Scripture Daily

Context No. 1734 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 4:1-6: in context

1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’” 5Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and 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 don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”

Led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus fasts forty days and is hungry, and the tempter comes. If you are the Son of God, he says, command these stones to become bread. Jesus answers with Scripture: it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God. Then the devil takes him to the pinnacle of the temple: throw yourself down, for it is written that his angels will bear you up. Even the tempter quotes Scripture; but he twists it, urging presumption.

The pattern of Jesus' resistance is worth learning: to each temptation, he answers, it is written. He does not argue with the tempter on his own strength or reason; he meets the temptation with the word of God, the settled truth of Scripture, and stands on it. Man does not live by bread alone, he says, but by every word from God's mouth. The word, known and ready, is his defense; and it is available to us as the same defense. When temptation comes, our own resolve and reasoning are often not enough; but the word of God, known and brought to mind, gives us solid ground to stand on, a truth to answer the lie. This is one reason to fill our minds with Scripture in advance, so that in the moment of temptation, like Jesus, we have it is written ready to hand. And notice the sober detail: the tempter, too, quotes Scripture. Throw yourself down, he says, for it is written that the angels will catch you. He takes a true verse and twists it, using it to urge presumption, to tempt Jesus to test God rather than trust him. This warns us that Scripture can be misused, wielded out of context to justify what it never meant. So it is not enough to have verses at hand; we must know the word rightly, whole and in its true sense, so that we are not deceived by its distortion. Jesus knew the word truly, and so could answer both the temptation and its misuse of Scripture. To resist temptation as he did, we need the word, and we need it rightly known.

When temptation comes, do I try to meet it with my own resolve alone, or do I have the word of God known and ready, so that like Jesus I can stand on what is written, and do I know that word truly and whole, so that I am not deceived when Scripture itself is twisted to justify what it never meant?

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