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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.'"
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.'"
7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord
your God to the test.'"
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.'"
11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Explanation: God's Son Passes the Test (4:1-11)
Scholars' interpretations of the temptation narrative broadly fall
into three primary categories (Theissen 1991:218-19): (1) Jesus'
testing recalls that of Israel in the wilderness; whatever God commanded
Israel his child in the wilderness, much more he would require of
his Son the Messiah. (2) Jesus provides a model for tested believers.
(3) The narrative affirms a correct understanding of Jesus' messiahship
as against contemporary political or militaristic interpretations.
Clues within the narrative (such as 4:2) and the rest of Matthew
(such as 6:13; 26:41; 27:42-43) indicate that the narrative functions
in all three ways.
Matthew emphasizes that Jesus, unlike Israel, passed his test in
the wilderness. Matthew makes this biblical background clear even
in simple ways like saying the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness,
reflecting a common biblical motif of God guiding his people in
the wilderness (as in Ex 13:18, 21; 15:13, 22; Deut 8:2). We should
also note that Jesus quotes three texts from Deuteronomy, all of
them commandments that Israel failed to obey but that Jesus is determined
to obey.
Like John, Jesus had to exit the confines of society for his supernatural
encounter (see comment on 3:1-12). The wilderness (translated desert
in the NIV because few people lived there) was not a pleasant place:
some believed the wilderness to be a special haunt of demons (see
comment on 12:43; compare 1 Enoch 10:4; 4 Macc 18:8). Apart from
a few rugged people like John who made the "wilderness"
between the Jordan Valley and Judean hills their home, it represented
a dangerous and inhospitable setting (E. Sanders 1993:113).
But when we think of applying this passage today, we may meditate
at greater length on the other two lessons scholars often draw from
the narrative: what Jesus' victory models for us as his disciples
and what the passage tells us about the true character of Jesus'
mission. No less than Matthew's discourse sections (28:19), this
narrative provides a model for us. (Jewish teachers instructed by
example as well as by word, and biographers taught moral lessons
through their accounts. So narratives about Jesus teach us no less
than his direct commandments do.) For instance, if John had been
a model of sacrificial obedience for living in the wilderness and
subsisting on locusts, Jesus who fasts in the wilderness is even
more so.
This narrative underlines the biblical principle that God's calling
must be tested. The Spirit, having empowered Jesus for his mission
as God's Son (3:16-17), now is the one who leads him into the wilderness
where his call must be tested (4:1, 3, 6). Matthew expressly informs
us that the purpose of the Spirit's first leading of God's Son was
that he might be tested! Like most of his heroic predecessors in
biblical history (Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Job), Jesus had
to pass a period of testing before beginning his public ministry.
Some of his predecessors almost snapped under pressure, restrained
only by God's favor (for example, 1 Sam 25:13-34; 1 Kings 19:4;
Jer 20:7-18), but our Lord Jesus provides the perfect model for
triumphing in testing.
If God is calling and empowering you to do something for him (3:16-17),
you can expect to be tested (compare comment on 6:13), and you can
expect testing commensurate with the seriousness of your call. The
devil may not show up in person or test you on the same supernatural
level that he tested Jesus, but your hardships may seem unbearable
apart from the grace of God. Nevertheless, testing is for our good:
when biblical heroes had matured through the time of testing, they
knew the depth of God's grace that had sustained them. The truly
triumphant boast not in their success in the test but in God's empowerment,
without which they could not have overcome. Jesus went into this
testing only after the Father had empowered him in the Spirit (3:16).
This narrative presents Jesus as our vicarious advocate, relinquishing
his own power for his mission to save us from our sins. In this
narrative Matthew presents Jesus as Israel's-and our-champion, the
One who succeeded in the wilderness where Israel had failed. (A
champion was one who fought another on behalf of and as a representative
of his people, the way David fought Goliath.) Christians are destined
for testing (6:13; 26:41), but Jesus our forerunner has gone before
us and shown us how to overcome.
The devil tempts Jesus to abuse his calling and power for selfish
ends. The "christological" interpretation of this passage
noted above has much to teach us. In 3:16-17 God identifies Jesus
as his Son; now the devil tries to redefine the nature of Jesus'
sonship (4:3, 5-6, 8-9). If you are the Son of God can also be translated
"Since you are the Son of God," which may be more likely
in this context: the devil invites Jesus not so much to deny his
sonship as to act according to various worldly expectations for
that role. This narrative warns all of us whom God has called not
to let the world define the content of our call. For instance, some
pulpit ministers ought to be ministering as public school teachers
or social workers in addition to or instead of pulpit ministry,
and some in other professions should be training to become expounders
of God's Word.
