Matthew 4:4 Commentary and Bible Study

Christ will one day cast the devil and his angels into the everlasting fire prepared for them (Matthew 24:41), but the time has not yet come, and he simply answers with a word. He could have answered Satan with new words, words of his own, not taken from Scripture, but that would have defeated the devil with a weapon not available to us. We might then have said, ‘How can I defeat the devil, when I do not have Christ by my side right now? How can I answer this specific temptation?’ But when Christ uses a weapon which he has already placed in our hands, and simply shows us how to wield that weapon, we do not despair in the thickest fight. The weapon which Christ uses is sufficient for any conflict we may encounter. It is a sword forged in heaven, made of steel which can turn away every blow struck against us. The word of God has been prepared for just such battles, and the Spirit, who has provided it, knows in advance every attack that will be made upon us. Scripture has been designed so that there is no flaw in its protection. No matter what cunning, what lies, what subtlety Satan uses, it is sufficient. Our task is to know God’s word well, and to trust in it. It should be in our thoughts constantly and in our memories. We must be turning it over in our minds and exploring its implications to develop a deep familiarity with it.What verse did Christ choose to answer Satan with on this occasion? All three of his answers come from Deuteronomy. The verse chosen gets to the heart of the temptation, and exposes the devil’s subtlety. ‘Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live’ (Deuteronomy 8:3). Man is constituted by God to need his word. He has a soul as well as a body and both need feeding. The soul cannot be fed with the food that feeds the body; it needs something consistent with its nature; it needs to feed on God’s truth. Christ has been led by the Spirit into the wilderness and commanded to fast. That fast has not yet come to an end, and he will not end it himself without his Father’s instruction. Food for the stomach and all other bodily comforts and provisions are to take second place to the command of God, the word of God. By submitting to this command to fast, and to the whole condition of the incarnation, Christ was carrying out the will of God. His pathway was going to be harder than that of any other man, indeed he could not complete it without the support of his divine nature. This could only be done by perfect self-discipline and by accepting that his Father’s will for his life came above everything else, including his own comfort. Time and again he was going to have to suffer in his human nature in order to stay on the divinely appointed path. As a result, the temptation has no effect on him. He continues his voluntary subjection to the will of God, and he is obedient to the agreed plan, and will not use his power to exempt himself. Christ could so easily have created bread to satisfy his hunger, but he was called to live as we live within the limitations of human flesh. He did many miracles, yes, to authenticate himself as the Messiah, but these were not done to benefit himself. He denied the temptation to self-gratification and self-serving. He affirmed the purpose of God: bread is very much in second place to the word of God.