Includes a sample introduction to the lesson, text highlights and doctrinal emphases, illustrations you can use, discussion questions for your group, and spiritual life applications. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRODUCTION:

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“What are some ways that you’ve been asked to verify your identity?”

(We’ve all had to show our driver’s license; I’ve been asked to show my passport when traveling; I had to literally bring my Social Security card to one government agency; my fingerprints get me into my computer and some websites; sometimes we give passwords or PIN numbers — you/your group can share many examples like these.

Then transition to the lesson by saying: in today’s lesson in Matthew 3 and 4, we’ll study what happened when Jesus arrived,  and how He had His identity verified in some very special ways!

 

CONTEXT:

Today we begin a new book of the Bible, the Book of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, and it’s also the first of the four Gospels, which present the life and ministry of Jesus. Each of the Gospels has its own special “flavor”:

— Matthew is more inclined towards the Jews; it’s well-organized and has some long teaching segments, like the Sermon on the Mount, His message on the last days in Matthew 24, and so on.

— Mark is the briefest Gospel, but it moves quickly and has a lot of action, and not as many sermons/messages. 

— Luke is writing for the Gentiles; it has a number of our favorite stories, like the Prodigal Son, and the Good Samaritan.

These three are very similar and have much content in common, which is why they’re called “synoptic” (“together/eye”) gospels. 

— John has a totally different “feel” to it, as its stated purpose is that his readers may believe that Jesus is the Son of God and be saved. 

OPTIONAL ???DISCUSSION QUESTION???
“Which of the 4 gospels is your personal favorite, and why?”

(You could choose to use this as an alternate introduction to the lesson). Then share that today we are beginning a 6 month study of the Book of Matthew.  

In Chapter 1 of his book, Matthew gives Jesus genealogy and tells about Mary & Joseph and the circumstances of His birth.

Chapter 2 (which Lifeway will back to for the Sunday before Christmas) tells about the visit of the Magi — it’s one of my favorite passages as it reveals several different responses to Jesus.

Then in Chapter 3, John the Baptist appears, preparing the way for Jesus by proclaiming a coming Messiah — which brings us to our passage from today, which opens with “Jesus arrived from Galilee …”. So He’s “on the scene” now — and today’s scripture show us Who He is — with a LOT of theology, doctrine, and life application! 

OUTLINE:

I. The Presentation (3:13-17)
II. The Temptation (4:1-11)

TEXT:  Matthew 3:13-4:11

I. The Presentation (3:13-17)

13 “Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him. 16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

“Then Jesus arrived …”. So opens our text in Matthew 3. (That would make a great message right there, wouldn’t it? “Then Jesus arrived”! ) As we saw in our studies in the Old Testament, God had been promising Israel a coming Messiah. The Old Testament prophets continually point forward to Him. Hundreds of years had gone by — and now, here He is! “Then Jesus arrived”! 

But how did they know it was Him? Jesus would demonstrate in countless ways Who He was, as we will see in the weeks ahead. But in today’s verses in Matthew 3 & 4 we begin to see His authenticity verified:

First of all, John the Baptist pointed to Him. John knew Who He was. In :14, when Jesus comes to be baptized, John says, “I have need to be baptized by YOU, and do You come to me?” As He had said in :11, just before Jesus arrived:  “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals.” Jesus said later in Matthew 11:11 that of those born of women (only) there was no one greater than John. But here is John saying that he — of whom no mere human was greater — is not worthy to remove Jesus’ sandals — which was a very menial, humiliating task. How could he say this?

Because Jesus was no mere human. He was not merely “born of a woman,” though of course He was. He was also God’s “only begotten Son,” God Himself. John would point to Him in John 1:29 and say: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” 

So John bore witness to Who Jesus was. John 1:6-7 explains: “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.” 

