This study is part of our series of verse by verse studies of Matthew, the 40th book in the Bible. Taught by our pastor, Simeon Forder, at our Sunday morning service on the 3rd November 2024.

About this book

The gospel of Matthew was aimed primarily at the Jew who was familiar with the Old Testament, quoting it more than any other of the gospels. And in its 28 chapters it presents Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, with Matthew wasting no time, starting with Jesus’ royal lineage back to king David of Israel in the opening chapter. But as well as looking back, it looks forward too, being the only gospel to mention the church by name. And so make no mistake, this is a very necessary book for us to read too.

About this study

In this chapter Matthew presents Jesus as the faultless King, that though the devil tempted Him, He did not sin – and Jesus’ response to Satan’s 3 temptations are the example that we need to learn from. But also in this chapter we see Jesus call the first of his 12 disciples, and there is great challenge to us as we see how they left everything immediately to follow Him.

Application questions

• Are you reading your Bible well and often enough to be prepared for temptation?
• What is God calling you to do?
• Are you prepared to get up and follow Jesus immediately, at any cost?