Not By Bread Alone

Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God

--Jesus to Satan, (Matt 4:4).

 

A remarkable similarity and an almost universal experience across the past 2014 years since the coming of Christ has been the "opening" of men's ears and hearts to hear the word of God within.  Actually, the experience goes all the way back to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, and to the Patriarchs of Israel, to all of the kings and the prophets, as well as to ordinary men and women.  And the word of the Lord inevitably changes people who hear it -- again, with remarkable similarity of experience.

 

As I read the Confessions of St. Augustine, I am amazed to find therein my own experience: from not hearing the word of the Lord to suddenly hearing and receiving the word in my heart.  Scripture at some point begins to resonate within, and my heart leaps at "hearing" the Voice of God.  Jesus told Nicodemus that unless we are born again of water and the Spirit, we cannot even see the kingdom of God -- and He further told the Pharisees that the reason they could not hear the words that God speaks was that they did not belong to God (that is, they had not been born again of God's own Spirit.)

 

I Cor. 2:9-14 is very clear:  No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God....no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us....The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.....but we have the mind of Christ.

 

Clearly, if Jesus tells the Pharisees that they do not "belong to God," and if Scripture tells us that the man "without the Spirit" cannot understand the things of God, the Holy Spirit is the Agent by which we grasp the word of the Lord.  It is His illumination that makes the words shine into our hearts.  As it says in the Psalms:  In your light, we see light.  We know we have received the "Gift of God" when the Word of God becomes alive to us, and begins to make "our hearts burn within us" as it speaks to us. 

 

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Bible.  It is an acrostic based on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, so that every verse of stanza 1 begins with "aleph," and so on through all the letters, one for each stanza.  The entire psalm is a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the Word of the Lord, and for what it does for the person who embraces it.  Multiple synonyms are used for the "Word of the Lord" throughout the Psalm.  In the following excerpt, I have underlined all the expressions that refer to the inner teaching or instruction from the Spirit:

 

The law of the Lord is perfect;

it revives the soul.

The decrees of the Lord are steadfast;

they give wisdom to the simple.

 

The precepts of the Lord are right;

they gladden the heart.

The command of the Lord is clear;

it gives light to the eyes.

 

The fear of the Lord is pure,

abiding forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true;

they are, all of them, just.

 

They are more to be desired than gold,

than quantities of gold.

And sweeter are they than honey,

than honey flowing from the comb.

 

If someone desires wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and truth, it is his for the asking.  God obviously desires His Spirit to be poured out in all who seek for Him, that they may know Him and love Him, that they might enter into the dynamism/ energy-exchange of the Trinity of Persons.  If we look at the small excerpt of Ps. 119 above, we can see all the "benefits" that accrue to the one who loves the instruction/ teaching/ Word of God within ---the eyes of his soul and his body are enlightened; his heart is gladdened; his soul is revived; and his mind receives wisdom.  Truly, "Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Most High!"