Man shall not live by bread alone. Observing the original connection of the words quoted, we find an illustration of the fact that God could sustain life by other means than ordinary food. "Such an answer must have peculiar force and meaning, as it comes from the lips of Christ. He tells Satan that obedience to God is better than bread; that if either is to be given up there cannot be a doubt, there can hardly be a difficulty, about the decision Simply as men, we all, the poorest and the greatest of us all together, need the life of obedience, and any sacrifice of the flesh is cheap that wins it for us" (Brooks).

I. MAN AS A SPIRITUAL BEING. The older division of the human being was into "body" and "soul;" it is now more precisely divided into "body," "animal life," and "spirit;" sarx, psyche, pneuma. Body and life we have in common with the animals; and we share with them all the common experiences and needs. But man is a spirit, an immortal spirit, dwelling in and using the animated body. We are spirits, and have bodies. It is true that we are variously affected by our bodily relations; but even as the eternal Spirit dwells in, and controls, the material sphere, so man, the spirit, dwells in, and controls, the limited sphere of his body. Then the claims of the spirit which man is must always stand before the claims of the body, of which he has only a temporary occupancy.

II. THE FOOD FOR MAN AS A SPIRITUAL BEING. Complication arises in considering this matter, because the food for the spirit has to come mainly through the bodily faculties and receptivities. But there is a clear distinction between the food which simply supplies bodily hunger, the indulgence that satisfies bodily appetite, and the food which nourishes emotion and affection, and cultures the conscience and the will. Take the sensual man and the spiritual man, and show how differently they stand related to daily food for body and mind. The food of a spiritual being is spiritual. It goes into the term "obedience," which includes submissions, humilities, affections, communings, service, praise, devotion, etc. Let a man first feed his soul, and the fed soul will put into safe and wise regulation all feedings of the bodily appetite. - R.T.

The uses to which it may be put. Christ used it: —

1. To defend His Sonship;

2. To defeat temptation;

3. As a direction to His way;

4. For maintaining His own Spirit.How to handle the word: —

1. With deepest reverence.

2. Have it always ready.

3. Understand its meaning.

4. Learn to appropriate Scripture to yourself.

5. Stand by the Scriptures, whatever they may cost you.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

We read that Oliver Cromwell had in his army one regiment — a fine, strong regiment — called" The Ironsides." They were very religious men. And it was quite the custom for almost every soldier to carry his Bible to battle with him. They used to carry their Bible under their dress; and more than once, in a battle, the soldier would have been ,shot through the heart but for his Bible. The bullet went through his Bible, or it would have gone through his heart. The Bible saved the heart!

(J. Vaughan, M. A.)

This is the sickle which cuts down all the tares which Satan sows among the good wheat; this is the ark of God before which all the idols of the Philistines fail fiat to the ground; this is the trumpet of Joshua whose noise overturneth the walls of Jericho.

(Hacket.)

I. There is THAT CONDITION OF BEING IN WHICH MAN LIVES BY BREAD.

1. It represents man as utterly subservient to material necessities. The springs of man's noblest life are planted in necessity. How beautiful is this requisition for labour! A consequence of this law of effort is mutual service. An awful thing when man is reduced to a mere machine for getting bread. The wickedness of systems which tend to intensify such a condition. Such a man lives for something outside himself — for some interest which bread represents. Living by bread alone he estimates everything by the bread standard.

II. Let me URGE UPON YOU THE HIGHER LIFE. "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." "I have bread to eat that ye know not off"

1. Every good man does not live by bread alone, but by that God from whom it comes.

2. He realizes that he is not a mere instrument, but an end in himself.

3. He has a different standard of valuation from that of the mere bread standard. He thinks of utilities in a larger and nobler sense than other men. He values the true in the light of its truth, and not of its profit.

4. How we live upon traditions, upon the mere say-so of other people, the current of popular conviction, instead of coming and taking the word out of the mouth of God!

III. The point of the most fearful temptation is WHEN MEN ARE TEMPTED TO SACRIFICE THE INTERESTS OF THE HIGHER LIFE TO THE CLAIMS OF THE LOWER. You may lose fortune but gain goodness; you are made one with Christ.

(E. H. Chaplin.)

Do we think of the bread alone when it is placed on our tables? Are we not reminded from whence it comes — what wondrous mysteries have conspired to bring it there — the fair sunlight that shone upon the soil — the heavenly dew that moistened the earth — the mysterious processes of nature that brought forth, "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear?" Does man live by bread alone, or by Divine wisdom, power, and goodness, which conspire in the wondrous loom of nature to weave the result and form the agency by which we get that bread?

