of heaven is at hand' is also a powerful statement. I feel like I only have a small idea of what this means. Of course, in the circles we're in much is made of this. I understand intellectually that Jesus is talking about his kingdom where he is king just as any earth king rule his kingdom. He will set the rules, punish the evildoers, reward the faithful, etc. I feel though that I've only internalized a fraction of what this means. May he give us all eyes to see and ears to hear!