Matthew 4:4 RSV – But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”
When Yeshua was beginning the work that the Father had sent him to do, the gospels tell us that he was led into the desert wilderness to undergo some trials.
Matthew 4:1-4 RSV – Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward 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 proceeds from the mouth of God.‘”
Many people are not aware that the response of Yeshua here is actually a quote from the Tanakh, or the Old Testament. He says, “It is written,” but where was it written?
We have it recorded for us in the early chapters of the book of Deuteronomy. As Moses was preparing the Israelites to enter the land of Canaan, he was reminding them of all of the ways God had taken care of them during their wilderness journeys.
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 RSV – And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 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 that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
The meaning that Moses is conveying is that physical food alone may sustain physical life, but man truly lives only through obeying what God has said.
The parallels in Yeshua’s usage of this quotation are striking: the Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness; Yeshua spent forty days fasting. The Israelites had been tested in the wilderness; Yeshua was being tested during his wilderness experience. The Israelites were to trust and obey God in everything; Yeshua was demonstrating trust and obedience to God in everything.
Moses had taught the ancient Israelites that obeying God would not only help them survive in the wilderness but would bring them a measure of prosperity in the land of Canaan.
Deuteronomy 30:15-16 RSV – “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
What Moses taught ancient Israel about the physical blessings of obedience, Yeshua built upon to teach about a quality of life that would go far beyond temporal prosperity in a specific land. He came to elevate the teachings of Moses into an everlasting spiritual reality that, through his disciples, would spread across the world, touching people from every nation.
Matthew 28:19-20 RSV – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you….”
During his ministry and teaching, Yeshua further clarified his use of the manna/life metaphor when he was challenged by some Jewish critics:
John 6:28-35 RSV – Then they [the Jews] said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.
The life that God gives goes far beyond the life of the flesh, which is nourished only by physical bread. The life that God provides is present within the person of his Son: his life and teaching, and his subsequent sacrificial death and resurrection. The life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Yeshua are the very representation of the Father which can bring life, but only when they are mixed with the repentant and obedient faith of the believer.
The Jews of Yeshua’s day understood how the Scriptures were intended to bring life, at least in principle, yet many of them chose not to believe that Yeshua was the Messiah. At one point, Yeshua confronts him with the following statements:
John 5:39-40, 46-47 RSV – You [Jews] search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. … If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
The Scriptures can bring us life, but only as we recognize their fulfillment in Messiah Yeshua. Apart from him, they can only bring partial life—what we might consider temporal blessings in this world. The wisdom that God’s word provides helps us to avoid traps like hypocrisy and covetousness and to pursue things like forgiveness and compassion. These things can help us in our interactions with others, thereby providing us with a better quality of life, and that certainly is not a bad thing in and of itself. However, if we accept Yeshua as the fulfillment of God’s word, all of the Scripture is now elevated to bring us not only an excelling quality of temporal life, but life that lasts forever.
John 12:49-50 NET – For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”
Yeshua equates his teachings with the very words of God, and as a faithful messenger, he spoke exactly what God had instructed him to say. This is why I contend that, as believers, we should filter everything related to biblical teaching through the words of Messiah. He presented himself as the sole example and instructor of truth amidst the varied and hypocritical leadership of the Jews in his day.
Matthew 23:1-12 NET – Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
In his humility, ultimately exemplified in his sacrificial death and confirmed by his resurrection, Yeshua proved he was the one Teacher worthy of our attentiveness and our desire for learning about the true words of life.
This was aptly expressed by Peter when Yeshua’s teachings were challenged by the Jews.
John 6:66-69 NET – After this many of his disciples quit following him and did not accompany him any longer. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!”
It is only our belief in and obedience to the words of God, and in the God-provided words and deeds of Yeshua, the true bread from heaven, that bring us true and everlasting life.
1 John 5:13 WEB – These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
The Core of the Bible 