Matthew 4:1-11

Matthew 4:1-11

Hungry from going for days without any food, Jesus is confronted by Satan with a seemingly innocent kind of temptation. “What will it hurt to just make a little bread and eat it?” It’s easy to resist the “bigger” temptations because they are so obviously outside of God’s will and in many cases also against the law or against our own conscience, but how easy is it to fall to the temptation of the small, innocuous sins?

Here in this single temptation, and in Jesus’ response, three deep spiritual realities are taking place.

First of all, Satan is hitting Jesus with the same temptation with which he conquered Adam and Eve—the temptation to eat. If Jesus can beat this temptation, then he will prove his ability to be the “Second Adam,” the one who can start the human race all over again.

Secondly, unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus is able to resist the temptation to satisfy his own desires, but in resisting, he tells his secret that life comes from the Word of God rather than from food. He is declaring that time spent with the Father meditating on His Word is more important and more satisfying than food! I’ve been a believer for 30 years, but even so it’s hard for me to relate to that statement at 6:00pm when the smell of dinner is wafting through the house!

Finally, Jesus proves his own point in saying this because it is itself a quotation from God’s Word. God’s Word declares that it’s all we need, Jesus affirms his own belief in it by quoting it, and more practically, it gives Jesus the power to conquer his own temptation.

So what’s it mean for us? If Jesus needed the power of God’s Word to conquer temptation, how much more do we need it?

BIG IDEA FOR THE DAY: Get God’s Word in you, and you’ll live life beyond the needs and limitations of this physical world!