In other words, we must acknowledge God's right not only to determine
what to label our calling but also to determine what that label
should mean. A call to evangelism may be a call to bring Christ
to people on the streets or in hospitals rather than in a traditional
pulpit-yet such a ministry may bring more people to Christ than
most traditional pulpit ministries can. Disregarding the church
hierarchy and the "ministerial ethics" of his day, John
Wesley went into other ministers' parishes to reach the people those
ministers were not reaching-the poor and alienated. Wesley's call
did not fit traditional categories of ministry, but the revival
that ensued turned Britain inside out. We, like Jesus, can begin
our mission only once we have demonstrated that our commitment is
to God who called us and that we will let him rather than human
honor define the nature of our call.
Note how the devil seeks to redefine Jesus' call: he appeals to
various culturally prevalent models of power to suggest how Jesus
should use his God-given power. God's empowerment does not guarantee
that we are doing his will in all details (compare 1 Cor 13:1-3).
One example of exploiting God's power for selfish ends is the minority
of clergy and other professional authority figures who abuse their
calling for sexual or other advantages. When we confuse others'
dependence on our office with dependence on us as persons, we endanger
our own relationship with God as his humble servants (Mt 23:5-12;
24:45-51; Prov 16:18; 18:12).
The devil tests Jesus with three roles into which other Palestinian
charismatic leaders had fallen-from the crassly demonic sorcerer's
role to that of an apparently pious leader. Jesus' refusal in each
case allows Matthew to define Jesus' call over against the charges
of his opponents (12:24; 26:55; 27:11, 40-43).
First, Jesus was not a magician (4:3). Magicians typically sought
to transform one substance into another to demonstrate their power
over nature (as in p. Hagiga 2:2, 5; Sanhedrin 6:6, 2). Jesus' opponents
could not deny his power but wished to attribute it to Satan, as
if he were a magician (Mt 12:24); many Jews associated demons with
the worst kind of sorcery (Ps-Philo 34.2-3; b. Sanhedrin 67b). Unlike
most of Jesus' religious contemporaries, however, the reader knows
the true story and just how false the charge of Jesus' association
with magic was. Even after a forty-day fast, and though Jesus had
power to multiply food for the crowds (Mt 14:13-21; 15:29-38; 16:9-10),
he resisted the temptation to turn stones into bread. Where magicians
manipulated spiritual power and formulas, Jesus acted from an intimate,
obedient personal relationship with his Father (6:7-9). Like a father
disciplining his children, God humbled Israel in the wilderness,
teaching his people that he would provide their bread while they
were unemployed if they would just look to him (Deut 8:1-5). Jesus
accepts his Father's call in the wilderness and waits for his Father
to act for him (Mt 4:11).
Second (pace Albert Schweitzer), Jesus was not a deluded visionary
(4:5-6) like Josephus's "false prophets" who wrongly expected
God to back up their miraculous claims (Jos. Ant. 20.168; War 2.259).
By wanting Jesus to jump over an abyss (perhaps on the southeast
corner of the temple area overlooking the Kidron Valley) known to
invite certain death without God's intervention (see Jos. Ant. 15.412),
the devil wants Jesus to presume on his relationship with God, to
act as if God were there to serve his Son rather than the reverse.
Religious teachers later echo Satan's theology: if Jesus is God's
Son, let God rescue him from the cross (Mt 27:40-43). When people
become so arrogant as to think we have God figured out, we can easily
miss God's true purposes and become Satan's mouthpieces.
Among contemporary charismatics (of whom I am one) I observe two
prominent models for being "charismatic." One is to "claim"
blessings on the basis of spiritual formulas, a method whose success
God never guaranteed. Like the first-century false prophets who
promised the pious Jerusalemites the deliverance they wanted to
hear (as in Jos. War 6.285-87), our brothers and sisters who follow
this method without the Spirit may encounter some uncomfortable
surprises. (Matthew would also have balked at some charismatics'
claim to be able to "send" angels-4:6; 26:53.) The other
method is to sensitively follow the Spirit's leading to do what
God has called us to do. When God has genuinely spoken and his servants
act in obedience, he will accomplish his purposes-even if those
purposes must lead us through the cross. For "who can speak
and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?" (Lam 3:37).
