Appetite, Affirmation, and Ambition: Inventorying Our Appetite (Lent, Matthew 4:1-11)

On February 26, Pastor Jeff McLain looked at the first of the three seductions in Matthew 4:1-11, the temptation of Appetite. In this passage, we saw how appetite is one of the ways that we are tempted to question God's provision, and we are lured to take matters and provision in our own hands, which ultimately will undermine our identity in God. Through the power of God’s blood and Spirit, we can overcome our appetites that unhelpfully seduce us into doubting that God will provide for us.

Throughout Lent (2023), we explored how life (both the evil and brokenness in this world) tries to undermine the identity that we have in Jesus. The confidence that we have in our identity is often hijacked when life gets us to doubt God's provision, God's protection and God's promises. Doubts that undermine our confidence usually come through our temptations of appetite (Lust of the Flesh), affirmation (Pride of Life) and ambition (Lust of the Eyes). In this Lent series, we look at what it means to have our identity firmed up by Jesus and empowered by God's Spirit - so that we do not lose ourselves to our unhealthy and unhelpful appetites, need for affirmation, and ambitions.

River Corner Church is a growing church community of everyday people who gather to worship God, follow Jesus, and journey through life together. We gather on Sunday mornings, at 10:00 AM, at 524 River Corner Road in Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Learn more about our growing church community online through our website (www.rivercornerchurch.com) or our Facebook (www.facebook.com/RiverCornerChurch).

We invite you to gather with us on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM.

You are welcome to come as you are, just be you. As a community of everyday people, we want to be a people who live and love like Jesus in the places we live, work, and play.

If you have a question about something you heard in this message, or you want to learn more about our growing church community, visit us online at www.rivercornerchurch.com.

Transcript

APPETITE, AFFIRMATION, AMBITION: INVENTORYING OUR APPETITETES

In 2017, Mick Ohman made national news when he told his story of being stuck in the Arizona Desert. He was stranded in triple-digit heat of the Arizona desert, after his SUV broken down on a scenic ride home.[1] After leaving the mountain town of Crown King Arizona, headed for his hometown of Phoenix, Mick decided the scenic route would be a beautiful way home. However, the rugged road full of ravines, rocks, and boulders presented a struggle for his small Honda CRV.[2] After leaving Crown King, Mick was only on the road for about 16-miles, when his lost cell phone reception, and then his small SUV broke down.[3] Taking inventory of what was in his car, he found he had was a cooler with only a single water bottle, two beers, chips, and a sandwich.[4] It was not long until he found himself over his head.

            The temperatures were hot, and it wasn’t long to he apparently had drank through his bottle of water, and both of his beers. He mentions that the heat got to him at some a level that it was “to the point that I couldn’t swallow, and my throat would stick together.”[5] I imagine the chips and beer didn’t help hydrate him well in triple-degree-heat. It seems natural he had a dry throat. He goes on to share with NBC News, that he became so thirsty, and that he was so scared for his survival that he had begun to drink his own urine.[6] Perhaps oversharing with NBC News, he went on to share in the interview that “it wasn’t as obnoxious as I thought it would be. It wasn’t salty, and it quenched my thirst. But it was warm. Straight from the tap.”[7] This is the sort of thing you do not share on a News Interview. 

As time went on, Mick was scared he wasn’t going to make it. Taking his phone, he captured his ordeal on his phone. He also left a video message for his sisters, which he had expected to never see again. The video told possible rescuers, “If you find this phone and I didn’t do so well, please tell my sisters how much I love them.”[8] He remarks he was doing everything he could to just keep his head about him, because the loneliness and threat of the experience was a very emotional experience for him.[9]

In hopes of attracting help, he took his spare tire and laid it on the windshield; and he lined up rocks in the Letter “H.”[10] He walked away from his car a little, to find a stream, but he said his legs felt like they weight a ton while he was walking. Though he thought this was the end of the road, he was thankfully spotted and then rescued by a dirt bike rider, who took him out of the desert and back to safety. [11]   

Though I have been in the desert, and I have experienced triple-digit-heat in the desert, I cannot imagine what it would be like to be stranded in the desert with no hope of rescue. Certainly, I too would be worried. This story could be used to explain why it is important to fully understand what journey your about to take. In other words, do the accurate research if your car can handle the desert ravine road you are about to embark on. This story could be used to talk about how prepared we need to be when we enter the desert. Perhaps it teaches us if we are entering the desert, we should do so carrying more than one bottle of water, two beers, a sandwich, and chips. This story could be used to talk about how to keep our heads about us in moments we are suffering, making smart and informed choices such as finding shade. 

