Matthew 4:4

(3 min)

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In this week’s passage, Jesus quotes Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:3) to respond to the devil in the desert.

Author/Audience Context 🤓

• Matthew was a Jewish tax collector before becoming one of Jesus' 12 disciples.
• He wrote his gospel originally for a Jewish audience in the 70s or 80s AD.

Literary Context ✍🏽

• Matthew’s gospel emphasizes how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies and was the promised Messiah from the line of Abraham and David.

Passage Context: The first temptation 😩

Here's the sequence of events leading up to Matthew 4:4:

Jesus gets baptized → he receives the Holy Spirit → the Father says: “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus then goes into the wilderness and fasts for 40 days to spend time with the Father and prepare spiritually for his public ministry. Then, the enemy shows up.

In verse 3, the devil tempts Jesus to turn the stones into bread - in other words, to use his power to satisfy his own physical desire for food.

💡 Interesting note: Verse 3 sounds remarkably similar to what Jesus hears when he's on the cross: “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Jesus’ response 🐐

Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, where Moses reminds the Israelites of the 40 years they spent in the desert after being liberated from Egypt.

In that context, God was teaching the Israelites how to trust Him alone for provision.

Here's Deuteronomy 8:3:

After 40 days of fasting, Jesus' response to the enemy communicates at least this:

He came to earth to accomplish the will of the Father, even if it's at the expense of his own physical suffering - a foreshadowing of the cross.

For Reflection: The Desert, Garden & The Cross 🤔

In Matthew 4, the enemy tempts Jesus 3 times.

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Jesus quotes Scripture 3 times.

The enemy quoted Scripture out of context (verse 6).

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Jesus quoted Scripture in context.

Jesus quoted Scripture in the desert, in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the Cross itself.

As you memorize Scripture (in context), you are imitating Jesus and being transformed by the very Word of God.

Imitate your Savior this week,

The Malachi Daily Team 🙏