Matthew 4:1-6: a reflection

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.’”

In the wilderness, after forty days of fasting, Jesus is tempted by the devil, who urges him to turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger. Jesus answers with Scripture: It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. He does not deny his hunger, or that bread has its place; but he refuses to make physical satisfaction the whole of life, affirming that we live by God's word, and answering the temptation with the very word of God.

Notice how Jesus meets the temptation, and what he affirms. He meets it with the word of God, quoting Scripture to answer the tempter. And he affirms a truth we easily forget: that we do not live by bread alone, by physical satisfaction only, but by every word that comes from God's mouth. There is a hunger deeper than the body's, which only God's word can feed; and Jesus, though genuinely hungry, would not treat physical satisfaction as the whole of life, or abandon dependence on God's word to get it.

That truth is one we need in a world that presses physical satisfaction on us as though it were everything. We can live as though bread, physical needs and comforts and pleasures, were the whole of life, feeding the body while starving the deeper hunger that only God's word can satisfy. But Jesus reminds us: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from God's mouth. Do not treat physical satisfaction as the whole of life, feeding the body while neglecting the deeper hunger of the soul. Feed on God's word, which alone can satisfy that hunger; for you do not live by bread alone. And when temptation comes, meet it as Jesus did, with the word of God, on which your deepest life depends. Do not live by bread alone; feed on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Lord Jesus, in the wilderness, hungry after forty days, you met the tempter's urging to turn stones into bread with the word of God: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. You did not deny your hunger, but refused to make physical satisfaction the whole of life. Give me that truth in a world that presses physical satisfaction on me as though it were everything. I can live as though bread, physical needs and comforts and pleasures, were the whole of life, feeding the body while starving the deeper hunger that only God's word can satisfy. But you remind me: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from God's mouth. Keep me from treating physical satisfaction as the whole of life, feeding the body while neglecting the deeper hunger of the soul. Help me feed on your word, which alone can satisfy that hunger; for I do not live by bread alone. And when temptation comes, help me meet it as you did, with the word of God, on which my deepest life depends. Feed me with your word, Lord, on which I truly live.