Today Our Daily Bread Matt 4

Matthew 4: 1 - 25
1 Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. 3 Then the Devil F21 came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread." 4 But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.' F22 " 5 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, 'He orders his angels to protect you. And they will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.' F23 " 7 Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'Do not test the Lord your God.' F24 " 8 Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory. 9 "I will give it all to you," he said, "if you will only kneel down and worship me." 10 "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.' F25 " 11 Then the Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus.
12 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 13 But instead of going to Nazareth, he went to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy: 15 "In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River – in Galilee where so many Gentiles live – 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined." F26 17 From then on, Jesus began to preach, "Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near. F27 "
18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers – Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew – fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19 Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!" 20 And they left their nets at once and went with him. 21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
23 Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed people who had every kind of sickness and disease. 24 News about him spread far beyond the borders of Galilee so that the sick were soon coming to be healed from as far away as Syria. And whatever their illness and pain, or if they were possessed by demons, or were epileptics, or were paralyzed – he healed them all. 25 Large crowds followed him wherever he went – people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, F28 Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.
FOOTNOTES:F21: Greek the tempter. F22: Deut 8:3. F23: Ps 91:11-12. F24: Deut 6:16. F25: Deut 6:13. F26: Isa 9:1-2. F27: Or has come, or is coming soon. F28: Greek Decapolis.
The New Living Translation

~Lena's Comments~
I’m not sure all have thought of this, but satan did have authority to give Jesus in the position Jesus was standing in right then as a "mere man". Satan is called the god of this world system. BUT Jesus had heard the voice of God and knew that voice and WOULD NOT follow the voice of another, a stranger. No matter what he said! When we know the voice of our Father we know His heart, His inner spirit, in the heart of God there is all truth and all love. Nothing any other could say could ever compare to His truth. If we know Him there is no question even the motive of another seemingly "good" offer. It was like John had finished his designed and called by God purpose, for his timeframe on earth and this action by Jesus was a sign of the passing of that baton.
John prepared the way and here was THE LORD! They were from the same call, the same message and of the same exact spirit. One preceded the other, but there was no break, just a continuance of the call and fulfillment of God’s heart and vision to be accomplished on earth. That is how we should so desire to operate, picking up in the same spirit of the call we’ve been instructed in. Taking up right at the same spiritual purposes of other who have brought us here by their faithful lives of service to God.
The call of discipleship IS that call to God’s purposes. Without answering that call we will not do what we were placed here on earth to do. The ability of one to answer that call shows that they have an inkling of God’s desire and His heart in their being. Their ability to spread the word of this call to others solidifies that they have vision and are seeing as God sees. When we see we can also do.
Jesus was out to heal all of every kind of dis-ease. He did that before and after His death. He does it now through His word being used by us.