Matthew 4:1-22 Today’s Concept of a Follower Is Different Than Jesus’ Concept of a Follower.

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When Jesus called His disciples, He told them to follow Him. Therefore, it has been a common practice within Christianity to tell people that in order to be saved from eternal punishment, they have to follow Jesus. The term Follower of Jesus has long been a synonym for Christian. Unfortunately, social media has changed the advisability of using that term.

Before the advent of social media, being a follower meant being an adherent or devotee of a particular person, cause, or idea. That was a great definition when calling people to be followers of Jesus.

However, when social media became popular, many people began using social media to track the ideas and activities of business competitors, political opponents, or other people with whom they did not agree. When that practice started in the early days of social media, people would often state in their social media profile that just because they followed a person or organization did not mean they agreed with that person or organization.

Today, people no longer feel the need to post that statement because social media is so ubiquitous that our definition of follower has changed. Now, being a follower means tracking a person or organization. Most people intuitively understand that just because you follow someone on social media does not mean you agree with them. Everyone knows that social media is being used to track competitors and opponents. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to state that you don’t agree with everyone you follow.

Unfortunately, the use of the word follower in social media has changed our culture’s concept of being a follower of Jesus, and not in a good way. It is no longer a given that being a follower of Jesus means being a devotee or adherent of Jesus and His teachings. Especially in a culture that believes there are many ways to heaven, many people equate being a follower of Jesus with someone who merely wants to know about Jesus.

The fourth chapter of Matthew records the origin of the concept of following Jesus. If we are going to use the term follower of Jesus, we need to make sure we are taking the time to communicate what the Bible means when it talks about following Jesus.

The first two chapters of Matthew record the ancestry and birth of Jesus. Matthew 3 tells us about the early ministry of John the Baptist, including the time he baptized Jesus. After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit of God descended as a dove and came upon Him. A voice out of heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3:17).

Matt. 4:1 ¶ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

The purpose of going into the wilderness was to be tempted by the devil. Notice that it was the Spirit who led Jesus into this encounter.

Matt. 4:2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

Matt. 4:3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Jesus was challenged to turn stones into bread. Since the tempter encouraged Him to do that, we can assume it would have been wrong for Jesus to do so. Why would that have been wrong? Jesus was God. He changed water into wine. Why was He not permitted to change stones into bread?

It would have been wrong because the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to fast. It would have been wrong for Jesus to eat before the Father gave Him permission to do so.

Matt. 4:4 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.’”

Jesus responded to the tempter with scripture from Deuteronomy 8:3. The Bible says living life is not just about eating, it is also about obeying every word that comes out of the mouth of God. The Father wanted Jesus fasting, and Jesus needed to fast until the Father gave Him permission to stop fasting.

Matt. 4:5 ¶ Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

Matt. 4:6 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,

LEST YOU STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”

The devil quoted from Psalm 91:11-12. He quoted accurately, but he took it out of context. The Psalmist wrote about being protected by Yahweh from dangers that come to us. He was not writing about being protected when we deliberately do something dangerous. The devil was trying to get Jesus to intentionally take a risk. That is not what Psalm 91:11-12 promises to protect against.

Matt. 4:7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”

Jesus knew that jumping off the pinnacle of the temple would have been testing the Father. That was wrong according to Deuteronomy 6:16.

Matt. 4:8 ¶ Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;

Matt. 4:9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

It was clearly wrong for Jesus to worship the devil.

Matt. 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”

Matt. 4:11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Matt. 4:12 ¶ Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He departed into Galilee;

Matt. 4:13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,

Matt. 4:14 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

Matt. 4:15 “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI,

BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES—

Matt. 4:16 THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT,

AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,

UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

This is a quotation from Isaiah 9:1-2. In the Old Testament time period the area around the Sea of Galilee was not a prominent area. Very few Old Testament stories took place there. However, Jesus lived in this area and did much of His ministry around the Sea of Galilee, meaning a bright light shown upon the area.

Matt. 4:17 ¶ From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matt. 4:18 ¶ Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

Matt. 4:19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus used the word follow when He called Peter and Andrew.

Matt. 4:20 And immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Matthew used the word follow to indicate what Peter and Andrew began to do.

Matt. 4:21 And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.

Matt. 4:22 And immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Matthew also used the word followed to indicate what James and John began to do after Jesus called them.

What were Peter, Andrew, James, and John doing when they followed Jesus? Well, they were literally traveling with Him. They went where He went. They did what He did. They did what He told them to do. Their entire life was oriented around Jesus. Their life was devoted to being with Jesus, learning from Him, and serving Him. This is what the Bible means by following Jesus.

If we tell someone they need to follow Jesus and they use the social media definition of follow and think that following Jesus merely means knowing about Jesus, then we have communicated a wrong concept.

Many Christians still use the term follower of Jesus to describe themselves, or the term follow Jesus to tell people how to become saved. However, we need to be very careful with that term. Social media has changed the concept of follow. If we use that term, we need to make sure we take the time to define the Biblical concept of that term so that we communicate accurately and completely. The Biblical concept of following Jesus is to be a servant of Jesus.

“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”