He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'” Mathew 4:4 NABRE
Jesus spends time in the desert where He encounters temptation in the form of Satan. Jesus has three temptations placed before Him and reading all three we recognize that the devil is familiar with Holy Scripture. Jesus is hungry after His time in the desert and the devil challenges Him to turn stones into bread, the devil would have Jesus perform a miracle to relieve His own hunger. This temptation subtly tries to make Jesus think He is what He can do. It is a challenge to Jesus’ pride. But Jesus responds with scripture as we read in the quoted verse (see also Deuteronomy 8:3.) Jesus is teaching that our physical needs are not our greatest need, but the Word of the Lord is a more essential sustenance for life than bread. Obedience to the Word of God is something for which we should hunger and thirst. The challenge is met by Jesus and thankfully it is an example for us. We should recognize scripture can be used to make a false claim and knowing the word of God we can live an appropriate following of the word.
We must be careful when we listen to people quote scripture, as the devil demonstrates, it can be used for selfish motivation. But, we also learn from Jesus’ example that being familiar with God’s meaning of scripture in our lives provides tools to live obediently. If we fully immerse ourselves in the Word of God then when it is needed we will have the means to deflect temptation.
Have you heard scripture used to make a false point? Do you live with scripture readings daily?
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