This morning I propose this story also teaches us how quickly we can become unglued in desert and wilderness moments. What I didn’t tell you, is that this desperate story of a man lost in the triple-heat-desert, was only lost for twodays.[12] In two days, his chosen survival and emotional state led to cracked bleeding skin, expectations of death, and thought, desire and ability to drink his own urine. To be honest, I would have to be stranded a lot longer than that to shrink to such survival techniques. 

The desert or wilderness is not easy. We all have moments in our life, seasons, that feel like Mick’s experience in this story. Seasons that feel like we have had to enter survival mode, while trying to fight our emotional state, the anxiety and fear. Seasons which we feel like compromising and doing something we normally wouldn’t do, because it feels good or meets an appetite we have in our discontent and disillusionment. There are seasons that we realize that we were underprepared, and unaware of the journey we were truly entering on, and that we didn’t have enough in the tank, in our skill, in our faith, to carry us to where we thought the road was going. When we are in those moments it can feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. These are moments that we feel we may not make it. 

Perhaps, it feels like we are just a few paychecks away from death or homelessness, it feels like we are just another bad news announcement away from mental breakdown, it feels like we are just another health concern from giving up. Perhaps we are another disappointment with co-workers or family members away from saying “forget everyone” and living in isolation and seclusion.  Perhaps we are so worried about our future or our quality of life that the discontentment has driven us into a shell of who we are or once were. Perhaps you experienced a trauma or incident that traumatized you – an abuse, a loss, an accident – that has continued to live in your members, and you have tried to compartmentalize deep down, but occasionally something or the anniversary of that trauma triggers it back up and you act out in a way that is not like you or who you want to be. These are desert and wilderness moments.

            Desert and wilderness moments are hard. In Deuteronomy 32:10, Moses is talking about how God, Adonai, rescued the people of God and it compares their journey before God’s rescue to a desert or wilderness moment; it reads, "he found his people in desert country, in a howling, wasted wilderness."[13] Perhaps you have been in a moment, or are entering a moment, or are actively in a moment that feels like you are in a forbidden place of “desert country, in a howling, wasted wilderness.”[14] That imagery can really describe those moments that we realize that we were underprepared, and unaware of the journey we were truly entering on, and that we didn’t have enough in the tank, in our skill, in our faith, to carry us to where we thought the road was going. When we are in those moments it can feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I hope this morning reminds you though, that Moses goes on to confess that it was in that desert that in the desert God “protected him [God’s people] and cared for him, [and] guarded him like the pupil of his eye.”[15] Though it may not seem like it, God is with us in the desert and wilderness moments. Though it seems he is harder to see, God can be found in the desert and wilderness moments. Additionally, more than we might realize, God is protecting his people in the desert and wilderness moments. He is protecting them and caring for them. We know he has the power to be with us, and work through our wilderness moments, because he has both overcome the wilderness and the power of death.

            Last week, we started our Lent Series, a series we have titled Appetite, Affirmation and Ambition. This series is about staying oriented in wilderness moments. As we looked at Matthew 4:1-11, we saw Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit, into a wilderness moment. Jesus had to overcome with Adam and Eve failed. He had to overcome the temptations of the garden. Jesus had to overcome the troubles the wilderness presented for God’s people as they lived through their nomadic years with Abraham and Lot. Jesus had to enter the wilderness, where God’s people wandered around, after being freed from Egypt, but failing to enter the promised Land. 

Jesus also had to overcome the wilderness and the temptations of the wilderness experience from his human side, he was there to model the way for humanity to overcome the wilderness moment, rather than beating the system by living out of his divine side. The temptations he faced were external struggles, that stirred up internal battles, just as is the case often for us. Jesus faced three temptations, three temptations that I think are the root of all sin. Externally, Jesus faced a temptation of his appetite, his affirmation, and his ambition. Internally, those external temptations, were trying to lure him into doubting, internally, God’s provision, God’s protection, and God’s promises. Though, we saw, because Jesus was full of the Spirit and lived in a way that was descripted as being led by the Spirit, he was able to overcome these temptations that are elsewhere in the scriptures are named as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”[16] These same sins still affect us today. These temptations are still the core of how, if we aren’t careful, will undermine our identity in Jesus, or trust in Jesus, and our contentment in Jesus’ plan.

