你有没有经历过试探,很想利用某个机会来谋取你私人的益处呢?
受到试探时,耶稣引用圣经来说明:我们“活着,不是单靠食物,乃是靠神口里所出的一切话”(参看申命记 8:3)。
不管人的生活就此如何失败,耶稣却让我们看到祂完美的做法。例如,纵使有足够粮食和实现饱足,以色列民竟然变得骄傲了,他们忘记了是神喂饱了他们。然而,尽管面对把石头变饼的试探 - 耶稣仍然彰显节制和谦卑,衪解释说,神的话语才是终极的粮食。
摩西曾劝诫神的子民,要记念神怎样多次把他们从危机中拯救出来,可是他们却很快忘记了神拯救他们的作为。然而耶稣并没有忘记那些功课,衪拒绝试探神。耶稣岂会羞辱神?衪岂会要求神一次又一次地证明祂的能力呢?
摩西又警告百姓,不可过份看重他们的财富和能力、或去事奉别的神,可惜他们也再次失败了。然而,耶稣却单单敬拜和事奉这位真神。
耶稣让我们看见应当怎样听从和尊崇神。当我们越发“靠神口里所出的一切话”生活时,我们便有更大的能力去抵挡试探了。
主耶稣,你所作的尽都完全。惟愿我们学像你,信靠神会引领我们、拯救我们、赐我们一切所需的。阿们。
马太福音 4:1-11
1当时,耶稣被圣灵引到旷野,受魔鬼的试探。
2他禁食四十昼夜,后来就饿了。
3那试探人的进前来,对他说:“你若是神的儿子,可以吩咐这些石头变成食物!”
4耶稣却回答说:“经上记着说:‘人活着不是单靠食物,乃是靠神口里所出的一切话。’”
5魔鬼就带他进了圣城,叫他站在殿顶上,
6对他说:“你若是神的儿子,可以跳下去!因为经上记着说:‘主要为你吩咐他的使者用手托着你,免得你的脚碰在石头上。’”
7耶稣对他说:“经上又记着说:‘不可试探主你的神。’”
8魔鬼又带他上了一座最高的山,将世上的万国与万国的荣华都指给他看,
9对他说:“你若俯伏拜我,我就把这一切都赐给你。”
10耶稣说:“撒旦,退去吧!因为经上记着说:‘当拜主你的神,单要侍奉他。’”
11于是魔鬼离了耶稣,有天使来伺候他。
"The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'" - Matthew 4:3
Are you ever tempted to take advantage of a situation for your own benefit?
While Jesus was being tempted, he quoted from the Scriptures to show that we do not "live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (see Deuteronomy 8:3).
No matter which way people fell short in their lives, Jesus showed the perfect way. For example, even after the Israelites were well fed and satisfied, they became proud and forgot that it was God who had fed them. But Jesus—even when he was tempted to make bread out of stones—showed restraint and humility, and he explained that God's Word is the ultimate food.
Moses had urged God's people to remember how God rescued them from many precarious situations, and yet they soon forgot about God's saving acts. But Jesus did not forget those lessons, and he refused to put God to the test. Why should he dishonor God by acting as if God should prove himself again and again?
Moses also warned the people not to think too highly of their wealth and power or to serve other gods, but they failed at that too. Jesus, however, would worship and serve no one but the one true God.
Jesus showed us how to obey and honor God. When we live by "every word that comes from the mouth of God," we are more able to resist temptations.
Lord Jesus, you are perfect in all of your ways. Like you, may we trust God to guide us, rescue us, and provide for all of our needs. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