Matthew 4
Matthew 4:1-11 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.
One of my passions in life is exercise. I enjoy getting out and running and biking by myself, but I also enjoy the camaraderie and encouragement that comes along with group fitness. One of my favorite classes is Les Mills RPM™. “RPM™ is the indoor cycling workout where you ride to the rhythm of powerful music.”[1] I love how it’s all about the beat. When the music goes faster, you pedal faster, when the music goes slower, you pedal slower. This is very intuitive for me. Plus the music is great!
I was talking with a fellow rider about the differences between Les Mills RPM™ and other spin classes. It’s a challenge for me because in other spin classes oftentimes the music has nothing to do with what you are doing. The music can be slow and we’re supposed to be racing on a flat or the music can be fast and we supposed to be climbing up a challenging hill. I end up getting frustrated. My friend said, “it’s like the instructor creates a routine and then forces the music in for the class instead of starting with the music.”
When she said that I thought, “huh, we do the same thing with Scripture.” Oftentimes we start with what we want the message to be and then force Scripture to say it. We decide what we are trying to prove and then search for a Scripture to support what we are thinking. The fancy word for this process is eisegesis. According to Merriam-Webster online eisegesis is the “interpretation of a text by reading into it one’s own ideas.” This is compared to exegesis which is “an explanation or critical interpretation of a text. The first begins with the end in mind and the second begins with the text and lets it speak for itself.
In today’s passage, Satan tries to twist Scripture into saying what he wants it to say. He has an agenda and he is trying to make Scripture support his agenda. Jesus corrects Satan by sharing with him what the Scripture really says – allowing it to speak for itself. He makes sure to interpret the passage in light of the entire Bible, not just a few words pulled out of context.
As we read Scripture, we need to allow the words on the page speak for themselves. We cannot begin with an end in mind. We cannot pull a few verses out and interpret them how we please. We must look at the surrounding text to identify what the context of the passage is as well as considering the entire Bible and God’s complete message. God’s character is unchanging. He is the same God from Genesis to Revelation. If your interpretation of a passage doesn’t line up with who God is throughout Scripture, you’re probably making the passage say what you want it to say and not what God meant for it to say. (Say that 10 times fast) J
We need to be in the Bible every day as we get to know our God so when something that doesn’t sound quite right is said, we are able to not accept the lie and also have a reason why we are disputing it. And that’s another fancy word, apologetics – knowing why you believe what you believe.
So my challenge for you – get to know God a little more every day…then you’ll know who God is not a little more every day as well.
I’m praying for you!
Pastor Amy
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