Jesus did not get himself into testing presumptuously; like Elijah
of old, he did what he did at God's command (1 Kings 18:36). Jesus
understood Scripture accurately and alluded not only to the passage
he cited but to its context. When he warns against putting the Lord
your God to the test (Mt 4:7; Deut 6:16), he alludes to Israel's
dissatisfaction in the wilderness (as in Ex 17:2-3). Although God
graciously supplied their needs, they harshly demanded more, forgetting
how much God had delivered them from. We, like Israel, serve a living
God and must be prepared to do his will whether or not it is to
our immediate liking (Mt 26:42).
Finally, Jesus was not a political revolutionary, contrary to the
assumptions and charges of the Jewish aristocracy (26:55, 61; 27:11-12;
compare P. Ellis 1974:108). As another Gospel puts it, "My
kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight
to prevent my arrest" (Jn 18:36). Many citizens of the Roman
Empire felt that Rome ruled the earth's kingdoms (for example, Rev
17:18; Jos. War 2.361; 3.473); to rule the earth would include the
subjection of the Roman emperor. If Matthew writes after A.D. 70,
his audience knows how Roman forces had slaughtered the Jewish revolutionaries
and how resounding defeat had dashed their people's hopes for a
worldly kingdom; how would deliverance come?
The devil offered Jesus the kingdom without the cross, a temptation
that has never lost its appeal. Corrupted once it achieved political
power and popularity, its members' motives no longer purified by
persecution, the medieval church too often was marked by corruption
and repression that we today repudiate; but we can face the same
temptations. Upon facing this temptation, not Jesus' opponents but
his own star disciple Peter echoes Satan's theology exactly: the
messianic kingdom without the cross (Mt 16:22). Jesus thus pushes
away Peter in disgust as he had Satan-even to the point of calling
Peter Satan (16:23; compare 4:10). Jesus' mission involved the cross
(26:54), and whether we like it or not, so does our mission (16:23-26).
Political and social involvement are important; marketing strategies
are not necessarily wrong; but when we substitute any other means
of transforming society for dependence on God, we undercut the very
purpose for our mission. Where the church flirts with political
power to enforce public morality, it must become all the more conscious
of its own need for spiritual renewal. Atheists and Christians often
use the same methods of social change; but if we genuinely embrace
a faith worth defending, can we also have the faith to go beyond
those methods and depend on God to give us revival? The temptation
narrative strikes at the heart of human religion and worldly conceptions
of power-and reminds us of how close that danger can come to believers.
The narrative also emphasizes that we can use Scripture for righteous
or unrighteous causes. Jesus and the devil argue Scripture, and
both are adept in it (as some later rabbis expected the devil and
some demons were; for example, b. Sanhedrin 89b), though the devil
quotes Scripture out of context and so values its wording over its
meaning (4:6). (Psalm 91:3-10 addresses protection from dangers
that approach the righteous, not testing God to see whether he will
really do what Scripture promises.) That the devil quotes Scripture
out of context should not surprise us, since he does it even today
in many pulpits every Sunday morning. (I say this only partly tongue
in cheek; religious leaders in Mt 27:40 become mouthpieces for the
devil's lie in 4:3, and Jesus' leading disciple in 16:22 echoes
4:8-9. Piety, whether feigned or genuine, does not necessarily preserve
us from communicating false ideologies from our culture or spiritual
tradition that we have never taken the time to examine from God's
revealed Word.) Notice too that whereas Jesus uses Scripture to
teach him God's will, the devil presents it merely as promises to
be exploited for one's own purposes-as some of the more extreme
radio preachers today have put it, "how to get God to work
for you."
But the devil's abuse of Scripture should not lead us to neglect
Scripture's real power when rightly interpreted and applied. Our
Lord himself submitted his life to its claims (compare 3:15) and
calls us to do the same (5:17-20). Jesus' three responses in this
testing narrative share the phrase It is written (NIV) or "It
has been written" (4:4, 7, 10). It comes as no surprise that
Jesus' first citation declares the primacy of God's words, on which
we his people should feed as on necessary food (4:4; compare Jer
15:16). Not worldly categories but God's will revealed in Scripture
defined the character of Jesus' call.
Jesus' specific Spirit-led behavior in this model is significant:
he already knew God's commands and their context, and for him to
know was to obey. He adds no reasoning to God's simple commands.
"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against
you" (Ps 119:11). We must learn Scripture well and, empowered
by the Spirit, choose to obey it rather than flirting with temptation.
