Matthew 4
1 Then Jesus was led into the Wildernessa by the Life-Breath to be tested by the False Accuser.b 2 At the end of fasting for 40 days and nights,c he was starving.
3 “If you are the Son of God,”d the Testere said after coming to Jesus, “Say the words that would make these stones become loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus responded, “It is written, ‘To live, a person won’t live because of bread only, but rather because of every statementf that comes out of the mouth of God.’”g
5 Then the False Accuser took Jesus to the sacred city and had him stand on the cornerh of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “Throw yourself down since it’s written that ‘He will give his messengersi a directive about you,’j and ‘They will support you with their hands so that your foot won’t hit a stone.’”k
7 “Again,” Jesus asserted, “It is written, ‘Don’t test the Lord your God,’”l
8 Yet again, the False Accuser took Jesus to the top of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world systemm and their prestige. 9 He told him, “I will give you all these things if you fall to the ground and bow down to me!”n
10 Then Jesus told him, “Get away, Adversary!o It is written, ‘You will bow down to the Lord, your God, and serve as his representativep only’!”q
11 The False Accuser left him then, and—notably—messengersr came and began to take care ofs him.
12 When Jesus heard that John had been handed over, he went back to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 resulting in acting out what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet:
15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of foreign peoples,
16 The people living in darkness have seen a bright light,
and on those who live in the shadow of death, a light has risen for them.t
17 That was when Jesus began publicly announcing this message: “Transform your minds because the Heavenly Reign is almost here!”u
18 While walking near the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simeonv (known as Peter) and Andrew his brother. They were casting a net into the sea (since they were fishers). 19 “Come, follow me,” he called to them, “And I will make you fishers of people!” 20 Straightaway, they abandoned their nets and followed him.
21 When they moved on from there, Jesus saw two more brothers, Jacobw and John, in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Straightaway, they left their father and their boat and followed him.
23 Jesus began going all around Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and announcing the triumphant messagex about the Reign and healing all kinds of diseases and physical weaknesses for the people. 24 News of him was spread throughout all of Syria, and people brought him everyone who had hardships with various diseases and chronic pain, including people who were haunted by demons,y or were ‘moonstruck’z or were paralyzed, and Jesus healed them. 25 Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from across the Jordan River.
FOOTNOTES:
a We tend to picture Jesus sitting on a rock in the desert sun with nothing but rocks and sand visible in any direction. It’s possible that’s what’s in view here, but it’s also possible he went to stay in seclusion at the Essene community of Qumran, located in ‘the Wilderness.’ Additionally, the ‘wilderness’ in the Hebrew Bible is consistently used to represent chaos and scarcity, neglect of needs, sense of threat and hostility, and the place where those things originate, a return to the formlessness and emptiness preceding Creation. It’s appropriate to find the False Accuser there.
b This is a more literal translation of the Greek diabolon. There’s a history of it being transliterated into other languages and eventually becoming traditionally ‘devil,’ but doing so obscures the meaning of what’s being communicated.
c See Deuteronomy 8:2
d “The Son of God” was a nickname for the emperor, a title taken on originally by Augustus Caesar, the son of Julius Caesar who was worshiped as divine, and was then used by each subsequent Caesar.
e This is a different word in Greek than the one translated as ‘False Accuser. It is peirazon which means ‘the one who tests’ or ‘one who poses a test’ or ‘one who facilitates a trial’ and similar ideas.
f This is rhema, which means ‘word’ or ‘statement’ with a focus on the audible speech. It is different from logos, which has more to do with the concept or idea communicated by words and can be used to express conversation and engagement with ideas rather than simply a unilateral movement of speech.
g Citation of Deuteronomy 8:3
h This term is unclear to scholars. It literally means ‘little wing,’ but what part of the temple that would be referring to is unknown. It is not a term used elsewhere in literature about architecture. Some translations have rendered it as ‘pinnacle’ or ‘highest point,’ but they are only guessing.
i The word angelos means ‘messenger,’ possibly used for spirit beings, but also used for human agents of God (or other people) and sometimes even for natural phenomena. It conveys the meaning of someone authorized to speak—or act—on behalf of another. If the reader wants to read these messengers (acting on God’s behalf) as celestial beings, great. If as humans, great. The word angelos, even for spirit-beings, is a job title, not a ‘species’ classification. The work of Michael S. Heiser is a great source of information on this topic.