But even though Jesus was the Son of God/God Himself, He was very humble and obedient. When John objected to baptizing Him in :14, saying he needed to be baptized by Him, Jesus responded:  “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So Jesus was baptized — NOT because HE Himself needed it; He had no sin (Hebrews 4:15). 

But He did it:

— so that He could perfectly identify with us as sinners who need repentance and baptism, and die on the cross as our representative.

— He did it so that He could fulfill every bit of righteousness that was needed to perfectly obey God, so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for us on the cross.

— And perhaps there was also an element of doing it so that it wouldn’t cause anyone to stumble if He did not. 

Jesus, in and of Himself, didn’t “have” to be baptized — but He did it out of humility and obedience, and especially He did it for US. He didn’t think only of Himself, but of others, in what He did.

There’s application for us here too. Sometimes we might say of something: “I don’t need to do that.” And maybe in and of yourself, you don’t. But you do it out of love for others: because doing it/not doing it would make them stumble; or because THEY need you to do it, not because you yourself need to. Whenever we make such sacrifices, we’re following in Jesus’ steps.  He Himself didn’t “need” to do any of this; He did it all for US! So Philippians 2:5 says “Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus.” Don’t just think about yourself; think of others, and do what’s best for them. That’s what Jesus did.

So Jesus was baptized, and when He was, an amazing thing happened: “the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Here God the Father and God the Holy Spirit put their “endorsement” on Who Jesus was: the Spirit of God came down like a dove on Him; and the Father Himself said, “This is My beloved Son.” So they confirmed and endorsed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, the Messiah.

ILLUSTRATION:

Alben Barkley was a United States Representative and Senator from Kentucky, as well as Vice-President of the U.S. under Harry Truman in the 1950s. “That Reminds Me is Barkley’s memoir of his life … The book includes a few stories about his father, who had been a farmer, came to Washington soon after Barkley was elected to Congress, and served as a doorkeeper in the House of Representatives, which Barkley said was “the adventure of his life” … Barkley wrote that “strangers visiting in the House gallery sometimes were startled when Father would tap them on the shoulder, point down to where I was sitting, and say, ‘That’s my son.” (Katharine Graham’s Washington, p. 656)

Alben Barkley’s father was very proud of his son, and evidently gloried in pointing him out to those who didn’t know him! But in the same way here, God the Father points out His Son Jesus to the world, saying “This is My Beloved Son …”. So Jesus’ identity was verified by His Father, as well as by John the Baptist, as well as by many other proofs during His lifetime, most significantly when He rose from the dead! 

This section is LOADED with theological truth, specifically the key doctrines of both Baptism, and the Trinity:

— DOCTRINE: BAPTISM

Verses 13, 14, and 16 all use the word “baptize” in one form or another. You may know this is the Greek word “baptizo,” which means to “dunk or immerse.” The ancient Greeks used this word of a cup that was dunked in a sink to wash, or a ship that was sunk in the sea. It means to be covered up by water! But the translators of the KJV were Anglicans, who did not practice baptism by immersion, they sprinkled. So instead of really “translating” the word, they “transliterated” it and just made a new English word, “baptize,” out of “baptizo.” But the word means “immerse.” Even those who don’t practice baptism by immersion admit it — and history shows it was the practice of the early church as well, as there are baptistries in some of the earliest churches that archeologists have unearthed. 

We also see it in this passage: “Jesus came up immediately from the water” — because He was IN the water! John 3:23 tells us John baptized at Aenon “because there was much water.” Why do you need “much water” if you are only sprinkling or pouring? It’s another proof that baptism was by immersion.

But what is really important about baptizing, of course, is its purpose. It doesn’t actually “wash” or “cleanse” us from sin; rather it’s an outward symbol of what’s happening inside the person: they’ve repented of their sin and asked God’s mercy — and He always responds to that with forgiveness and cleansing. Thus baptism is an outward symbol of an inward reality. It doesn’t “save” anyone. Water can’t wash sin away. Some like to quote I Peter 3:21, “Baptism now saves you …” — but they conveniently omit the rest of the verse: “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” See: “NOT the removal of dirt from the flesh” — in other words, NOT the physical act of baptism; but what is it that saves you, according to the verse? “An appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” — in other words, ASKING (“appealing”) God to save you, because of what Jesus has done. 

