Matthew 4:2

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. AND WHEN HE HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. Luke says, "When they were quite ended [ suntelestheisoon (G4931)]. HE WAS AFTERWARD, [ husteron (G5305 )] AN HUNGERED - evidently implying that the sensation of hunger was unfelt during all the 40 days; coming on only at their close. So it was apparently with Moses (Exodus 34:28) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) for the same period. (The husteron (G5305) in...

1-11 Concerning Christ's temptation, observe, that directly after he was declared to be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, he was tempted; great privileges, and special tokens of Divine favour, will not secure any from being tempted. But if the Holy Spirit witness to our being adopted as children of God, that will answer all the suggestions of the evil spirit. Christ was directed to the combat. If we presume upon our own strength, and tempt the devil to tempt us, we provoke God to leave us to ourselves. Others are tempted, when drawn aside of their own lust, and enticed, James 1:14; but our Lord Jesus had no corrupt nature, therefore he was tempted only by the devil. In the temptation of Christ it appears that our enemy is subtle, spiteful, and very daring; but he can be resisted. It is a comfort to us that Christ suffered, being tempted; for thus it appears that our temptati...

Verse Matthew 4:2. _AND WHEN HE HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS_] It is remarkable that _Moses_, the great lawgiver of the Jews, previously to his receiving the law from God, fasted forty days in the mount; that _Elijah_, the chief of the prophets, fasted also forty days; and that Christ, the giver of the New Covenant, should act in the same way. Was not all this intended to show, that God's kingdom on earth was to be _spiritual_ and _Divine_? - that it should not consist in meat and drink, but in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost? Romans 14:17. Relative to the forty days' fast of Moses, there is a beautiful saying in the Talmudists. "Is it possible that any man can fast forty days and forty nights? To which Rabbi Meir answered, When thou takest up thy abode in any particular...

HAD FASTED - Abstained from food. FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS - It has been questioned by some whether Christ abstained wholly from food, or only from the food to which he was accustomed. Luke says Luke 4:2 that he ate nothing. This settles the question. Mark says Mark 1:13 that angels came and ministered unto him. At first view this would seem to imply that he did eat during that time. But Mark does not mention the time when the angels performed this office of kindness, and we are at liberty to suppose that he means to say that it was done at the close of the 40 days; and the rather as Matthew, after giving an account of the temptation, says the same thing Matthew 4:2.

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 4:1 THE TEMPTATION. The Father's acceptance of the Lord's consecration of himself for the work of the kingdom does not exclude temptation, but rather necessitates it. Psychologically, the reaction from the ecstasy of joy in hearing the announcement of Matthew 3:17 was certain; ethically, such testing as would accompany the reaction was desirable. Even the Baptist was, as it seems, not without a special temptation during this period (cf. John 1:19; and Bishop Westcott's note). At the very commencement of his official life the Lord is led consciously to realize that he has entered on a path of complete trust (even as his brethren in the flesh

AND WHEN HE HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS..... As Moses did, when he was about to deliver the law to the Israelites, Exodus 34:28 and as Elijah did, when he bore his testimony for the Lord of hosts, 1 Kings 19:8 so did Christ, when he was about to publish the Gospel of his grace, and bear witness to the truth. "Forty nights" as well as days, are mentioned; partly to show that these were whole entire days, consisting of twenty four hours; and partly to distinguish this fast of Christ from the common fastings of the Jews, who used to eat in the night, though they fasted in the day: for according to their canons z, they might eat and drink as soon as it was dark, and that till cock crowing; and others say, till break of day. Maimonides a says, they might eat and drink at night, in all fasts, except the nint

Matthew 4:1. _Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil._ What a change it seems from the descent of the Holy Spirit to being led up into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil! Dear friends, be especially on the watch after a great spiritual joy, for it is just then that you may have some terrible temptation. Mayhap, the voice from heaven is to prepare you to do battle with the enemy. I have noticed that the Lord has two special seasons of blessing his people; sometimes, before a great trial, to prepare them for it; and, at other times, after a great affliction, to remove the weakness which has been thereby occasioned. Think not that you can come up out of the waters of baptism, and then live without watchfulness. Imagine not, because the Spirit has sealed you, and borne witness with your spirit that you are the Lord's child, that therefore

4. THE TESTING OF THE KING AND HIS TESTIMONY. _ 1. The Testing by the Devil. (Matthew 4:1 .) 2. His Testimony and His Disciples. (Matthew 4:12 .) 3. The Powers of the Kingdom. (Matthew 4:23 .)_ CHAPTER 4 The first part of this chapter gives us the history of the temptation of the King. This is a most important topic, many-sided in its applications; large volumes have been written on it without exhausting it. We will therefore have to confine ourselves to the bringing out of some of the most important teachings, without attempting to go into many of the precious details and applications to the believer. The baptism marked, as we saw in the last chapter, our Lord's entrance upon

THE TEMPTATION (Mark 1:12 f.*, Luke 4:1 *). Jesus'sudden recognition of His Sonship or Messiah-ship and of the responsibility thus laid upon Him, found natural expression in His retirement into solitude. In the dreary wilderness of Judæ a (p. 31), which overhangs the north of the Dead Sea, He grapples with the problem of what is involved in being God's Son, of how the Messiah must do God's will. The narrative is taken (as in Lk.) from Q. There are three episodes, each containing a proposed course of action and a Scriptural reason for its rejection. The second and third scenes are transposed in Lk., but Mt. probably preserves the original order. Both Mt. and Lk., like Mk., lay stress on the impulse of the Spirit, and mention the forty days as preceding the three episodes, though Lk. (like Mk.) makes the whole period one o

WHEN HE HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. Moses and Elijah each fasted for the same length of time. It was no doubt. period of spiritual exaltation, of meditation and prayer. It was. period of preparation for his work, and it is hardly probable that he felt the need of food. When the mind and spirit are intensely excited the needs of the body are forgotten. HE WAS AFTERWARD AN HUNGERED. At the close of this period nature begins to assert her demands, and hunger was keenly felt....