Living by God's Word and Not Bread Alone Matthew 4:5

Matthew shared how John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan river and telling them about the one who was coming. He then wrote about Jesus being “baptized” and shared, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and in chapter four and verse five of his book, Matthew shares how, “the devil took” Jesus “up into the holy city, and set him” on “the temple” where we read:

Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple,

The verse reads, “Then the devil took him up into the holy city, ...” Matthew began with the word, “then” which means “at that time” “the devil” or “the one prone to slander, accuse falsely and known as Satan” “took him up” which means “joined alongside Jesus” “into the holy city” which means “in to the pure, morally blameless, and religiously and ceremonially consecrated city of Jerusalem”. Matthew shared how the “devil” carried Jesus to the city of Jerusalem to begin his next temptation.

The verse continues, “... and set him on a pinnacle of the temple.” Matthew added the words, “and set him” which means “and caused Jesus to stand, be put and placed” “on a pinnacle” or “on a little wing, pointed extremity or the top” “of the temple” which means “belonging to the sacred place and central sanctuary”. The “devil” took Jesus to a “pointed extremity” of the sacred place within Jerusalem.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how the “devil” brought Jesus to his next place of “temptation”. God allowed Jesus to be “tempted” according to the ways the “devil” desired. The first was in the area of the “flesh”, and this one shall be in another area of challenge - pride. God wants a relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and He watched as His Son was tempted on our behalf. Let all who read these words understand the level to which God has gone that we might be “saved”.

Next time Matthew shares how the devil said to Jesus, “if you are the Son of God, cast yourself down” so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.