So baptism doesn’t “save” us. But that’s not to say that it’s not important. It is. It’s the New Testament means of making a public profession of one’s faith in Jesus. Those who were saved in the New Testament, were baptized. And if you/your members have truly been saved, you will want to be baptized, to publicly confess Jesus as your Lord & Savior.  

ILLUSTRATION:

John Hay had been a secretary to Abraham Lincoln, and later was a renowned U.S. Secretary of State. His maternal grandfather was saved while he was in college at Brown University, and joined the Baptist Church in “the rigorous fashion of those days,” John Hay recounted, “by immersion in the Seekonk River, a hole having been cut in the ice for the purpose.”

(John Taliaferro, All The Great Prizes, p. 15)

You’ve got to be pretty committed to be baptized in a hole cut in the ice! I once baptized a man in my first church, during freezing weather in the winter, and the baptistry heater had gone out! I asked him if he wanted to wait, and he said, No, I want to do this!

That’s commitment. That’s taking baptism seriously. As we see here, Jesus took baptism seriously, and we should too. Encourage your members: if you have been saved but have never been baptized, talk to your pastor, and follow Jesus’ example of baptism. 

— DOCTRINE:  TRINITY

This is one of the prime New Testament passages which teach us the Biblical doctrine of the Triune nature of God. Here in this same passage, we see all three members of the Trinity present at the same time:

— Jesus was coming up from the water

— the Holy Spirit was descending as a dove and resting on Him

— the Father’s voice from heaven proclaimed Him as His Son.

Here we clearly see three distinct persons, all present at the same time. This shows the Triune nature of God: one God, who exists eternally in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

— There is ONE God. This is indisputable, Biblical doctrine. We just studied the famous “Shema” in Deuteronomy 6, where Israel was taught monotheism: “God is one.” 

ILLUSTRATION

My sister served three years as a Journeyman missionary in China, teaching English as a second language. While she could not initiate gospel conversations there, she could respond to questions any way she saw fit. So one day in class she taught some grammatical point, and asked for questions. One student raised their hand said: “Tell us about America and their three gods.” So she had a great opportunity to share the gospel — and she was sure to explain that Christians do NOT believe in “three gods,” but in ONE God, who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

That’s the Trinity. The word “Trinity” literally means “three in one,” and that is what all orthodox Christians believe about the nature of God. It’s important for us to instill this belief in our members. Theologians tell us that most heresies involve some misunderstanding about the nature of the Trinity. So this doctrine needs to be a core teaching.  All our members need to know and believe in the Triune nature of God. As Gregory Nazianzen, early church preacher (300s A.D.) said; 

“When I say ‘God,’ I mean Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” 

???DISCUSSION/APPLICATION???

You might consider posting/showing that quote, and discuss it:

“WHY would this statement be important?”

(Because many people in America talk about some kind of god — but they mean all kinds of different things: maybe Allah, or one of the Hindu gods, or the general “moralistic therapeutic god” that many Americans believe in. But we as Christians mean the God of the Bible, Who has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as this passage and others make clear.)

We need to make sure that the Triune nature of God is what we and our members believe and share as well — and Matthew 3 here is one of the best passages in scripture to teach it.  

(To go a little deeper: this passage is one of the best in scripture against the heresy of MODALISM: that God just takes the form of Father, Son, Spirit at different times, but they are not different “persons.” But here we see all three, at the same time, in the same place, as three distinct Persons. Other scriptures show them speaking to each other, relating to each other as different Persons, as in John 14:16, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper.” There are many others such as that. But Matthew 3 here is a classic passage against modalism.)

