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Matthew 4:2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

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      FIRST STAGE:
      2. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights--Luke says "When they were quite ended" (Lu 4:2).
      he was afterward an hungered--evidently implying that the sensation of hunger was unfelt during all the forty days; coming on only at their close. So it was apparently with Moses (Ex 34:28) and Elijah (1Ki 19:8) for the same period. A supernatural power of endurance was of course imparted to the body, but this probably operated through a natural law--the absorption of the Redeemer's Spirit in the dread conflict with the tempter. (See on Ac 9:9). Had we only this Gospel, we should suppose the temptation did not begin till after this. But it is clear, from Mark's statement, that "He was in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan" (Mr 1:13), and Luke's, "being forty days tempted of the devil" (Lu 4:2), that there was a forty days' temptation before the three specific temptations afterwards recorded. And this is what we have called the First Stage. What the precise nature and object of the forty days' temptation were is not recorded. But two things seem plain enough. First, the tempter had utterly failed of his object, else it had not been renewed; and the terms in which he opens his second attack imply as much. But further, the tempter's whole object during the forty days evidently was to get Him to distrust the heavenly testimony borne to Him at His baptism as THE SON OF GOD--to persuade Him to regard it as but a splendid illusion--and, generally, to dislodge from His breast the consciousness of His Sonship. With what plausibility the events of His previous history from the beginning would be urged upon Him in support of this temptation it is easy to imagine. And it makes much in support of this view of the forty days' temptation that the particulars of it are not recorded; for how the details of such a purely internal struggle could be recorded it is hard to see. If this be correct, how naturally does the SECOND STAGE of the temptation open! In Mark's brief notice of the temptation there is one expressive particular not given either by Matthew or by Luke--that "He was with the wild beasts" (Mr 1:12), no doubt to add terror to solitude, and aggravate the horrors of the whole scene.

JFB.


Questions Related to this Verse

Where in Scripture does it mention The temptation of Jesus christ?

Where In Scripture Does It Talk About Temptation?

Where in Scripture does it mention The temptation of Jesus?

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Matthew 4 Images and Notes

Brief Summary: Jesus fasts for 40 days and is tempted by the devil, Jesus begins His public ministry, Jesus calls His first disciples, Jesus heals the sick.

Outline
1 The temptation of Jesus
13 Jesus dwells in Capernaum
17 Jesus begins to preach
18 Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, James and John
23 Jesus heals the sick

Drawing of the Temptation of Jesus Christ by Dore
Drawing of the Temptation of Jesus Christ by Dore

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Quick Reference Map
The Beginning of the Ministry of Jesus
Map of Galilee and northern Israel (Click to Enlarge)

Painting of Jesus Calling James and John
Painted Illustration of Jesus Calling James and John

Ancient Customs

Geography
Capernaum
Galilee

 

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