1Start
After forty days without food, Jesus was hungry. The devil came and said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3).
2Read Together
Just before this, at his baptism, the Father had said from heaven, “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17). The devil’s first words tried to make Jesus doubt it.
Matthew 4:3–4 · King James Version
3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
3What It Teaches
Jesus answered, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). He was quoting Moses (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Elder Jorge F. Zeballos pointed out a pattern in this account.
“He always answered Satan having scriptures in His mind, quoting them, and applying them at the right moment.”
Paul wrote that Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Being tempted is no sin. Jesus knows how temptation feels, so he knows how to help us (Hebrews 2:18).
The scriptures we learn now are the ones we can remember when temptation comes. Jesus knew the words of Moses well long before he was hungry in the wilderness.
4Talk About It
Jesus answered each temptation with a scripture. What is one verse you could learn by heart to help you choose the right?