            With the time left, we are going to look again at Matthew 4:1-11, as we did last week, and we will next week. After I read it, we will reflect on what it means to wrestle with the temptation of appetite in wilderness. The temptation of appetite in the wilderness is one that longs to make us doubt God’s provision and causes us to experience the lust of the flesh. Follow along as I read Matthew 4:1-11, from the New International Version.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry[17]. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 

The Temptation of Appetite longing to shake the belief in God’s provision.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

The Temptation of Affirmation longing to shake the belief in God’s protection.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” 

The Temptation of Ambition longing to shake the belief in God’s promises.

            Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

As we talked last week, the Spirit of God did not take Jesus in the wilderness to tempt him or give the suggestion that he wanted Jesus to fail, but rather he led him to the place where mankind has historically not been able to overcome the wilderness. The word translated as tempted can also be translated tested, in a proving way as if through a feat. Jesus was in the wilderness, which historically throughout the scriptures has been a symbolic representation of the struggle of mankind and is approached by the tempter or temptation. The first temptation in, this wilderness moment, is the temptation of appetite, in which Jesus is tempted to doubt God’s provision. Jesus must face, experience, and then overcome the temptation of the lust of flesh. The Tempter starts his opening statement of the first temptation like this, “If you are the Son of God,”[18] which is meant to tempt the identity of Jesus. God, in the story before this one, has just spoken over Jesus “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[19] This is the identity of Jesus. Throughout history, many people have claimed to be God, or even God’s son. Yet, only on being has ever had God speak out and name the identity of that divinity of the individual. Here, Jesus hears his identity, lives fully into, and as the scriptures say, is immediately filed with the Holy Spirit. 

Identity is an important aspect of who we are. It is essential that we know who we are, who God has called us to be. If we do not know who we are, we will fill what we are with every trick, knack, pleasure, and ism that we can in the attempt to try and live into purpose. Man needs purpose. Early on in his ministry, Jesus models the importance of naming identity when he looks at Peter and does the same thing that God the Father did to him, names who he is and what God has created him to be. Looking at Peter, Jesus says, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”[20] God the Father, affirms God the Son, and God the Son affirms the identity of Peter, and in doing so models what it means to speak identity over each other. 

Most of my life, I have heard what I am not good at, and I’ve been critiqued for what I don’t do well, and even more I have had to apologize for the ways I do not live up to what other people expect me to be. Can you relate to that? Have you felt like a toy on the Island of Misfit toys? Have you felt like a square peg in a round hole? That feeling when you feel critiqued, or misfitting, or even like you must apologize for who God has made you – is a wilderness moment. Obviously, I am not talking about justifying a sin or weakness in your life, there is a need for spiritual formation and growth to overcome our sins and weaknesses, but I am talking about when someone just doesn’t think you should be the way they want you or a person in your position to be. It would be beautiful if followers of Jesus and the church could learn to model what it means to speak encouragement and our strengths – our identities and giftings – over each other, rather than critiquing, or writing off, or making others apologize for how God made them.

When our identity is cut down, or weakened, the temptations of the wilderness can be so hard to ignore or overcome. Too often we fill that void space where our identity should be by taking one more drink than we should, one more pain medicine pill, or we escape into some distraction by resigning from trying to do anything else burying our minds into Netflix, family, or even just events. Sometimes we fill that space with religious obligations. We may try to fill our hurt and discontent by pushing for bigger and better things. The truth is, all of that distracts us from our identity, it can divorce us from it, and it will distort it for ourselves and others. We need to discover what it means to call out each other’s identities, to affirm them and celebrate them. A weakness in our identity will make us want to fill our appetite from the World’s Table, not the Lord’s Table.

The Tempter’s taunt was, “tell these stones to become bread”[21] As we said earlier, Jesus is hungry, literally. However, there is also a hint here at a spiritual hunger. The Tempter is using an external temptation to get Jesus to tempt internally. As Author Michael Breen says, “[The Tempter] knows that Jesus’ Identity is the source of his Authority and Power. If he is able to shake that Identity, the ramifications are massive. (1/2) Jesus gets his Authority and ability to exercise power from being his Father’s Son. If that’s shaken or not lived out of, the authority and power are gone!(2/2)”[22] Hunger is part of the wilderness and desert experience, physically and spiritually, externally and internally. Life, and the wilderness moments, are a realization that something isn’t right and we hunger and long for something to make that wrong right. 

