Man does not live on bread alone.
Feb 7th, 2008 by BradT
Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which He was very hungry, and the tempter came and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.’ But He replied, ‘Scripture says:Man does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
The devil then took Him to the holy city and made Him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If You are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw Yourself down; for scripture says:
He will put you in His angels charge,
and they will support you on their hands
in case you hurt your foot against a stone.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Scripture also says:
You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Next, taking Him to a very high mountain, the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ‘I will give You all these’ he said, ‘if You fall at my feet and worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For scripture says:
You must worship the Lord your God,
and serve Him alone.’
Then the devil left Him, and angels appeared and looked after Him.
In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus withdraws to the desert wilderness for a long prayer retreat. There He encounters Satan who offers Him the ultimate in power, money and creature comforts. The offer is conditional, of course: Jesus is to acknowledge Satan as supreme being. “I will give You all of these,” the devil says, “if you fall at my feet and worship me” (Mt. 4:9). Jesus answers with an emphatic “No,” saying in effect, “Have you forgotten, Satan, that God exists?”
“Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4). “You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone” (Mt. 4:10).
The struggle in the wilderness between Jesus and the devil goes on within each of us, every day of our lives. It is a life and death struggle in which we are being persuaded to place something other than the Living God at the center of our being. The urge to be true to God is real, but so is the urge to be untrue. And that is why it is such a struggle. There is a power, a devilish force at work trying to pull us from God — and it has a strong pull. You may find it comforting to think about the devil as a comic figure. It’s easy to say, “That old devil made me do it” and absolve yourself from any blame for what you have just done. But there is nothing that sly old devil would like more than to have you ignore him or pass him off as a comic figure. Then he can do his “thing,” unhindered.
As we enter the Lenten season, go forth remembering the days of Lent will not let us forget that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The days of Lent will not let us forget that it is written: “You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.” The days of Lent will not let us forget that we must dedicate our lives to the Will of the Living God as we have received it, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