j Citation of Psalm 91:11a
k Citation of Psalm 91:12. These citations intentionally misrepresent the intended meaning. Psalm 91 is about someone dedicated to the Path of the Lord being safe by virtue of their faithfulness to the Lord’s way.
l Citation of Deuteronomy 6:16
m This word kosmos has been translated as ‘world system.’ It is not about physical existence as opposed to heavenly realms or life after death. It is about existing in the universe at all or about being present in the way things are within ‘the world as we know it.’
n While this has traditionally be translated as ‘worship,’ this is not about an act of praising Satan’s glory or whatever. It is an act of submission.
o The word satanas was not a name. It meant ‘adversary’ in the sense of prosecutor or opponent. It carries the meaning of someone who is against another, trying to sabotage their efforts and their wellbeing, and against someone as a plaintiff in court. It is an enemy, but also someone accusing another of wrongdoing, whether truly or falsely. It’s not just about pointing out something bad, but actively moving to cause adversity for someone else. The concept of Ha Shatan in the Hebrew Bible was not the evil archnemesis of God that Christian teaching has turned it into. It was described as a member of the council of spiritual beings whose role was to test people to see how genuine they were. The clearest example of this is in the book of Job.
p The phrase is literally, ‘in his name.’ The concept of ‘name’ in scripture is more than the set of sounds or letters used to designate who is being discussed. It refers to their identity, character, and sometimes authority or cause which that person represents or leads. For instance, here, it could be loosely translated to mean something like “serve his identity, authority, and waying of being.”
q Citation of Deuteronomy 6:13
r The word angelos means ‘messenger,’ possibly used for spirit beings, but also used for human agents of God (or other people) and sometimes even for natural phenomena. It conveys the meaning of someone authorized to speak—or act—on behalf of another. If the reader wants to read these messengers (acting on God’s behalf) as celestial beings, great. If as humans, great. The word angelos, even for spirit-beings, is a job title, not a ‘species’ classification. The work of Michael S. Heiser is a great source of information on this topic. Of note, the text describes Jesus as going to ‘the Wilderness’ that region John lived in that was home to the Essene community. I think it probable that it could have been members of this community or others who showed up to ‘be God’s hands’ and care for Jesus.
s The word here is typically used of workers who attend to practical needs, like a server at a banquet or a personal attendant. ‘Serve him’ or ‘assist him’ could also be appropriate translations.
t Citation of Isaiah 9:1
u Parallel to Matthew 3:2
v English version of the Greek equivalent of Simeon would be Simon, which is traditional. There’s a long history of de-Jewish-ing the names of people in the Bible, including Jesus (Joshua) that stems from pervasive antisemitism.
w Traditionally: ‘James.’ The Greek is Iakob, which is the same as it uses for Jacob, son of Isaac and Jacob grandfather of Jesus. Jacob is the English name as it came through German, and James is the English name as it came through French. That way, it turned into two names in English, but it started as the same name in Hebrew and Greek.
x Traditionally, ‘gospel’ or ‘good news.’ The word ‘gospel’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon term god-spell, which means ‘good story.’ The Greek euangelion literally means ‘good message’ and was used specifically of a message announced publicly, which fits the use of the word ‘news.’ The historical context comes from when rulers and military leaders returned to a city after victory in battle, and a herald would be sent ahead to announce the victory and the ruler’s impending arrival. The writers of the Bible took this word and applied it to Jesus’ victory of a different kind. The use of “triumphant message’ here is intended to communicate the full meaning of the word in context and not the narrow dictionary definition.
y The traditional ‘possessed by’ is not in the Greek, and the actual word would be directly something like ‘demonized.’ Some kind of torment is certainly at play here. The word diamonia can carry the meaning of an evil entity, but it can also be ‘a spirit of…’ as in a part of a person that causes their own suffering or even a ‘divinity’ or ‘god’ as in the Greek god of X that was a lesser god.
z What ‘moonstruck’ means is uncertain, though likely it had something to do with having seizures.