We can overcome temptation in any given case; hence no matter how
great we feel our temptations are, there is no temptation too great
to endure (1 Cor 10:13). As many modern authors emphasize, we need
to be honest about temptation and not say, "I can't help it";
if we are tempted, we must be honest and say, "I won't."
Jesus' victory for us has taken away our excuse; he has provided
us the power to overcome if we dare to believe him.
Finally, God brings triumph to those who remain faithful in testing
(4:11). Without Jesus' submitting to the devil (compare Mt 4:6:
his angels . . . will lift you up), God's agents provide Jesus'
needs as soon as he has vanquished his foe. After three high-stake
tests the devil leaves, so that Jesus can later say that he is freeing
Satan's possessions because he has already bound the strong man
(12:29). Jesus is the new Moses who will provide bread for his people
(see commentary on 14:13-21; 16:29-38), whom God will deliver by
the resurrection and who will eventually rule the nations (Ps 2:7,
cited by God in Mt 3:17). According to Jesus' call, all these things
belonged to him; but the ends of God's call in the long term do
not justify inappropriate means in the short term (such as affirming
unjust denominational policies or cheating on seminary exams). Our
mission is most of all obedience to our Father's will, both in our
destiny and in the details. God's vindication does not always come
in this life, but in the end he always delivers his own.
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."
Explanation: Moving to a Bigger Town (4:12-16)
John's imprisonment-which foreshadows Jesus' own suffering-becomes
the signal for Jesus to begin public ministry (4:12; compare Jn
3:23-30). The forerunner has completed his mission of preparing
the way (3:3).
Matthew may address three issues in Jesus' move to Capernaum. First,
the move may indicate a concerted missions strategy. Although Jesus
had grown up in a relatively unpretentious town (see commentary
on 2:23), the time apparently had come for him to find a more suitable
base for his urgent mission-a town with more people, with greater
notoriety and from which news would spread quickly around the perimeters
of the lake of Galilee and perhaps also via the nearby trade route.
(Capernaum probably held at least fifteen hundred people-E. Sanders
1993:103.) Capernaum would also prove more responsive than Nazareth
(compare 9:1-2; 11:23; 13:54-57). That Capernaum appears in later
rabbinic accounts solely in connection with "schismatics,"
presumably Jesus' followers (Theissen 1991:50), suggests that Jesus'
missionary strategy was ultimately successful.
Although God may intend for many of us to serve in places like Nazareth
for years, he is undoubtedly calling many of us to larger challenges
at some point in our lives. I say "undoubtedly" because
the vast majority of full-time Christian workers serve among peoples
where the gospel is widely available, while fewer than thirty thousand
serve the half of the world's population that has never received
an adequate witness of the gospel. Given both Jesus' mission for
us (28:19) and the love we should have for our fellow human beings,
should we not be seeking God as to whether he wants us to serve
him by staying or going?But besides Jesus' own mission strategy,
Matthew stresses Jesus' Galilean ministry base for two other reasons
more directly relevant to his audience. The second issue is that
Matthew's opponents undoubtedly criticized the Jesus movement's
Galilean origins. The Pharisees and their successors, centered in
Judea, retained considerable prejudice against Galilee, which they
also used against Jesus' followers. Matthew thus cites Scripture
about a messianic role in Galilee to counter regional prejudice
against the gospel.
Third, and probably most important, what Isaiah says about Galilee
foreshadows the Gentile mission that Matthew keeps urging on his
readers (4:14). Jesus again acts in obedience to Scripture (4:14-15),
and this passage (Is 9:1-2; compare Lk 1:79)-which in context addresses
the work of the Davidic Messiah (Is 9:6-7)-indicates that he will
work in Galilee of the Gentiles. This is not to say that Jesus directed
much of his own ministry to Gentiles; but the text allows Matthew
to foreshadow Jesus' command to proclaim the kingdom to the nations
(Mt 24:14; 28:19). Capernaum was actually in Naphtali's territory,
not directly Zebulon's (Meier 1980:32); yet Zebulon, sometimes associated
with the fishing industry (Gen 49:13; Test. Zeb. 5:5), was not far
away. At any rate, this Isaiah text would refute the claims of scribes
who insisted that a Messiah must hail directly only from Bethlehem
(Mt 2:5-6; Jn 7:42).
Matthew 4:17 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.