(E. H. Chaplin.)

Sometimes people go to a rich man's house and wonder that he pays so much money for a picture. The money they think might bring in interest or might be applied to purposes of utility, and they consider it a waste to expend five or ten thousand dollars for a work of art. Little do they imagine how that picture enriches and refines that man's soul, elevating it to a higher conception of all beauty; how it enables him to understand why the swamp mists become festoons and upholsteries of glory before the setting sun; why the grass is green, the heavens blue, and the rolling waves of the sea are interlaced with threads of sunlight; because, viewing them as proceeding out of the mouth of God, he comprehends them, and says, "The money that I have given for it, that could not make me richer, because it perfects me, and helps form me for an end."

(E. H. Chaplin.)

He discerns as much the glory of God in the miniature world revealed in a single drop of water, as in a great planet. One man is overawed by the solemn aspect of the mountain, and the glory of the forest waving with the breath of the summer breeze. Another wonders how many hundred acres of land there are and how much timber in it. That is all the universe is to him. So the characters of men are revealed according to their standard of valuation; and, I repeat, if a man's life is wholly down to the bread standard of life, he sees merely the material interests of this world.

(E. H. Chaplin.)

It is like saying that a tree cannot live merely upon water. It needs other elements which the rich earth must give.

(Phillips Brooks.)

I. Man has a spiritual as well as a corporeal nature — a spiritual nature which requires food.

II. The Word of God is the true food of the soul of man. It is spiritual food adapted to man's spiritual nature, and also to its condition as guilty and impure.

(Studies for the pulpit.)

1. The PROPRIETY of the metaphor. As it is essential to the life of the soul, and the source of strength.

II. Its peculiar CHARACTERISTICS. Heavenly and Divine, superabundant, endless variety, gratuitous bestowment, universal communication.

III. Our DUTY WITH RESPECT TO IT. We should thankfully receive it, believingly feed upon it, grow and improve by it, constantly apply it.

(Dr. Burns.)

Andrew, Isaiah, James, Jesus, John, Naphtali, Nephthalim, Peter, Simon, Zabdi, Zabulon, Zebedee, ZebulunCapernaum, Decapolis, Galilee, High Mountain, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Judea, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Syria, Wilderness of JudeaAlone, Answering, Appoint, Bread, Forth, God's, Goes, Man's, Mouth, Proceedeth, Proceeds, Replied, Whatsoever, Writings, Written1. Jesus, fasting forty days,
3. is tempted by the devil and ministered unto by angels.
12. He dwells in Capernaum;
17. begins to preach;
18. calls Peter and Andrew,
21. James and John;
23. teaches and heals all the diseased.

Matthew 4:4

     1355   providence
     1611   Scripture, inspiration and authority
     1613   Scripture, purpose
     1690   word of God
     2045   Christ, knowledge of
     2054   Christ, mind of
     2081   Christ, wisdom
     2333   Christ, attitude to OT
     2363   Christ, preaching and teaching
     4474   manna
     4824   famine, spiritual
     5002   human race, and creation
     5020   human nature
     5167   mouth
     5627   word
     6251   temptation, resisting
     8409   decision-making, and providence
     8476   self-discipline

Matthew 4:1-4

     4438   eating

Matthew 4:1-10

     6252   temptation, and Christ

Matthew 4:1-11

     2078   Christ, sonship of
     4122   Satan, tempter
     5214   attack
     5598   victory, over spiritual forces
     5804   charm
     6022   sin, causes of
     8729   enemies, of Christ

Matthew 4:2-4

     2075   Christ, sinless

Matthew 4:2-11

     2575   Christ, temptation

Matthew 4:3-4

     4418   bread

Temptation
Eversley, 1872. Chester Cathedral, 1872. St Matt. iv. 3. "And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Let me say a few words to-day about a solemn subject, namely, Temptation. I do not mean the temptations of the flesh--the temptations which all men have to yield to the low animal nature in them, and behave like brutes. I mean those deeper and more terrible temptations, which our Lord conquered in that great struggle with …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

The victory of the King
'Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred. 3. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4. But 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. 5. Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Springing of the Great Light
'Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee; 13. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15. The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Early Welcome and the First Ministers of the King
'From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 18. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19. And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him. 21. And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Interpretation of Holy Scripture. --Inspired Interpretation. --The Bible is not to be Interpreted Like any Other Book. --God, (Not Man,) the Real Author of the Bible.
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. IT is impossible to preserve exact method in Sermons like these, uncertain in number, and delivered at irregular intervals. It shall only be stated that, having already spoken at considerable length, of the Inspiration of Holy Scripture;--not, one part more, one part less, but every part equally inspired throughout; not general, (whatever the exact notion may be of a book generally inspired,) …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

