from scripture:
• Jesus' first adult miracle may be surviving starvation. He illustrates the value in being empty and having nothing but the Father, in resting in and calling on Scripture in times of ultimate depletion and weakness.
• Jesus calls brothers to follow him.
• Both pairs of brothers immediately leave work and family to follow Him.
from commentary:
"Luther’s remark stands true, that prayer, meditation, and temptation, are the three best instructors of the gospel minister." (Charles Spurgeon)
"[Fasting] ... a period of forced dependence upon God the Father." (David Guzik)
"... he learned obedience through the things which He suffered ..." (Hebrews 5:8)
"... circumstances that preceded the temptation of Jesus ... He was in an especially devout frame of mind ... engaged in an act of public obedience to His Father’s will ... in an exceedingly humble frame of mind ... blessed by a heavenly assurance of His Sonship ... filled with the Holy Spirit ... completely separated from the world ..." (Guzik)
Jesus' three temptations: lust of the flesh, pride of life, lust of the eyes (Guzik)
"We can trust that the devil has memorized the Bible himself, and is an expert at quoting it out of its context ..." (Guzik) "... he did not use the sword lawfully. It was not in the nature of the false fiend to quote correctly." (Spurgeon)
"... what [Satan] has been longing for ever since he fell from glorious to profane: worship and recognition from God Himself ..." (Guzik)
"Adam and his descendants gave the devil ... authority. God gave Adam the earth as a stewardship (Genesis 1:28-30), and Adam willingly turned it over to Satan. After that, all Adam’s descendants cast their vote of approval by their personal sin." (Guzik)
"It is not unreasonable to suppose that Jesus was meditating on those very passages, and He fought Satan with the fresh bread He fed on. We should make sure we always have some fresh bread to answer Satan with." (Guzik)
"... all the passages quoted by our Lord [to combat Satan's temptation] are from the Book of Deuteronomy ..." (Guzik)
"Some believe that there is simply far less demon possession in cultures that have been under the influence of the gospel for hundreds of years, and far more in pagan and/or animistic cultures.
Some believe that Satan himself is not interested in a strategy of widespread demon possession of humans in the contemporary western world, because he finds anonymity and spiritual skepticism more effective tools." (Guzik)