So all these things in Chapter 3: the testimony of John, Jesus’ obedience in baptism, and especially the endorsement of the Father and the Holy Spirit, affirmed that Jesus really was the Messiah/the Son of God.  

II. The Temptation (4:1-11)

4:1 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and [f]worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and [g]serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.”

So Jesus went from the “high” of the affirmation of the Father, to the trial of being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. We need to realize that we too will experience spiritual “ups and downs.” We’re not always going to be “on the mountaintop,” so don’t be too discouraged when you aren’t. 

We also need to understand that this didn’t just “happen” to Him, it specifically says Jesus “was led up by the Spirit” there to be tempted. It was God’s plan for Him to face these temptations, and overcome them, so He might demonstrate His sinless nature as the only begotten Son of God.

And we need to know that God will sometimes allow US to enter into times of temptation too. Don’t think you won’t face them; you will. We need to be prepared and ready for them when they come.

???DISCUSSION QUESTION???

??? What are some things people want to be prepared for???

— fire (I just ordered a fire extinguisher for our new house)

— disaster (so we get insurance in advance)

— retirement. (many take steps to be ready for retirement, etc.)

You/your group can think of many examples.)

Then make the point: all these things are good to be prepared for, but we also need to prepare for temptation. How do we do this? As we look at Jesus’ example, we can see how He prepared, and what we need to do.

As many of us are familiar with, three specific temptations are recorded here:

— In :3 Satan tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread, because He was hungry, having fasted for 40 days.

— In :5-6 he tempted Him to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple — and he even twisted God’s word to induce Him to do it, quoting Psalm 91:11-12, that the angels would bear Him up if He jumped. 

— Then in :8-9 he told Him that he’d give Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory if He’d bow down to him.

These three temptations were each a little different, but all of them tempted Him to do something that was not God’s will — or to accomplish God’s work in an ungodly way. 

???DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“Which of these three temptations do you think would be the most difficult for you, and why?”

(As someone who enjoys food, I can sure identify with the first one! But when the devil uses scripture; I would think that would be especially difficult — he’s still using that tactic a lot today! We see scripture twisted in an attempt to justify all kinds of things.

You/your group can share your thoughts, and then continue:)

Jesus had ONE BASIC ANSWER for each of these, didn’t He?

“It is written …” (“Man shall not live by bread alone …” (Deut. 8:3)

“It is written …” (“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test” (Deut. 6:16)

“It is written …” (“You shall worship the LORD your God and Him only shall you serve.” (Deut. 6:13)

Every answer Jesus gave Satan was a quotation of God’s word, and interestingly all from Deuteronomy, which we just studied!

But the point is, Jesus rebuffed the devil’s temptations by using the word of God as His weapon. Every time He spoke, He used scripture. And importantly, He didn’t have to look them up in a concordance! He had these verses memorized and ready to use. 

LIFE APPLICATION:
I Peter 2:21 says we are to “follow in His steps,” and I think one of the very best life applications you and your group can take from this passage, is the importance of following Jesus’ example by preparing ourselves for trials and temptations by having God’s word ready to help us in those times. Just like Jesus models for us here, we need to MEMORIZE God’s word, and then USE it whenever we’re tempted. Ephesians 6 says “the sword of the Spirit is the word of God.” God’s word is our weapon against temptation. So we need to have His word ready to use — memorized. “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:11).

This could take a couple of forms:

1) We can have some general verses memorized to quote and use whenever we’re tempted. One I often quote is from this text, where Jesus says in :10, “Begone Satan, for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” Any time I’m tempted with something, I try to make my first response just a quick, “Begone Satan …”, don’t tempt me with that!, and it’ll often help me resist it. You may find a verse or two that helps you in a general way like that.

2) Identify an area of temptation that you often deal with, and memorize a verse that specifically addresses that area. For example, if you wrestle with anger, memorize a verse like Ephesians 4:26: “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Whenever you’re tempted to be angry, quote that verse, just like Jesus did in His temptations in Matthew 4, and likewise for whatever your specific temptation is.

