A Better Bread

“And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:2-4)

Jesus was temped in all of the ways we are tempted, but He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). He was hungry when the tempter came to Him. He was most likely physically weak and tired. Perhaps, as the devil enjoined Christ to make bread from the stones, perhaps in His mind, Jesus could already smell it. Perhaps His mouth began to water. He was tempted, but He resisted. He resisted by offering a better bread—the Word of God.

Fasting is an opportunity to dine on a better kind of bread—God’s Word.

Jesus was full of the Word, in this instance quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

The devil continued to tempt the Lord, and each time Jesus responded with the words, “It is written…” He quoted Scripture, dining on a better bread, and the tempter eventually left.

James 4:7 reminds us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This is only possible for those who are full of the better bread. God’s Word teaches us how to surrender to Him. It teaches us how to fight back. Fasting is an opportunity to dine on a better kind of bread—God’s Word.