Matthew 4

I received an indirect challenge from a friend recently when he said that he was trying to read a chapter per day in the Bible and recording an idea. I often jump around Scripture during my times of meditation and journaling but I haven't walked through a book in a long time. I decided to select two sections of Scripture as the focus of my meditations - Matthew and Psalm 119.

Today's meditation is from Matthew 4. The short version (for blog scanners) is the direct annd indirect references to Jesus as the true Moses and the true Elijah point to Jesus as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as the true Israel (Son of God).

Matthew 4

Three verses, different ones than normal, jumped out at me.
Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:12 - When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee
Matthew 4:17 - From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Matthew 4 is the classic temptation text where Jesus responds to Satan's three tests. Jesus' use of Scripture, references to Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16, and 6:13, to combat the devil's temptation is well documented and I won't take time to analyze it here. The one detail that I have overlooked in the past is that all three of Jesus' uses of Scripture are from Deuteronomy, the great book of the Law.

The three short descriptions of Jesus' movements and actions caught my attention this time. These descriptions point to Jesus as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as the true Israel. Jesus is the tried and true Son of God who is capable to be a blessing and light to all peoples, first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles.

Jesus is led into the desert by the Spirit to be tested. Unlike Moses who disobeyed God by striking the rock to produce water (Numbers 20:9-13), Jesus obeyed God by not giving in to Satan. Furthermore, Jesus refers to Deuteronomy, the great book of the law, for his responses. Moses' disobedience and the grumbling of the hungry, thirsty, and tired Israelites kept them in the desert 40 years. Jesus was done in 40 days.

The next two narrative descriptions that I mentioned above show the beginning of how Jesus fulfilled the prophets. John came before Jesus preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2). Jesus, up to this point, had not preached. He had only been baptized. Jesus returns to Galilee when John is put in prison and he began to preach the same message (exact same words in Matthew 4:17). Jesus takes over and fulfills the ministry of John.

Jesus points out that John's ministry was Elijah coming first in Matthew 17:10-13. Elijah was a great prophet. In taking over John's ministry, Jesus is fulfilling the ministry of Elijah whose call was to call people back to the one true God, Yahweh.

Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets but that he came to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). Jesus' 40 days and 40 nights of obedience and Jesus' preaching of John's message reveal Jesus as the fulfillment of the ministry of Moses as law and Elijah as prophet. Later on, Jesus is revealed in the transfiguration with Moses and Elijah in his presence (Matthew 17:1-9). Matthew 4 continues to build the case that Jesus is th true Israel by showing him as the true Moses (law) and true Elijah (prophet) as the fulfillment of the law and prophets as the true Israel (Son of God).