A couple of points here:

— This is how Jesus resisted temptation. I don’t think you’re going to come up with a better way! “Follow in His steps,” like I Peter 2:21 says. This is the way to fight temptation.

— We do need to have scripture memorized in order to combat temptations and endure trials like Jesus did. 

ILLUSTRATION:

This is part of my wife Cheryl’s & my testimony from her stroke last year. We were both in the hospital for days, without constant access to a Bible. So we LIVED spiritually during that time on scriptures we had previously memorized. Cheryl has shared with a number of people that having scripture memorized is like having “a well stocked pantry”: it’s ready to just reach up and grab whenever and wherever you need it. You don’t need a Bible, or a concordance, or to Google it. You have it right there, ready to use when you’re tempted to discouragement, or fear, or whatever the trial is. Her testimony from her stroke is Psalm 119:92, “if Your Law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.” God’s word got both of us through that dark time. If we had not had scriptures hidden in our heart, I don’t know how we would have made it.

— And DON’T give in to the devil’s lie that you can’t memorize scripture. SO many — especially adults — glibly say “Oh, I just can’t memorize.” Many of us have bought the devil’s lie! OF COURSE he doesn’t want you to memorize scripture — it’s your best weapon against him! So he’s talked many of God’s people out of using the best weapon they have against him! Listen: most of us DO have things memorized: your PIN #, or your kids’ phone number, or your address, and so on. Now, we may not memorize as easily as we did when we were kids. But the truth is, many of God’s people have not given our best effort to truly hide God’s word in their heart, and we need to do it. Scripture memory is not a Sunday game for children; it is daily spiritual warfare for adults. So I challenge you: find ONE VERSE this week, and begin to memorize it. LEAD your class in this, teacher! Tell them, let’s be accountable to each other and come back and quote what we can of our verses next week. What if you really DO have difficulty memorizing, and you spend the rest of your life memorizing one verse — at least you’ll “go down fighting” and at least you’ll be in the process of obeying and using God’s word. 

Using God’s word to combat the enemy is one of the most valuable things we can learn as followers of Christ. He set the example — and we need to follow it! When He used the word of God, the enemy had to flee, as we see here — and that can happen for us too, if we will follow His example.

Matthew 3 & 4 demonstrates that Jesus was the Son of God, by the witness of others, by His sinless, obedient life, and especially the way He resisted temptation. Our first responsibility is to believe in Him as our Lord & Savior for the forgiveness of our sin. Once we have, then our responsibility is to “follow in His steps” as His disciples: and part of that involves following His example in how to resist temptation: by using the word of God as our weapon, just like He did. 

_________________________________________________

— Remember that there is now a “PRINT” button at the end of the lesson on my blog, that you can hit to print out the lesson in its entirety.

— If you’ll type your email in the “Follow blog via email” blank on my blog home page, WordPress will automatically send you next week’s lesson and you won’t have to search for it each week.

— And if you write something in the Comments below, my commitment is to pray for your and your group and any special request you make, by name this week.  I usually pray for these requests as they come in, and then again on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  

Several of you have asked for an update on my wife Cheryl as she recuperates from her stroke. She is still progressing slowly, but she IS making slow progress: she has increased her recumbent bike exercise from 25 to 45 minutes, and has doubled her walk with a hemi-walker from 60 to 120 feet recently, and she is using her left hand to hold some things, so we are grateful for all these victories. Thank you so much for your prayers! Please know that I take your requests seriously, and I will pray for you and whatever prayer request you list.

 

Per my licensing agreement with Lifeway:

— These weekly lessons are based on content from Explore the Bible Adult Resources. The presentation is my own and has not been reviewed by Lifeway.

— Lifeway resources are available at: goExploretheBible.com  and: goexplorethebible.com/adults-training

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