Not By Bread Alone

Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

 

The Gospel writer tells us that after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was hungry. Surely that's an understatement. He must have been famished. And it’s precisely at this point of overwhelming physical need that the tempter set his first trap: If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.

One can only imagine how Jesus must have felt at that moment. Make no mistake about it, Jesus felt the awful power of that temptation. The author of the book of Hebrews tells us he was “tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Yet with every cell in his body crying out for nourishment, Jesus declared: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

How can we not be moved by such devotion to the Word of God? Is it possible that we, with our plentiful food, are spiritually malnourished? This Lent, inspired by Christ’s example, let us nourish ourselves, not just with bread, but with the Word of God.

Let us nourish ourselves with the Word of God.

Dust to Dust: Ash Wednesday

 For dust you are and to dust you will return.

Genesis 3:19

Perhaps the most sobering words ever spoken to the human race are the words spoken by God to Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit: dust you are and to dust you shall return. Traditionally, these words are spoken during the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a forty-day journey from Lent to Easter.

A young man who had been to an Ash Wednesday service went to the grocery store. While standing in line at the checkout counter, a little girl pointed her finger at him and said, “Mister, you’ve got dirt on your face.”

That’s what Ash Wednesday is all about. We acknowledge before God and one another that we have “dirt on our faces”. We acknowledge our mortality – dust to dust, ashes to ashes. We acknowledge our frailty and need for cleansing. All of this is done with faith, hope, and love in our hearts as we look forward to a joyous Easter and the resurrection to everlasting life.

The beginning of a forty-day journey from Lent to Easter.