Matthew 4

Matthew 4
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.'[a]"

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.'[b]"

7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[c]"

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.'[d]"

11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

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."[e]
17From 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.

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,[f] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.


*** The temptation of Christ is great joy to me! He triumphed over the devil in this snapshot we have of an ongoing, mostly invisible battle. At the first temptation, Eve failed. She failed us all and so did Adam. But in this Scripture we see the Messiah victoriously defeat Satan! I hope this brings a moment of praise for our Savior, Jesus Christ, the One and only who brings us to a place of standing with God by His righteousness!
As a nurse I am always struck by the healing power of Jesus. Every week I see people come to clinic with all kinds of problems. Christ offers the example of not only healing but compassion. I am efficient to a fault and at Kirklin Clinic my efficieny is seen as great. Often though, I feel the weight of the needs of these people that have 15 minutes blocked off to see me and the doctor. But how can I best serve?
One quick and funny story of a time I felt like I needed to stay and listen to a female patient having her pacemaker checked. I felt God say, Stay in here a minute because this will be a great story to hear. For the next 10 minutes I was entertained by a lonely, older women who told me about her dog licking her father's face in the casket after her dad passed away. Not sure if I helped her but she loved having a listening ear. And I LOVED the story! ***