Luke 4:1-13

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus answers the tempter saying, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"

The gospel of Mark tells us that after his baptism Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he remained for forty days and was tempted by Satan. The gospels of Matthew and Luke add that he fasted during his time in the wilderness and tell the story of his temptations by the devil (or the tempter). In both of these gospels the temptation to turn stones into bread is the first temptation. The next two temptations in the gospel of Luke are given in reverse order in the gospel of Matthew.

In the gospel of Luke Jesus answers the first temptation by quoting from the Jewish scriptures (Deuteronomy 8:3). The gospel of Matthew quotes the verse in full: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Mt. 4:4) The image of the "word of God" or the "word of the LORD" is first used in the Hebrew scriptures in Genesis15:1 to refer to the words that the LORD (YHWH in Hebrew) spoke to Abram (later given the name Abraham). The LORD promised Abram descendants as numerous as the stars, and the story tells us that Abram "put his faith in the LORD, who reckoned it to him as righteousness." (Gen. 15:6, Revised English Bible) Paul used this verse to argue that God only requires faith and not obedience to the law of Moses, as the faith of Abraham precedes the law of Moses but is "reckoned to him as righteousness." In the prophets the phrase "the word of the LORD" (YHWH in Hebrew) is used over and over again to distinguish the divine oracles they deliver on behalf of God from their own speech.

Thus, the "word of God" or the "word of the LORD" once referred only to the speech of God. In the New Testament, however, the phrase is used more generally to refer to the "good news" of the church. The author of the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles uses these phrases to refer first to the teaching of John the Baptist (Lk. 3:2), then to the teaching of Jesus (Lk. 5:1, 8:11, 8:21, 11:28, 24:19), and then to the proclamation of the early churches (Acts 4:31, 6:2, 8:14, etc.). The gospel of John uses the Greek word "logos" to refer to Jesus, and this is usually translated as the "Word" that was with God in the beginning, and was God, and was made flesh in Jesus and abides in his words. (John 1 and John 5:24, 5:38 and John 8)

Grace and peace...Bob