Matthew 4
BSASBJesus is tested by the devil in the wilderness and wins by trusting God’s written word. He then moves to Galilee, announces that God’s kingdom is near, and calls his first four disciples. Crowds begin to gather as he teaches and heals.
Matthew 4:1
Right after his baptism, the Spirit himself leads Jesus into the desert. The testing is no accident. God allows it, and the devil’s aim is to make Jesus fail. Jesus goes where Israel once failed, and he goes as the faithful Son.
BSA: tempted (“tested, tried”): The same event is a trial from the devil’s side and a proving of Jesus’ faithfulness from God’s side. wilderness (“a deserted, uninhabited place”): Jesus faces the enemy alone, with no crowd, no help and no comfort.
Greek: πειρασθῆναι (peirasthēnai, G3985) — “to be tried, tested, or tempted.” One Greek word covers both testing and tempting. God means the trial to prove and strengthen, while the devil means it to destroy.
See also: Hebrews 4:15; Luke 4:1-2.
Matthew 4:2
Jesus fasts for forty days and nights, and only then does Matthew say he was hungry. The number recalls Moses on the mountain and Israel’s forty years in the desert. The devil strikes when Jesus is physically at his weakest.
BSA: forty (“a period of testing”): In Scripture, forty often marks a season in which God proves his people.
See also: Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 8:2.
Matthew 4:3
The tempter begins with a doubt: “If You are the Son of God.” God had just called Jesus his beloved Son at the baptism. Turning stones into bread would mean using his power to meet his own need, apart from his Father’s will.
BSA: tempter (“Satan, the adversary”): He is named for what he does, which is to oppose God’s purposes and draw people away from them. stones (“rocks, pebbles”): The desert is full of loaf-sized stones, so the temptation sits right at his feet.
See also: Matthew 3:17.
Matthew 4:4
Jesus answers from Deuteronomy, where Moses reminded Israel that God fed them with manna to teach them to depend on him. Bodily hunger is real, but a life that obeys God’s word matters more than a full stomach.
BSA: alone (“by itself, without anything else”): Bread is not wrong, but it cannot be all that a person lives on.
Greek: γέγραπται (gegraptai, G1125) — “it stands written.” The tense means more than “was written once.” It was written and still stands, as a settled authority Jesus can point to.
See also: Deuteronomy 8:3.
Matthew 4:5
Next the devil takes Jesus to Jerusalem, the holy city, and stands him on the highest part of the temple. The setting looks religious, but the aim is still to pull Jesus away from trust in the Father.
BSA: pinnacle (“the highest point, the most extreme edge”): It was a dizzying height, where one step would mean a long fall.
Greek: πτερύγιον (pterygion, G4419) — “little wing, tip, edge.” The word literally means “little wing.” It names some high projecting corner of the temple complex, though we cannot be sure which.
Matthew 4:6
Now the devil quotes Scripture himself. He asks Jesus to jump and make God prove his promise of protection. Using a Bible verse does not make a suggestion right. A verse can be twisted to serve a purpose God never gave it.
BSA: angels (“messengers, heavenly beings”): God’s protective servants are real, but they are sent for his purposes and not summoned to prove a point.
See also: Psalm 91:11-12.
Matthew 4:7
Jesus answers Scripture with Scripture, and rightly understood passages never contradict each other. To test God is to demand that he prove himself on our terms. That is not faith but a refusal to trust him until he performs.
BSA: test (“to prove, to tempt, to challenge”): Putting God to the test means setting him a challenge and daring him to meet it.
See also: Deuteronomy 6:16; Exodus 17:7.
Matthew 4:8-9
The devil shows Jesus every kingdom’s splendor and offers it all for a single act of worship. Jesus is destined to rule the nations, but the devil offers a shortcut that skips the cross. The price is giving to a creature what belongs to God alone.
BSA: glory (“honor, splendor, divine majesty”): The offer is dazzling because it has the look of God’s own rule without God’s way of getting there. fall down (“collapse, prostrate yourself”): The devil asks for the full bow of submission, not a nod.
Greek: προσκυνήσῃς (proskynēsēs, G4352) — “bow down to, do homage to.” The word pictures a person bowing low to kiss the ground or the hand of a superior. It means total submission.
See also: Luke 4:5-7; Philippians 2:8-11.
Matthew 4:10
Jesus ends the testing by commanding the devil to leave, and again he quotes Deuteronomy. Worship and service belong to the Lord alone. Jesus will receive the kingdoms by obeying his Father, and not by bowing to the one who offered them.
BSA: Satan (“the accuser, adversary”): Jesus calls the tempter by his true name, the enemy of God and of God’s people.
See also: Deuteronomy 6:13.
Matthew 4:11
The devil leaves, but only after he is defeated. Angels then come to care for Jesus, who has refused to use his own power to feed himself. The Father’s provision arrives in the Father’s time and way.
BSA: ministered (“served, attended to His needs”): The angels brought practical care to a tired, hungry man.