July the Thirteenth Plain Glass
"They were fishers." --MATTHEW iv. 12-22. And so our Lord went first to the fishing-boats and not to the schools. Learning is apt to be proud and aggressive, and hostile to the simplicities of the Spirit. There is nothing like plain glass for letting in the light! And our Lord wanted transparent media, and so He went to the simple fishermen on the beach. "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world." And by choosing labouring men our Master glorified labour. He Himself had worn the workman's …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Light for those who Sit in Darkness
From the text it appears that some are in greater darkness than others; and that, secondly, for such there is a hope of light; but that, thirdly, the light which will come to them lies all in Christ; and, fourthly (joyful news!) that light is already sprung up all around them: they have but to open their eyes to delight in it. I. SOME SOULS ARE IN GREATER DARKNESS THAN OTHERS. It appears from the text that it was so in Christ's days, and certainly it is so now. Divine sovereignty runs through all …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

How to Become Fishers of Men
Note, next, that we are not made all that we shall be, nor all that we ought to desire to be, when we are ourselves fished for and caught. This is what the grace of God does for us at first; but it is not all. We are like the fishes, making sin to be our element; and the good Lord comes, and with the gospel net he takes us, and he delivers us from the life and love of sin. But he has not wrought for us all that he can do, nor all that we should wish him to do, when he has done this; for it is another …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886

Christ's First and Last Subject
IT SEEMS from these two texts that repentance was the first subject upon which the Redeemer dwelt, and that it was the last, which, with his departing breath, he commended to the earnestness of his disciples. He begins his mission crying, "Repent," he ends it by saying to his successors the apostles, "Preach repentance and remission of sins among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." This seems to me to be a very interesting fact, and not simply interesting, but instructive. Jesus Christ opens his …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Twenty-Fourth Day. Firmness in Temptation.
"Jesus saith unto him, Get thee hence, Satan."--Matt. iv. 10. There is an awful intensity of meaning in the words, as applied to Jesus, "He suffered, being tempted!" Though incapable of sin, there was, in the refined sensibilities of His holy nature, that which made temptation unspeakably fearful. What must it have been to confront the Arch-traitor?--to stand face to face with the foe of His throne, and His universe? But the "prince of this world" came, and found "nothing in Him." Billow after …
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus

Eighth Day. Submission to God's Word.
"Jesus said unto him, It is written."--Matt. iv. 7. We can not fail to be struck, in the course of the Saviour's public teaching, with His constant appeal to the word of God. While, at times, He utters, in His own name, the authoritative behest, "Verily, verily, I say unto you," He as often thus introduces some mighty work, or gives intimation of some impending event in His own momentous life, "These things must come to pass, that the Scriptures be fulfilled, which saith." He commands His people …
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus

Knox -- the First Temptation of Christ
John Knox, the great Scottish reformer, was born at Giffordgate, four miles from Haddington, Scotland, in 1505. He first made his appearance as a preacher in Edinburgh, where he thundered against popery, but was imprisoned and sent to the galleys in 1546. In 1547 Edward VI secured his release and made him a royal chaplain, when he acquired the friendship of Cranmer and other reformers. On the accession of Mary (1553) he took refuge on the Continent. In 1556 he accepted the charge of a church in Geneva, …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Volume I

The Temptation in the Wilderness.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But 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. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Thoughts Upon the Appearance of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, or the Beatifick vision.
SO long as we are in the Body, we are apt to be governed wholly by its senses, seldom or never minding any thing but what comes to us through one or other of them. Though we are all able to abstract our Thoughts when we please from matter, and fix them upon things that are purely spiritual; there are but few that ever do it. But few, even among those also that have such things revealed to them by God himself, and so have infinitely more and firmer ground to believe them, than any one, or all their …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