Explanation: Abandoning All for the Kingdom (4:17-22)
Once God had commissioned Jesus (3:17), the devil had tested him
(4:3-11), the forerunner had completed his mission (4:12) and Jesus
had settled in Capernaum (4:12-16), he was ready to begin his public
ministry (from that time on, 4:17). Matthew opens this section with
a summary of Jesus' message (v. 17). As this message summarizes
Jesus' proclamation of God's authority, so verses 18-22 demonstrate
people's proper response to God's rule; verses 23-25 demonstrate
God's rule over sickness and demons; and chapters 5-7 flesh out
the nature of the ethic of repentance one must live to be prepared
in advance for the kingdom.
For Matthew, the message for both Galilean Jews (10:5-7) and eventually
Gentiles (28:18-19) is the same as John the Baptist's (3:2) and
that of Jesus: Get your lives in order, for God's kingdom is approaching
(4:17). Only those who submit to God's reign in advance (as in 4:18-22)
will be ready when he comes to rule the whole world. Just as Jesus'
message concurred with that of John, so the message of Jesus' followers
must accord with that of Jesus. We must proclaim the imminence of
the kingdom (10:7; compare 28:18), demonstrate God's rule over sickness
and demons (10:8), and pass on our Master's teachings (28:19).
In 4:18-22 the One whom the Father called now calls others who will
advance his mission. Jesus' call to leave profession and family
was radical, the sort of demand that only the most radical teacher
would make. This text provides us several examples of servant-leadership
and radical discipleship.
Jesus Calls a Nucleus of Disciples (4:18-19)
Early Jewish and Greek tradition normally assumes that disciples
are responsible for acquiring their own teachers of the law (m.
'Abot 1:6, 16; ARN 3, 8A; Socrates Ep. 4). The more radical teachers
who, like Jesus, sometimes even rejected prospective disciples (see
commentary on Mt 19:21-22) probably considered the disciple's responsibility
so weighty that it would be dishonorable for the teacher to seek
out the disciple.
Jesus' seeking out disciples himself may thus represent a serious
breach of custom (Malina 1981:78; though compare Jer 1:4-10), "coming
down to their level" socially. This would be like itinerant
preachers going out to the unchurched instead of expecting them
to visit our churches and appreciate our well-prepared sermons.
Probably Jesus is choosing as his model the prophetic way of choosing
one's successor found in 1 Kings 19:19-21 (see also Lk 9:61-62).
Jesus Relates to His Hearers in Terms They Can Understand (4:19)
Although most scholars agree that Matthew's community included Christian
scribes (Mt 13:52; 23:34), Jesus did not call professionally trained
rabbis (who might have had a lot to unlearn first) to be his disciples.
He called artisans and encouraged them that the skills they already
had were serviceable in the kingdom. If God called shepherds like
Moses and David to shepherd his people Israel, Jesus could call
fishermen to be gatherers of people. Some great men and women of
God in the Bible never even became public expositors of Scripture;
aside from his prophetic gifts, Joseph's witness involved especially
public administration, learned in Potiphar's house and a prison
and then applied to all Egypt. Social workers, teachers and many
others have skills and backgrounds on which we must draw to be an
effective church today. It is to our loss that congregations disregard
the insights of the various professions among us.Jesus' Call Involves
Downward Mobility (4:20)
Although artisans had far less income than the wealthy (who made
up perhaps 1 percent of the ancient population), they were not among
the roughly 90 percent of the ancient population we may call peasants
either (popular jokes about low-class disciples "mending their
nets" aside-the expression can mean preparing their nets-v.
21). Family businesses like these were especially profitable. Even
if disciples followed Jesus only during certain seasons of the year,
they could not easily return to abandoned businesses.
The disciples thus paid a price economically to follow Jesus. Jewish
people told stories of pagans' relinquishing their wealth on converting
to Judaism (Sipre Num. 115.5.7), and Greek philosophers told stories
of converts to philosophy who abandoned wealth to become disciples
(Diog. Laert. 6.5.87; Diogenes Ep. 38). These stories demonstrate
not only the relative worthlessness of possessions but also the
incomparable value of what the converts gained. The kingdom is like
a precious treasure, worth the abandonment of all other treasures
(Mt 13:44-46). Many of us today respond defensively, "I would
abandon everything if Jesus asked me to, but he has not asked me
to." Yet if we value the priorities of the kingdom-people and
proclamation more than possessions-I wonder whether Jesus is not
speaking to us through the world's need for the gospel and daily
bread. Let the one who has ears to hear, hear.