God’s people, during their time in the exodus, in the wilderness, struggled too with their external and internal hunger, their physical and spiritual hunger, and it was that temptation that made them question God’s provision. In the wilderness, the Israelites longed for the land that flowed with richness, with milk and honey, but they struggled with their appetite in the in-between time. They grumbled and doubted that God would provide for their physical needs, or their spiritual needs. This is the temptation Jesus must now overcome in the wilderness of life. God provided for them, manna, a supernatural gift that neither they nor their fathers experienced or knew about.[23] However, even in that they allowed their doubt of God’s provision to hijack them. It was there, that God’s people, first were taught the truth “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”[24]

In this story in Matthew, Jesus teaches this same truth again, and uses the authority of such a statement to not only speak out truth but of supernatural, otherworldly, divine, authority and power. In doing so, Jesus gives us a truth and models for us a way of claiming his supernatural, otherworldly, divine, authority and power. The difference between God’s people in the wilderness being tempted by their hunger, and Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by his hunger, is that Jesus was full of the Spirit as scriptures say. The power of God’s Spirit makes all the difference. It isn’t what scripture you know, as we see in this story as the Tempter even quotes scripture, but it is by what fuels your life. God’s people had stepped outside of God’s leading and lost not only vision but authority. Jesus models, the way on, is with the authority and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

In our desert and wilderness moments we must realize that if we are not careful, our appetites will take us off course. Ultimately, if we allow our appetite to lead, we will doubt God’s provision, and the temptation of the flesh will cause us to take matters or provision in our own hands, our own power, with our own means and expectations, and without the power and authority of God’s Spirit. With our appetite leading, rather than God’s Spirit, we will find ourselves distracted from, even divorced from, or distant from the sweet spot, the promised land, of what God desires for us, and for the purpose he created us for.

Again, Author Michael Breen says;

“Appetite is very much like a child…it’s always clambering for attention. It’s about what our body or mind craves in a way that says: I don’t trust that my Father can give me a good life, I don’t trust the Identity he has for me. (2/3) But I think this craving, this Appetite, at this moment, will give me what I want since I’m not sure my Father will. As you can see Appetite is often about control. And this can be any number of things. (2/3) Sex, food, obsessive body image issues that force us to the gym, TV, internet/Facebook.”[25]

Unchecked, unbalanced, unconsciously our appetite will lead us away from God as our provider, and will make us question or doubt God’s provision. The question this story begs us to ask ourselves is what appetite is clamoring for my attention, right now? What is that thing I am longing for – a bigger house, a healthier state? Perhaps what we are hungering for is a memory, a glory day, a wish that things were as they once were. We may hunger for good things, but good things are not always the thing God wants for us. Let me say that again, sometimes our hunger is for good things, but good things are not always the thing God wants for us.

God’s Spirit, as we said last week, has brought Jesus into the wilderness for a purpose, and as long as our stage in life is not from disobedience or sin, there is a good chance we are where we are, because God’s Spirit has led us into this moment for a purpose. First, own where you are, could it be that you need to see it as God’s leading? Secondly, how will you respond by keeping your appetite in-check? It is essential that we do not get led away by fleshly desires, the lust of the flesh, that clamors for attention in our soul. Thirdly, we must just own that we will be tempted and that is a part of life. Trust me, if Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, we will be too. Spurgeon once said, “God never had a son without temptation.”[26] Jesus promised us that we will have trial, temptation, and trouble. Perhaps don’t see the temptation in your life as something victimizing you, but something to overcome so you can make it to the next place, the next level, the next opportunity God has for you. The wilderness experience prepared Jesus for his life and ministry. Imagine what the Holy Spirit might be using this season to prepare you for the next one.

Jesus was tempted to sell out his identity and to use his miraculous power to provide for himself. You and I have that same temptation to doubt God will provide for us, and to think that we need to take matters into our own hands and ways. When we enter the wilderness without God’s Spirit, we enter a rough terrain as Mick did, with a vehicle that is not made for it, and a bottle of water, two beers, a sandwich, and chips – which are provisions that will not sustain us.. Like Mick, it takes just a matter of minutes to go off the right road, and it may only be a few days until we find ourselves completely unrecognizable, undernourished and controlled by our anxiety and emotions. 

