This year we are covering the four Gospel Accounts together in chronological order.
In the previous post, we covered Matthew 4:1-2 & Luke 4:1-2. Here was the conclusion:
Jesus' first act during His Ministry was to be led by the Holy Spirit into the desert in order to be tempted of the devil. Jesus fasted forty days in order to purify Himself and be weak enough to find out the areas in which He could fall.
Luke 4
"3 And the devil said unto him, if thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread.
4 And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone."
(The first temptation was stated as an IF. The devil can't speak TRUTH. The best he can speak is Fact. Facts are a Right WHAT. TRUTH is a Right WHAT with a Right HOW/WHY. The HOW/WHY creates...so TRUTH is Facts that Create. Deception is a Right WHAT with a Wrong (or no) HOW/WHY. Deception is Facts that don't create. Notice, you wouldn't be deceived by a Wrong WHAT. Deception occurs because people focus on the WHAT to the exclusion of the HOW/WHY. Jesus stated that in the devil there is NO TRUTH AT ALL...however, there are Facts. The devil is incapable of creating...which means he cannot STATE a Right HOW/WHY. Notice, the key word is STATE...the devil can present a Right HOW/WHY in a Question or with an IF...)
(The first temptation covered food...like what occurred with the First Adam. The First Adam began in paradise with a wife and a tree. One of the proofs he failed his temptation was that he ate of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. Adam ended up in the wilderness. Paul stated Jesus was the Second Adam. Jesus began His Ministry in the wilderness. He succeeded with His first temptation. Jesus will eventually end up in paradise for eternity with a wife and a tree.)
(Notice, Jesus responded with scripture instead of helping the devil. In every case other than this one, God's Word showed the godly example we ought to follow ALWAYS first helped people, then pointed people to God. We ought to first help people, then point them to God. When we don't help people and immediately point them to God, we are treating people like they are the devil. Let's see a more specific quote of the scripture Jesus referenced from Matthew's Gospel Account...)
Matthew 4
"3 And the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
(Jesus responded with Deuteronomy 8:3.
"3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.")
(This was a verse EVERY boy of twelve years old knew because it was in the Torah: the first five books of Moses that EVERY Jewish boy had memorized. Jesus was showing that even a boy of twelve years old OUGHT to be able to deal with the devil.)
(Notice, in Deuteronomy, the verse stated "everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah". This is not limited to WORDS, however it is the most frequent thing that proceeds out of the Mouth of God. More importantly, Grace would qualify as a word that proceeds out of the Mouth of God.)
("It is written..." is translated in the Complete Jewish Bible as "The Tanakh says..." Jesus wouldn't say "The Bible says..." or "The Old Testament says..." If He mentioned a book by name it would be the Torah or the Tanakh. What is the Tanakh? The Tanakh is the name for the Bible used in Judaism. The name "Tanakh" is a Hebrew acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Bible used in Judaism's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah (Teaching), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings) - hence TaNaKh.)
(Finally, Jesus being fully man meant He could have chosen to do evil. Jesus' response to finding his "points" was to do the opposite of these areas. Jesus did not do nothing. Jesus did not try to NOT do these areas. Jesus DID something intentionally. He did the opposite. We ought to follow Jesus' example! This first temptation showed the Jesus liked to eat. Jesus' response to this "point" was to fast...which was the opposite and something that can be done intentionally.)
CONCLUSION
Jesus successfully responded to the devil's first temptation (which involved food) by quoting God's Word.
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