Jesus' Scandalous Call Costs Comfort and Challenges the Priority
of Family (4:21-22)
James and John abandoned not only the boat-representing their livelihood-but
also their father and the family business (4:22). In a society where
teachers normally stressed no higher responsibility than honor of
parents (Jos. Apion 2.206; Keener 1991a:98, 197), including economic
responsibility for them, some people would view such behavior as
scandalous. Jesus elsewhere affirms the importance of marriage (19:9)
and filial (15:4-6) relationships; the kingdom is never an excuse
to downplay our crucial responsibilities to our families (see Keener
1991a:98-99, 102). They too warrant our attention and our ministry.
At the same time God has called his servants, and that means we
are not our own. Those of us who are single dare not choose marriage
partners who cannot bear our calling, and we must recognize the
demands of God's kingdom-announcing its good news-more highly than
the shame it brings on our families or the way they feel about that
shame (10:35-37; compare 1:24).
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, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed
him.
Explanation: Jesus Demonstrates God's Reign with Power
(4:23-25)
No less a historian than E. P. Sanders declares it an "almost
indisputable" historical fact that "Jesus was a Galilean
who preached and healed" (1985:11) and that "the sheer
volume of evidence makes it extremely likely that Jesus actually
had a reputation as an exorcist" (1993:149; see also Meier
1994:646-77).
Technically this paragraph in Matthew serves as part of the narrative
introduction to the Sermon on the Mount, although it is included
in the "introduction" to Jesus' ministry here (1:1-4:23)
because of the title I have chosen for the next section. Before
each of the first two discourse sections, Matthew includes a summary
of Jesus' kingdom works (4:23-25; 9:35). Jesus was teaching and
preaching the good news of the kingdom. Teaching generally involved
ethical or apologetic instruction, whereas preaching was proclamation
aimed at bringing about conversion (Dodd 1980:7-8; compare Guelich
1982:43). Yet Jesus not only proclaimed and explained the kingdom;
he demonstrated God's authority by healing the sick and expelling
demons (Ladd 1978a:47). That he healed "all" diseases
(4:23; NIV every disease) may mean every kind of sickness rather
than every sick person, since the all of verse 24 is necessarily
hyperbole; surely suppliants did not bring every sick person in
Syria to him (Blomberg 1992:92 n. 5)!
Jesus Begins Where the People Are (4:23)
Where possible, Jesus worked through existing institutions. He taught
in the synagogues, the educational and community centers of the
day.
Jesus Ministers to His Hearers Both Physically and Spiritually (4:23-24)
Many conservative Christians rightly stress personal conversion
but wrongly ignore the desperate physical needs around them (both
for miracles and for social intervention). Many other churches rightly
address societal injustices but neglect spiritual needs and personal
human pain. Jesus cared about people in their totality and was concerned
for their pressing needs. His example summons us to a more well-rounded
ministry that preaches the gospel through evangelism and demonstrates
the gospel through ministries of compassion, justice and Spirit-empowered
healing (see Sider 1993).
This renewed vision of Jesus' compassion can encourage us in our
prayers. When we care for people's brokenness as Jesus does, we
can bring their pain to God in prayer with greater confidence. The
Jesus who healed people then can heal people today, both emotionally
and physically (see Deere 1993). Too many of us offer prayers while
secretly doubting that God can hear us. Although God always has
the right to do as he wills, we would pray with greater faith if
we recognized his compassion.Word About Jesus Spreads Widely (4:25)
Ancient narratives about popular teachers (as opposed to more aristocratic
figures who often disdained the masses) praised them by emphasizing
their popularity (for example, Philostr. V.A. 1.40; Robbins 1992:122
n. 74). Matthew is also interested in the geographical distribution
of this popularity. Josephus indicates that many Jews lived in Syria
in Jesus' day (Jos. War 2.461-68); if Matthew writes to believers
in Syria (see Meier 1980:36; see also introduction), he may use
the mention of Jewish followers from Syria (Mt 4:24) to encourage
his own audience.
In the context of the whole Gospel, however, Jesus' popularity in
this passage provides a warning. God's call demands faithfulness
with or without popularity. Jesus had awaited God's time for him
to minister (4:12); now word about him was spreading quickly. Subsequent
narratives in this Gospel, however, warn that momentary popularity
is just an opportunity to convey the word to those who really have
ears to hear. Popularity does not always translate into deep commitment
in the end (27:20). Thus Matthew warns his first audience and us
as well not to build our assurance of God's call on others' responses
to our message; our knowledge of our God-given mission in life must
go unshakably deeper than that (3:16-4:11).
