Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 4:1-11

We have here the story of a famous duel, fought hand to hand, between Michael and the dragon, the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, nay, the serpent himself; in which the seed of the woman suffers, being tempted, and so has his heel bruised; but the serpent is quite baffled in his temptations, and so has his head broken; and our Lord Jesus comes off a Conqueror, and so secures not only comfort, but conquest at last, to all his faithful followers. Concerning Christ's temptation,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

Step by step Matthew unfolds the story of Jesus. He begins by showing us how Jesus was born into this world. He goes on to show us, at least by implication, that Jesus had to perform faithfully his duties to his home before he began on his duty to the world, that he had to show himself faithful in the smaller tasks before God gave to him the greatest task in all the world. He goes on to show us how, with the emergence of John the Baptist, Jesus knew that the hour had struck. and that the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had deliberately gone without food for forty days and forty nights he was hungry. So the tempter came and said to him, "If you really are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread." He answered: "It stands written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds through the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

There are certain further things we must note before we proceed to detailed study of the story of the temptations. (i) All three gospel writers seem to stress the immediacy with which the temptations followed the baptism of Jesus. As Mark has it: "The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness" ( Mark 1:12 ). It is one of the truths of life that after every great moment there comes a moment of reaction--and again and again it is in the reaction that the danger lies. That is... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 4:1-11

The tempter launched his attack against Jesus along three lines, and in every one of them there was a certain inevitability. (i) There was the temptation to turn the stones into bread. The desert was littered with little round pieces of limestone rock which were exactly like little loaves; even they would suggest this temptation to Jesus. This was a double temptation. It was a temptation to Jesus to use his powers selfishly and for his own use, and that is precisely what Jesus always... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 4:6

And saith unto him, if thou be the Son of God ,.... He addresses him after the same manner as before; if, or seeing, thou art the Son of God , show thyself to be so; give proof of thy sonship before all the priests which are in and about the temple, and before all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; cast thyself down that is, from the pinnacle of the temple: for since thou art the Son of God, no hurt will come to thee; thou wilt be in the utmost safety; and this will at once be a full... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:6

Cast thyself down - Our Lord had repelled the first temptation by an act of confidence in the power and goodness of God; and now Satan solicits him to make trial of it. Through the unparalleled subtlety of Satan, the very means we make use of to repel one temptation may he used by him as the groundwork of another. This method he often uses, in order to confound us in our confidence. He shall give his angels charge, etc. - This is a mutilated quotation of Psalm 91:11 . The clause, to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 4:6

Verse 6 6.He will charge his angels concerning thee. We must observe this malice of Satan, in misapplying a quotation of Scripture, for the purpose of rendering life deadly to Christ, and of converting bread into poison. The same kind of stratagem he continues daily to employ; and the Son of God, who is the universal model of all the godly, chose to undergo this contest in his own person, that all may be industriously on their guard against being led, by a false application of Scripture, into... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:1-11

THE TEMPTATION . The Father's acceptance of the Lord's consecration of himself for the work of the kingdom does not exclude temptation, but rather necessitates it. Psychologically, the reaction from the ecstasy of joy in hearing the announcement of Matthew 3:17 was certain; ethically, such testing as would accompany the reaction was desirable. Even the Baptist was, as it seems, not without a special temptation during this period (cf. John 1:19 ; and Bishop Westcott's note). At the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 4:1-11

The temptation of Christ. I. THE PREPARATION , 1 . The Spirit. He was "full of the Holy Ghost" ( Luke 4:1 ). The Spirit had descended from heaven like a dove, and abode upon him. He was now in the full consciousness of his Divine mission. His sacred human nature was filled through and through with the abiding presence of the Holy Ghost: "God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him" ( John 3:34 ). His holy soul must have glowed with a deep, heavenly joy in ineffable communion... read more

Group of Brands