Christ, the Great Teacher
Scripture references: Matthew 4:23; 5:1,2; 7:29; 13:54; 26:55; 28:19,20; Mark 1:21,22; 4:1,2; 6:6; Luke 5:3; 11:1; 19:47; John 6:59; 7:14; 8:28. THE FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY The heart of the Christian religion is found in Jesus Christ. If we desire to know what Christianity is and of what elements it is composed we must look to Him and His teachings. He is the great source of our knowledge of what God, man, sin, righteousness, duty and salvation are. Our interest in the books of the Old Testament …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision A. Reasons for Retiring to Galilee. ^A Matt. IV. 12; ^B Mark I. 14; ^C Luke III. 19, 20; ^D John IV. 1-4. ^c 19 but Herod the tetrarch [son of Herod the Great, and tetrarch, or governor, of Galilee], being reproved by him [that is, by John the Baptist] for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done [A full account of the sin of Herod and persecution of John will be found at Matt. xiv. 1-12 and Mark vi. 14-29. John had spoken the truth to Herod as fearlessly …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

General Account of Jesus' Teaching.
^A Matt. IV. 17; ^B Mark I. 14, 15; ^C Luke IV. 14, 15. ^a 17 From that time Jesus began to preach [The time here indicated is that of John the Baptist's imprisonment and Jesus' return to Galilee. This time marked a new period in the public ministry of Jesus. Hitherto he had taught, but he now began to preach. When the voice of his messenger, John, was silenced, the King became his own herald. Paul quoted the Greeks as saying that preaching was "foolishness," but following the example here set by …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness.
^A Matt. IV. 1-11; ^B Mark I. 12, 13; ^C Luke IV. 1-13. ^c 1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, ^b 12 And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth ^c and ^a 1 Then [Just after his baptism, with the glow of the descended Spirit still upon him, and the commending voice of the Father still ringing in his ears, Jesus is rushed into the suffering of temptation. Thus abrupt and violent are the changes of life. The spiritually exalted may expect these sharp contrasts. After being …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus' Temporary Residence at Capernaum.
^A Matt. IV. 13-16. ^a 13 And leaving Nazareth [This expression means that Jesus now ceased to make Nazareth his home. For description of Nazareth, see page 60], he came and dwelt in Capernaum [See page 119. Capernaum means city of Nahum, or village of consolation. Its modern name, "Tel-Hum," means hill of Nahum. The word "dwelt" means that Jesus made this town his headquarters. He owned no house there (Matt. viii. 20). He may have dwelt with some of his disciples--for instance, Simon Peter--Matt. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus Calls Four Fishermen to Follow Him.
(Sea of Galilee, Near Capernaum.) ^A Matt. IV. 18-22; ^B Mark I. 16-20; ^C Luke V. 1-11. ^a 18 And walking ^b 16 And passing along by the sea of Galilee [This lake is a pear-shaped body of water, about twelve and a half miles long and about seven miles across at its widest place. It is 682 feet below sea level; its waters are fresh, clear and abounding in fish, and it is surrounded by hills and mountains, which rise from 600 to 1,000 feet above it. Its greatest depth is about 165 feet], he [Jesus] …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus Makes a Preaching Tour through Galilee.
^A Matt. IV. 23-25; ^B Mark I. 35-39; ^C Luke IV. 42-44. ^b 35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose up went out [i. e., from the house of Simon Peter], and departed into a desert place, and there prayed. [Though Palestine was densely populated, its people were all gathered into towns, so that it was usually easy to find solitude outside the city limits. A ravine near Capernaum, called the Vale of Doves, would afford such solitude. Jesus taught (Matt. vi. 6) and practiced solitary …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Second visit to Cana - Cure of the Nobleman's' Son at Capernaum.
THE brief harvest in Samaria was, as Jesus had indicated to His disciples, in another sense also the beginning of sowing-time, or at least that when the green blade first appeared above ground. It formed the introduction to that Galilean ministry, when the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did at Jerusalem at the Feast.' [2013] Nay, in some respects, it was the real beginning of His Work also, which, viewed as separate and distinct, commenced when the Baptist was cast into …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Second Journey through Galilee - the Healing of the Leper.
A DAY and an evening such as of that Sabbath of healing in Capernaum must, with reverence be it written, have been followed by what opens the next section. [2299] To the thoughtful observer there is such unbroken harmony in the Life of Jesus, such accord of the inward and outward, as to carry instinctive conviction of the truth of its record. It was, so to speak, an inward necessity that the God-Man, when brought into contact with disease and misery, whether from physical or supernatural causes, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Temptation of Jesus
The proclamation and inauguration of the Kingdom of Heaven' at such a time, and under such circumstances, was one of the great antitheses of history. With reverence be it said, it is only God Who would thus begin His Kingdom. A similar, even greater antithesis, was the commencement of the Ministry of Christ. From the Jordan to the wilderness with its wild Beasts; from the devout acknowledgment of the Baptist, the consecration and filial prayer of Jesus, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the heard …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

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