Daily Blast - The Book of Matthew: Chapter 4
Scripture
“But He answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
Reflection
After being baptised in Matthew 3, chapter 4 gives us a look into the beginning of Jesus' ministry and the assembling of His disciples. From verse 1 to verse 10 of this chapter, we see how stretched Jesus was. Not only from the amazing effort of fasting for 40 days and 40 nights but also from the temptation and challenges the devil was throwing at Jesus to distract Him and take His mind off the plan God had for Him. The encouraging thing during the time that Jesus was being tempted is this; He was able to respond to the devil with God’s promises, words, and protection (think back to the armour of God we recently covered). Jesus told the devil who His heart belonged to (verse 10) during the season of temptation and this kept Him focused on what God was doing. One thing we can say is that through this experience, Jesus was taken out of His comfort zone so that He could be prepared for what was to come. Now let's find out what He was being prepared for.
From verse 11 to 25, we see that Jesus starts to preach, gather the first few of the famous 12 disciples (His friends) who would come alongside on His journey of sharing God’s love and good news. As Jesus started moving from town to town, He began leaving people amazed, blessed, and challenged with what God was doing through Him. We also read in verse 20 that Simon (Peter) and Andrew IMMEDIATELY followed Jesus when He asked them to come with Him. Think about this, what did they see or feel about Jesus that made them follow Him straight away? They left their boat and nets straight away. It makes us wonder if they ever went back for them! Next comes more preaching, teaching and healing for the people in the towns Jesus was touring. Notice the boldness, courage, and bravery Jesus was doing these things with. He left a lasting impression on people as He moved around, and the news about Him was spreading fast! People wanted His time and what He had to offer. So far, we have seen that Jesus had time away from everyone so He would be alone with God, and during that time alone with God, He was able to dedicate His time, energy and life to be closer to God so that when He went back amongst people, He could bring them things that would change their lives forever!
Challenge
1. Find out more about fasting and why it is good for us to do it. Who was the first person to fast in the bible?
2. Fast for 2 hours, and in that time, read the Bible or a book that will build your faith and get you to explore more about God. You can choose to fast by not eating, not looking at your phone, not watching TV or not playing games but instead praying, or writing down your conversation and things God is showing you.