I believe it was the last time I read through these that I wondered if I could see any common thread amongst each of Jesus’ responses.

Here is Matthew’s account, with the responses highlighted:

Matthew 4:1-11:

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made 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.

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

So, here they are again:

  • It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
  • It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
  • Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

I had already learned in the past that Jesus used scripture to reply, and you can see that with each having “It is written” in it.

But was there anything else?

In looking at the 2nd and 3rd ones, they have a similar “Thou shalt”, one being positive and the other negative (ie. “Thou shalt not”). Well, that was interesting, and seemed pretty clear and direct responses.

But, Jesus’ response about hunger and stones and bread was confusing to me. It didn’t seem to join with the other replies, and I wondered why He didn’t use a “Thou shalt” there. And was this just some answer that spiritual things are more important than physical? That’s kind of what that answer seemed to me to be.

And then I wondered, where was the “not bread alone” written that was a reference for Christ? Well, I found it to be in Deuteronomy. Here it is:

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 every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”

Hmm…interesting. There it is, but it still didn’t really shed any light.

And that’s when I stepped back and said, let’s see what the context is. Here’s the section:

Deuteronomy 8:1-6:

1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.

2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

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 every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

And there it was! The context was keeping God’s commandments!

Here’s a paraphrase recap:

  • Do all the commandments I give you.
  • Remember how I tried you in the wilderness to see if you would keep My commandments.
  • How that testing was hunger, but I provided manna to eat so you’d know what comes out of My mouth is what man lives by.
  • I took care of you and chastened you.
  • So given all of that, keep My commandments, walk in My ways, and fear Me.

It seemed apparent to me then that “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord” from verse 3 were His commandments.

And now, it all tied back together to Christ’s responses to the devil:

  • Man lives by keeping God’s commandments
  • Keep the commandment of not tempting God
  • Keep the commandment of worshiping only Him

But in application to ourselves, I believe the inference from this is what our response to Satan’s temptations should be,

“No, God says this. I’m going to obey God.“

And after all, what really are the devil’s temptations but temptation to sin? And what is sin but not keeping God’s commandments? (1 John 3:4)

But then, we need to know what God’s commandments are and how He would have us live and obey Him, and the only source of that is His word, the Bible. So, we need to be diligent then in our studies of it.

May God give us this desire to be obedient to Him over all temptations to sin — our own carnal man’s, the devil’s, and those from the world. May the Lord grant us an understanding of His commandments and then the graces to indeed be obedient. And may He grant we do so wholeheartedly from our hearts out of love for Him!

John 14:15 – “If ye love me, keep my commandments.“

John 14:21 – “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.“

1 John 2:3-5 – “3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.“

1 John 5:2-3 – “ By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.“

— David