Matthew 4:1-4

Believers live and breath in the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Only by immersing ourself in Scripture, and in the power of Holy Spirit to teach us, are we able to stand. Then and only then will the fruit of the Spirit be manifested in us and the love of God shown to the world. 

God knows that we are mere humans and tolerates our ignorance until we know Him  fully.

Reconnecting with my heart.
Why? Because it emboldens me to access—to draw on—what is at the core of human dignity (the light that is within). That at my core, I touch the capacity to grieve and to give, to tremble and to be courageous, to doubt and to be faithful...
to be uncomfortable and to love, to be watchful and to be generous…
to be fully human and fully alive… compassionate, patient, resilient, kind, unselfish, responsible, spirited, high-minded. To be a listening heart. Sabbath Moments 

Matthew 4:1-4

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are 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 proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” The New King James Version

The temptations faced by Jesus follow the same pattern as the Israelites’ disobedience in the desert. The Israelites demanded bread, doubted the Lord’s presence, and despaired of His help. 

Jesus reverses all of these acts of faithlessness. God led His people through the desert for 40 years due to their unfaithfulness. The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days so that His fidelity might be set in contrast to the nation’s infidelity.

Matthew emphasizes that the Spirit leads Jesus; the devil is allowed to test Him but does not lead Him. The Greek term used here, diabolos, refers to a spiritual figure who is adversarial to God and His purposes. This figure is referred to by the Greek term satanas.  Satan in the Old Testament and the Serpent of Genesis

Fasting during this time period meant eating nothing at all. The text does not seem to imply that Jesus was sustained supernaturally during His fast; instead, it emphasizes that He experienced hunger. Jesus’ 40-day fast recalls Moses’ 40 days on the mountain, the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert, and Elijah’s 40 days at Mount Horeb.

The text does not say whether the devil is in human form. The devil uses this challenge twice in his temptations of Jesus. He turns the words of Matthew 3:17 into a taunt. The devil is tempting Jesus to break His fast, which the text implies would be equivalent to disobedience to God the Father. Faithlife Study Bible

Satan did not lead Jesus to the temptation; the Holy Spirit did. This temptation took place immediately after Jesus’ baptism. Spiritual victories are often followed by testing.

Jesus’ response to all three temptations was to quote the Word of God, showing His followers the power of Scripture in battling the Evil One. 

There was nothing morally wrong with turning stones to bread; Satan was tempting Jesus to do a miracle outside of the Father’s will. This explains why Jesus quotes Deuteronomy. Bread alone does not sustain life; ultimately God is the One who sustains all life. Thus it is our responsibility to trust God and remain in His will. The NKJV Study Bible

In the temptation of Christ it appears that our enemy is subtle, spiteful, and very daring; but he can be resisted. It is a comfort to us that Christ suffered, being tempted; for thus it appears that our temptations, if not yielded to, are not sins, they are afflictions only. Satan aimed in all his temptations, to bring Christ to sin against God. 

He tempted him to despair of his Father’s goodness, and to distrust his Father’s care concerning him. It is one of the wiles of Satan to take advantage of our outward condition; and those who are brought into straits have need to double their guard. Christ answered all the temptations of Satan with “It is written;” to set us an example, he appealed to what was written in the Scriptures. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Exodus 34:28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

Joshua 15:61 In the wilderness: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah,

Mark 1:12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.

Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,