Today’s Passage: Matthew 4
Remember what has just happened in chapter 3…
Mat 3:16 After Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up from the water. Suddenly, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down as a dove to him.
Mat 3:17 Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love-my Son with whom I am pleased."
God the Father has just audibly spoken and given his blessing to Jesus and sent the Spirit down upon Him. WOW! That’s a major event in the bible. Then Jesus is led by the Spirit straight into the wilderness to be tempted!! I have to be honest, I never saw that one coming. He wasn’t being led into the wilderness just for the sake of being alone, or to clear his mind. The full intent of going there was to be tempted. Jesus, knowing this the entire time, began to fast.
There is much to say here of the humanity of Jesus in this instance. Jesus, while being fully God, was still entirely human and just like you and I, required food in order to live. Imagine not eating for 40 days. My guess is that by the end of that time you would be ready to eat just about anything. I might even consider eating a banana after having nothing for 40 days! Then, at one of the weakest physical points in Jesus’ life, He is given an easy way out. Turn the stone to bread and voila…problem solved! Thankfully Jesus didn't give in to the temptation presented.
Jesus took words directly from Deuteronomy in order to rebuff the attacks of Satan. This is one of the clearest examples I can think of to show us that spending time in God's Word every single day will make a tremendous impact on what God will in and through our lives. Being able to recognize the attacks of the evil one and to combat them with the very words of God is an impossible thing if we do not spend regular time meditating on them. Let's follow Jesus' example and use the truth and power of scripture to our advantage in our daily struggles with Satan!
As I was reading Matthew 4 today and then the food for thought that was written with it, I thought of how important it is to have the Word memorized. Jesus didn't have the Torah with him when he was being tempted...he had it in his head.....but then I got discouraged because that is so hard for me to memorize things. At that moment the Spirit revealed to me that even just the effort of reading the Word everyday and meditating on it will shift my views and help me to get focused and then the retaining on the verses in my mind will gel way easier. Because my hearts desire will be focused on the Lord and not on all the distractions that get my attention. Even with just this week I have seen and felt a change in the way I think....the songs that pop in my head....and I can actually remember some of the verses I have read...and reread each day.
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