What Bread Are You Feeding On? -Part 2

Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

My last article under this topic was an attempt to show that Jesus is the “Word of God” that proceeds out of the mouth of God, just like manna proceeded from the mouth of God in the Old Testament. He is the heavenly bread that came down from God. To establish this truth, I had to delve into the Hebrew and Greek. I understand that it may not be easy for casual reading.

To summarize, the apostle John says that Jesus is the “Word of God” who became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the embodiment or essence of the word of God. In other words, he is a perfect representation of God the father and what the Father speaks to us (Heb 1:1, 2).

In the temptation in the wilderness, one of things satan tempted Jesus to do, was to prove His Sonship by works. He said, “If you be the son of God, then turn these stones into bread”. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus refused to prove his Sonship by His works because He was very well established in the knowledge of His identity. (This is a very important lesson for us to know our identity in Christ)

The stones represents “the law given on tablets of stone”. Turning “stones into bread” signifies making the law our food. Jesus was now very hungry after 40 days of fasting and the tempter wanted Him to turn the stones into bread and thereby have Jesus eat of it. This would serve satan’s purpose of Jesus feeding on the law by establishing His Sonship or identity by His works, apart from the identity which the Father had proclaimed over Him. The Father had proclaimed that “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

This is very similar to the temptation with which satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. He told her that she could become like God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which represents the Law. But man was already like God, since they were created in the likeness and image of God. God had warned them against eating from this tree. He wanted them to eat from the tree of life which signifies the life of Jesus. Eve, unlike Jesus, had an identity crisis and gave into the temptation. She wanted to establish her own identity apart from God.

Jesus refused to give into satan’s deception to prove His identity by His works and partaking of the bread from stones (law). Rather, He said that you will live by the word of God or the bread of life that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of God is Jesus himself. He is the bread of life. This word is full of grace and truth (John 1:14,16,17)

We have the same choice today. Do we want to feed on the bread of life (Jesus) or do we want to feed on the bread of the law? Eating from the bread of life will result in life; eating from the bread of law will result in death.” Live by my life” says the Lord!!