Catholic Commentary on Matthew 4

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." (Matthew 4:17)

Forty Days in the Desert

Immediately after his Baptism, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After forty days of fasting, the tempter comes with three temptations. Each one offers Jesus something real and legitimate through a path that bypasses the Father's will: turn stones to bread, throw yourself from the Temple, accept the kingdoms of the world. Each temptation offers what is legitimately his, but through a road that cuts out the Cross. St. Thomas Aquinas observed that the three temptations correspond to the three sources of all sin: the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the desire for power. Jesus defeats all three not with miraculous force but with the word of God: Man shall not live on bread alone. Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. The forty days echo Israel's forty years in the desert, where the nation failed every test that Jesus now passes. He is the new Israel, recapitulating and redeeming where they fell.

Light in Galilee

After John is put in prison, Jesus withdraws to Galilee and makes his home in Capernaum, fulfilling Isaiah 9:1-2: The people living in darkness have seen a great light. The Messiah begins his ministry not in Jerusalem but in the margins, in Galilee of the Gentiles, among the fishermen of a working-class lake town. His first public words echo John's: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. But where John announced the Kingdom as approaching future, Jesus announces it as present reality: the Kingdom has come near because the King has arrived. Then he calls four fishermen and they follow him at once.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Jesus defeated every temptation with the word of God. He did not rely on divine power to make temptations disappear. He met them with Scripture, memorised and applied. The question is whether we know the word well enough to use it when the tempter arrives, not on Sunday in the pew but in the specific moment of a specific temptation on an ordinary afternoon. Feed daily on the word, so that when the hour comes you are not searching for the sword.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you overcame every temptation in the desert and offer us your victory. Strengthen us in our own temptations. Feed us with your word so that we do not live by bread alone. Guard us from testing God and from worshipping anything less than the Father. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

4
The Temptation of Jesus
(Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13)
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.
 
3 The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
 
4 But Jesus answered, “It is written:
 
‘Man shall not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’* 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3”
 
5 Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. 6 “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written:
 
‘He will command His angels concerning You,
and they will lift You up in their hands,
so that You will not strike Your foot
against a stone.’† 4:6 Psalms 91:11–12”
 
7 Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’‡ 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16”
 
8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”
 
10 “Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’§ 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13”
 
11 Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
(Isaiah 9:1–7; Mark 1:14–15; Luke 4:14–15)
 
12 When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, He withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
 
15 “Land of Zebulun
and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death,
a light has dawned.”* 4:16 Isaiah 9:1–2
 
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
The First Disciples
(Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:1–11; John 1:35–42)
 
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
 
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
Jesus Heals the Multitudes
(Mark 3:7–12; Luke 6:17–19)
 
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed—and He healed them.
 
25 The large crowds that followed Him came from Galilee, the Decapolis,† 4:25 That is, the Ten Cities Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

*4:4 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3

†4:6 4:6 Psalms 91:11–12

‡4:7 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16

§4:10 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13

*4:16 4:16 Isaiah 9:1–2

†4:25 4:25 That is, the Ten Cities

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