Not By Bread Alone

Before Jesus began preaching he was tested by Satan while fasting in the wilderness for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-11). As you read the passage you will probably notice that Jesus answers each temptation with a statement prefaced by “it is written.” Each of these is a passage from the only Bible available to Jesus’ Jewish audience: what we Christians call the “Old Testament.” (Of course, you knew that already.)

What I would like to do in this post is review the context of each section of the Scripture that Jesus is quoting from to see if or how it relates to the context of Satan’s test. Is Jesus carefully choosing the passages or are they quick and handy proof-texts?

The first one comes from Moses’ last sermon to the people of Israel as they are about to enter the promised land. Moses is warning them to follow the laws in the covenant God made with them at Mount Sinai. Much of the book is a reiteration of the covenant stipulations they will need to follow. Let’s read the immediate context of the passage Jesus quotes:

1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. (Deuteronomy 8:1-5 | NIV)

Notice that the broader passage mentions a number of things that strike a chord with the situation Jesus is in. Notice that Jesus has been led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness with the express purpose of being tested. Compare that with what Moses says about Israel being led in the wilderness by God and being tested. The number 40 appears in both passages as the period of testing.

He humbles Jesus as he did Israel by making them hungry (Jesus was fasting). This context is remarkably similar to what Jesus was facing. In fact, God is even literally disciplining his Son in obedience by this test.

It is not hard to understand why Jesus chooses to say “man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” Jesus is reflecting on the wilderness journey of his ancestors. Only he, as God, can look at it from both the human and divine sides, because he as the Word was the One who was in the cloud and fire, leading them.

Unlike Israel, however, Jesus does not fail the test.

Jesus’ fast also echoes a fast of 40 days in Moses’ ministry. In Ex. 34:28 Moses enjoys fellowship with God during 40 days on Mount Sinai as God shows his back and engraves the covenant on the two tablets. As he comes down from the mountain bearing the covenant tablets his face shines. The end of Jesus’ fast signals the beginning of his preaching about a new covenant.

There is a darker side the the fast story. In Deut. 9:9, 18 Moses reminds Israel that he had to go back up the mountain and fast for 40 days again. He had to pray that God would forgive Israel for breaking the covenant while the ink was figuratively not even dry yet. Israel was still subject to Gentile powers because they broke the original covenant. It makes sense for Jesus to also have this in mind since redemption from sin is exactly what Jesus’ mission was all about.

In the next test Satan invites Jesus to jump off the highest point of the temple. He quotes Ps. 91:11, which refers to God’s protection from adversity and attack.

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, a passage that refers to an event described in Exodus 17:1-7. During the wilderness wanderings of Israel they tested God’s patience by complaining about God’s provision when there was no water at a particular. They were blaming Moses and seemed to be ready to kill him if he did not provide water. God provides water for them miraculously from a rock in spite of his anger at their lack of faith.

Jumping off a cliff is an artificially created crisis that tries to force God to react, as if God is interested in protecting people from their own stupidity. That is not the same as trusting God in situations that result from obedience to God.

The third test has Satan taking Jesus to the top of a mountain looking at the glory of all the kingdoms of the world. He knows that Jesus is meant to rule it all in the future, but he offers a shortcut: bow down to Satan and Jesus can rule now.

In response Jesus quotes a portion of Deut 6:10-15 about worshiping and serving God alone. While this certainly works as a stand-alone statement, there is more to it. The Israelites are being warned to worship only God once they have entered the promised land. They were to trust God alone until their entry into the land, and continue worshiping God alone once they were settled.

Jesus’ quote from that passage was a signal that he had the patience to wait until the proper time for God to fulfill the promise of his kingship. Satan was merely one of those “other gods” that the passage warns Israel not to worship.

It was also a reminder that the God who demanded Israel’s complete devotion is also the God who judges.

The story of the view from the mountains brings to mind another incident in Moses’ life. In Deut 34:1-4 God brings Moses to a high point of Mt. Nebo overlooking the land of Israel. Moses had disobeyed God and, in the process had made God look bad in front of all the people, so he had disqualified himself from entering the promised land. As a consolation, God brings him to a high point to at least have a good look at the land he was bringing his people to. (Of course, there is an implied wait for a resurrection of Moses so he may enter later.) Strangely enough, Moses never shows a lack of appreciation for that view. Nor does he show any bitterness over God’s decision that he would not enter the land.

Satan was trying to pull a reverse of that wih Jesus by bringing him to the top of the world and showing him what he would miss if he did not worship Satan. While Jesus can look on at a world in trouble, he knows the solution must come at the right time and only according to the will of the one true God.

Jesus knows he must follow God’s will to suffer and die in order to inherit the kingdoms of the world.

One final thing to note is that all of Jesus’ quotes come from the same book: Deuteronomy. They are from the same sermon that Moses gives the people as they were about to enter Canaan, the promised land.

Jesus’ mission is to prepare a people to enter and inherit the Kingdom of God. This is a spiritual parallel to Moses’ mission to lead the people to the land promised to Abraham. His choice of quotes from Moses’ sermon is to let us and Satan know that he is aware of his mission and that nothing will stop him from accomplishing it.