Greek: διηκόνουν (diēkonoun, G1247) — “were serving, were waiting on.” This is the root of our word “deacon,” which means a servant. The form suggests continued service, not a single visit.
Matthew 4:12
When Jesus hears that John the Baptist has been arrested, he withdraws to Galilee. John’s work as forerunner is ending, and Jesus’ own public work is about to begin. John’s arrest also hints that serving God’s kingdom can cost a person dearly.
BSA: imprisoned (“put in jail, cast into prison”): John’s faithful preaching led to his arrest, a sign of the opposition ahead.
Matthew 4:13
Jesus leaves his hometown of Nazareth and makes his base in Capernaum, a lakeside town in the old tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphtali. It was a busy place on a trade route, which put him within reach of many people.
BSA: lived (“dwelt, resided”): Jesus did not just pass through but settled there, making it his working home.
Matthew 4:14-16
Matthew sees Jesus’ move as fulfilling Isaiah. That prophecy spoke of a northern region that had suffered conquest and mixed populations. Into that darkness a great light would come, and Jesus is that light. Matthew also notes that the people he reaches first live in a land long thought spiritually dim.
BSA: light (“the presence of God, spiritual illumination”): The light is God himself arriving among people who could not find their own way. dawned (“arisen, become visible”): The light comes like a sunrise that appears on its own, with no effort from those sitting in the dark.
See also: Isaiah 9:1-2; John 8:12.
Matthew 4:17
Jesus’ first public message is short: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. God’s rule is breaking in through the King himself, and the right response is to turn around and come under it.
BSA: Repent (“turn from sin, change your mind”): Repentance includes both a new way of thinking and a new direction of life. near (“at hand, has arrived”): The kingdom is not far off but pressing in on them now.
Greek: μετανοεῖτε (metanoeite, G3340) — “change your mind and turn.” The word joins “after” and “think,” and means a change of mind that leads to a changed life. It is more than feeling sorry.
See also: Mark 1:15.
Matthew 4:18
Walking by the lake, Jesus sees Simon and Andrew at their ordinary work, casting a net. He does not go first to the temple or the scholars. He goes to working men, and he sees them with a purpose already in mind.
BSA: casting (“throwing, launching”): They were in the middle of their daily work when Jesus called, and not waiting in some special place.
Matthew 4:19
Jesus calls them to follow him, and he promises to make them fishers of men. They are not asked to find their own way. He will shape them and give them a new purpose, bringing people in the way they once brought in fish.
BSA: fishers (“catchers, gatherers”): The work is to gather people into God’s kingdom, not to harm them or trap them.
Greek: ἁλιεῖς (halieis, G231) — “fishermen.” Jesus uses the very word for their trade. He takes what they already do and gives it a higher purpose.
See also: Luke 5:10.
Matthew 4:20
They leave their nets at once and follow. Nets were their income and security, so this was a real sacrifice. Their quick answer shows how strongly Jesus’ call drew them, and it begins a life of walking after him.
BSA: at once (“immediately, without delay”): They did not put the call off until it was convenient.
Matthew 4:21-22
Jesus then calls James and John, who are mending nets with their father Zebedee. They also respond immediately, leaving boat and father. Following Jesus can mean costly changes in the closest relationships and the most familiar work.
BSA: mending (“repairing, refitting”): They were getting their gear ready for the next day’s work when the call came.
See also: Luke 14:26-27.
Matthew 4:23
Jesus travels all over Galilee in a threefold work. He teaches in the synagogues, proclaims the good news of the kingdom, and heals the sick. His words and his works go together, showing what God’s rule is like.
BSA: gospel (“good news, message of salvation”): The message is a joyful announcement and not merely a set of rules. healing (“restoring, making whole”): His healing touched real bodies and showed the kingdom’s power to restore.
Greek: εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion, G2098) — “good news.” In the ancient world this word could announce a victory or a king’s arrival. Here it announces the arrival of God’s King.
Matthew 4:24
News of Jesus spreads far beyond Galilee, even into Syria to the north. People bring every kind of sufferer, and Matthew lists the sick, the pained, the oppressed, those with seizures and the paralyzed. The chapter ends this list with a short, strong line: he healed them.
BSA: seizures (“epileptic fits”): Matthew names a specific, recognized illness, and Jesus heals it as well.
Greek: σεληνιαζομένους (selēniazomenous, G4583) — “moonstruck, having seizures.” The word comes from the Greek word for moon, because people once thought such attacks followed the moon’s phases. Matthew simply uses the term people knew.
Matthew 4:25
Crowds from every direction follow Jesus: Galilee, the ten-city region called the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the far side of the Jordan. People from both Jewish and non-Jewish areas come, preparing for the teaching that follows in the next chapter.
BSA: Decapolis (“a region with ten cities”): These were largely non-Jewish towns, so Jesus’ fame was already reaching beyond Israel.