A Spotlight on the Scriptures: Overcoming Temptation with Matthew 4:3-4

This is a spotlight on the Scriptures: Matthew 4:3-4 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

This is the same kind of temptation that came to Eve. The first one was physical. She saw that the tree was good for food (see Gen_3:6). The Lord Jesus was told to turn stones into bread. Please notice what Satan said “ If You are the Son of God”. The conditional if here carries the meaning of "since." Satan did not doubt who Jesus was, but Satan wanted to get Him to violate the plan of God and to use wrongfully the divine power He had set aside in His humiliation (Php_2:7). This tells us the devil has been watching Jesus go without food. He knows what you’re up to, too and he knows what button to push to tempt you to act outside of the will of God.  1Jn_2:15-16 says that such temptation for the Christian is the “… lust of the flesh.” In this situation, Satan questioned the provision of God: Jesus was hungry. God hadn’t fed him. Why shouldn’t Jesus just make what was needed? But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  Now if Jesus the Living Word needed to use the written Word, to deal with the enemy of the Word, how much more do you and I need the Word of God? Jesus quoted it is written from Deu_8:3, which states that God allowed Israel to hunger so that He might feed them with manna and teach them to trust Him to provide for them. So the verse is directly applicable to Jesus' circumstances and a fitting reply to Satan's temptation.

“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

Moses explained to Israel how they survived through the wilderness: Not by might, not by their wisdom, not by their education, but by God’s provision. They didn’t survive merely because of the manna but because of the one who provided it. Beloved was Jesus hungry? Yes. But he was willing to trust God to provide rather than to act independently of him. Beloved we live by the Word of God. 

People listen to traffic reports before heading to work so they can find out about conditions they can’t see. These traffic reports are normally provided by a person flying around in a helicopter or plane who has a large vantage point. The proof that people are listening to the traffic reports and believe them is evident in their decisions on which route they take. People don’t just listen to the traffic report for their listening pleasure. They listen to get information on situations they can’t see themselves. 

Listen, as Christians we need eyes that we don’t have. God has a greater vantage point and provides that information to us in His Word. “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

 This is a spotlight on the Scriptures

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:48

This is a spotlight on the scriptures Matthew 4, verse 3 and 4.

Speaker 1: 0:54

And the temple came and said to him If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But he answered. It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is the same kind of temptation that came to Eve. She saw that the tree was good for food Genesis 3 and 6. The Lord was told to turn stones into bread. Please note what Satan said. If you are the son of God, now the condition if here carries the meaning of since Satan did not doubt who Jesus was, but Satan wanted to get him to violate the plan of God and to use wrongfully divine power he had set aside in his humility. Philippians 2 and 7. Now this tells us that the devil has been watching Jesus go without food, and he knows what you're up to too. He knows what buttons to push to tempt you to act outside of the will of God.

Speaker 1: 1:55

1 John 2, verses 15 through16, says that the temptation for the Christian is the lust of the flesh. In this situation, same question to provision of God. Jesus was hungry. God didn't feed him. Why should Jesus just make what he needed out of the stones bread. But Jesus answered it is written man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Now, if Jesus, the living word, needs to use the written word to deal with the enemy of the word, how much more do you and I need the word of God? Jesus quotes is from Deuteronomy 8 and 3, which state that God allowed Israel to go hungry, that he might feed them with manna and teach them to trust him to provide for them. So this verse is directly applicable to Jesus' circumstances and is a fitting reply to Satan's temptation. It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Moses explained to Israel how they survived through the wilderness not by might, not by their wisdom, nor by their education, but by the God's provision. They didn't survive merely because of the manner, but because of the one who provided the manner. Beloved, was Jesus hungry, yes, but he was willing to trust God to provide rather than act independently of him. Beloved, we need to live by the word of God, independently of him, but, love, we need to live by the word of God.

Speaker 1: 3:41

People listen to the traffic report before heading to work so they can find out the condition they can't see Now. These traffic reports are normally provided by a person flying around in a helicopter or a plane who has a large vantage point. The proof that people are listening to the traffic reports and believe them is evidenced by the decision on which route they would take. People just don't listen to traffic reports for their listen pleasure. They listen to get information on the situation they can't see themselves as Christians. We need eyes that we don't have. God has a greater vantage point and provides that information to us in his word. It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is a spotlight on the scriptures.