Temptation in the Wilderness #2 “Bread,” 5 Mar 2023

 Young Adult/Early Career Bible Study #2 - The Temptation 

5 Mar 23

³ And the tempter came and said to him,

“If you are the Son of God, command these

stones to become loaves of bread.”

⁴ But he answered, “It is written,

‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word

that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:3, 4

Questions

1. Who is the devil? [See. 4:3, 4:10, 12:24 (p. 846), 13:19 (p. 847)]
2. What is the significance of the devil saying “If”? Relate to Mt. 27.39-44 (p. 864)
3. What is the devil’s goal in this temptation? 
1. Of all things possible with which to tempt Jesus, why did the devil select bread? See Exodus 16.13-16 (p. 60)
4. Of what is Satan trying to convince Jesus by this temptation? (Hint: consider why is the Lord is fasting in the first place?).
5. Have you ever felt God wanted you to do something, but you ran across some sort of resistance in doing it? Explain.
1. How does the devil test/tempt us with “If”? What is his endgame? See Gen 3.1ff. (p. 2) and James 1.5-8 (p. 1054)
6. How does Jesus stop the devil in his tracks? How can you do so? What is required in order for us to resist his temptations? 
7. What does “Man shall not live by bread alone” mean?
1. See Deuteronomy 8:3 (p. 159) , which Jesus quotes. What is missing from the quote? 
8. How do you live by every word from God’s mouth? How has this influenced your life? Why do Catholics appear to be deficient in their knowledge of Scripture as compared to some Protestants? Is this really so?
9. How does “not by bread alone” point out some truths regarding our teachings on the Eucharist? Also see John 6:48-51 (p.929) and John 15:5-7 (p.939)