The One Who is Empty

English Standard Version Chapter 4

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 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 comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“ ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’ ”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Question: Do you have the strength to be emptied?

Fasting: The one who has not eaten or, “The one who is empty.”

In the wilderness Jesus quoted, “The Shema”

His fasting is associated with his dependance on God.

Fasting is service to God

Fasting must be done with the context of a joyful thanksgiving of the new.

wilderness” in Jewish thought at the time; to be in the wilderness was to be prepared for a new beginning with God.

Among the lessons they should now have learned are not to depend on bread alone but rather on God’s word (8:3), not to put God to the test (6:16), and to make God the exclusive object of their worship and obedience

The suggestion that turning stones into bread would be a way of attracting a following by the provision of cheap food

Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 33A: Matthew 1–13 Form/Structure/Setting

After the experience of her deliverance from Egypt and the establishment of the covenant relationship, Israel experienced a season of testing in the wilderness