There was a time in which Job was unrecognizable to his friends too. Zophar, one of Job’s friends, tells them that those who are without God, or God’s leading, are ruled by their appetites. He is credited with saying, “Surely, he will have no respite from his craving, he cannot save himself by his treasure. Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.(1/2) In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him. When he has filled his belly, God will [bring judgement] against him.”[27] This is us when our appetites rule us. Jesus shows another way.

The point of Jesus’ temptation is meant to teach us that it is “The Lord satisfies the appetite of the righteous.”[28]The opposite of that is that “the belly of the wicked is empty.”[29] Those with an empty belly, the Prophet Isaiah says, those “…big appetites...they are never full…they have all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain”[30]Perhaps for you it is not money, but happiness, or something more for you. As I have shared before, Spiritual Formation is being formed in the image of Jesus, for the sake of others, not just for us. The minute we pursue what is in it just for us, what will make us feel better, we perhaps have already lost the battle to our appetite. 

As John wrote, “For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”[31]

We all have moments in our life, seasons, that feel like Mick’s experience in this story. Seasons that feel like we have had to enter survival mode, while trying to fight our emotional state, the anxiety and fear. So, how do we not end up in the middle of the desert, broken down, recording our goodbyes, and crippled by our anxiety. Said another way, how do we stop chasing new things that we hunger for, the things that we think will fill the void in our life.

1.     We will not hunger, if we are already full. It’s not productive when you grocery shop hungry. This is a reminder to our watch our mindset.

2.     We will have clarity if we understand our identity. This is a reminder to see the power of hearing from God’s Spirit, through prophetic words, from God’s quiet whispers to our hearts, from learning what makes us unique and from hearing others we can trust speak into our lives.

3.     We will must check the root of our appetites. Not every desire for something more or different is bad, but not every good desire is something God desires either. All of us have favorite foods, favorite appetites. Author Ben Sternke writes, “This is about submission…Appetites can quickly turn into addictions unless we learn to say “no” to them when appropriate.”

4.     We will have authority if we are summoned, sustained, and supplied by the Spirit of God.  This is the point of the story. We will explore this more after we finish our series through the temptations. A sneak peak, it’s about obedience, asking for the Spirit, and the laying on of hands.

The first of these three seductions, Appetite, is one of the enemy’s ways of getting us to go against God’s specific will and identity for our lives, to question God’s provision, and to do things as we see fit. We all struggle with these temptations, especially our appetite, and I don’t just mean being tempted by an extra piece of cake. Unchecked, unbalanced, and unhealthy appetites long to become our sustaining focus. This week, take this Lent Season to inventory your appetites. As I encouraged you last week, pick up a new spiritual discipline for this Lent Season, and in that practice, take the time to inventory your appetites. Appetites are not all bad, they are something that remind us of the promised land that is yet to come, just as it reminded the Israelites of the promised land yet to come. Appetites remind us of the unfulfillment of this life. Through the power of God’s blood and Spirit, we can overcome appetites that unhelpfully seduce us into doubting that God will provide for us.

[1] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[2] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[3] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[4] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[5] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[6] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[7] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[8] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[9] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[10] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[11] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[12] Amanda Proença Santos, “Man Stranded in Arizona Desert for Two Days Says He Drank Own ..,” accessed February 24, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-stranded-arizona-desert-two-days-says-he-drank-own-n790376.
[13] Deuteronomy 32:10 (Complete Jewish Bible).
[14] Deuteronomy 32:10 (Complete Jewish Bible).
[15] Deuteronomy 32:10 -11 (Complete Jewish Bible).
[16] 1 John 2:16 (New International Version).
[17] I feel like Matthew didn’t need to waste Ink on this. I’m struggling with no meal after one skipped meal, of course after 40-days, Jesus is “hungry.”
[18] Matthew 4:3 (New International Version).
[19] Matthew 3:17 (New International Version).
[20] Matthew 16:18 (New International Version).
[21] Matthew 4:3 (New International Version).
[22] See: https://mikebreen.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/lent-begins/
[23] Deuteronomy 8:3 (New International Version).
[24] Deuteronomy 8:3 (New International Version).
[25] See: https://mikebreen.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/lent-begins/
[26] See: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/matthew-4/
[27] Job 20:20-23 (New International Version).
[28] Proverbs 10:3 (New English Translation).
[29] Proverbs 13:25 (Complete Jewish Bible).
[30] Isaiah 56:11 (New English Translation).
[31] 1 John 2:16-17 (New International Version).