(S)
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
5 Then 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.’[c]”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”
8 Again, 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.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Jesus Begins to Preach
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”[f]
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As 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 send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going 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, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Heals the Sick
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News 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. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[g] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
(O)
This is an interesting chapter. When Jesus came across Peter and Andrew, He simply asked them to follow Him. And they did. They dropped everything and just went. I always have a hard time wrapping my head around that. Why did they do this? Had they witnessed John baptizing Jesus? That would certainly explain it. Or were they just somehow drawn to Jesus. I find it very interesting and fascinating.
The verse that really stood out to me, though, is verse 4; “man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
There is an incredibly important message here. Satan was trying to get Jesus to relieve His immediate need for food for His physical body. But what Jesus is saying is that we have more needs than our physical body, but also our soul. We need to feed our soul with the Word of God. This is as important, actually more important than our need to eat.
When we are not in the Word, when we neglect our devotions, if our bibles have a layer of dust on them, our soul is longing to be fed. We were not designed to live apart from the Word of God. What an incredible truth and reminder of the importance and priority I need to give my bible reading and time with God. For me, this is the pinnacle reason I want to blog part of my devotions each day as we go through the New Testament, to keep myself accountable and on track.
(P)
Lord, thank you for the reminder today. Thank you for your Word and how our soul feeds on every word that came from Your mouth. Lord, help me to continually have a passion for your Word and understanding of it. I pray your blessing on each person reading this today, in Jesus name Amen.
G.A.L.F. Discipleship 