Trinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible Chapel
  • Jesus
  • About
    • Service Times & Location
    • Our Mission
    • Our Four Pillars
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
      • Our Doctrinal Statement
      • Specific Issues
        • Baptism and Communion
        • Church Government
        • Church Membership
        • Church Planting Philosophy
        • Church Structure
        • Counseling Philosophy
        • Creation, Evolution and God’s Sovereignty
        • Eternal Security of the Believer
        • Sufficiency of Scripture
        • Spiritual Warfare
        • The Trinity
        • Women in Ministry
        • Worship
    • Church Staff
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Project Rehoboth
      • Rehoboth Updates
    • King Alfred Academy
  • Connect
    • New Here?
      • Welcome to Trinity!
      • What Should I Expect?
      • How Can I Be Saved?
      • Get Baptized
      • University Bus Shuttle
    • Get Connected
      • Step 1: Connect
      • Step 2: Consider
      • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
      • Step 3: Commit to Serve
      • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
    • Resources
      • Weekly E-News
      • Events Calendar
      • Church App
      • Subscribe to Our Podcast
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Bible Reading Plans
      • Weddings
      • The Church At War Conference
      • Antichrist and His Ruin Documentary
  • Ministries
    • Trinity Kids
      • Parenting Resources
      • Web Protection Guide
      • Parenting Conference Audio
    • Trinity Youth
      • Youth Ministry Blog Posts
    • Small Groups
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Small Groups Blog Posts
      • Accountability Resources
    • University Bus Ministry
      • Adopt-A-Student Ministry
    • Worship Ministry
      • Family Worship
      • Weekend Song List
    • Sunday Support
    • Evangelism
      • Evangelism Videos
    • King Alfred Academy
    • Homeschool Collective
      • New to Homeschooling
      • Resources
      • Planning Pages
  • Sermons
    • Latest Sermon
    • View All by Date
    • View by Series
    • View by Preachers
    • View by Topics
    • View by Scriptures
    • Subscribe to Our Podcast
  • Blogs
    • The Pastor’s Blog
    • Trinity Ministry Blog
  • Give

The Pastor's Blog

By Jacob Reaume

Jesus and The Bible: Theological Comfort Food

By Jacob Reaume | February 13, 2018 | Leave a Comment |
Tagged: comfort food, scripture

There’s something about food that brings comfort.  The taste, texture, nutritional value, and the sense of satisfaction that comes when the pallet is finally cleansed.  It is good, and it is from God.

In light of this, Jesus’ forty days of fasting in the wilderness is astonishing.  The Bible says “he was hungry” (Matthew 4:2).  I guess so!  Knowing the Lord’s hunger, the devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into loaves of bread.  It’s not that Jesus couldn’t do that.  We know he could.  But, He had nothing to prove to Satan.  So He wouldn’t budge.  He refused Satan’s challenge.

Moreover, Christ had to fulfill all obedience on our behalf.  Historically, His people have chosen food instead of God.  Eve, for example, lived not in a barren wilderness like the one Jesus found Himself in.  No, she lived in a lush garden, and she had no reason to be hungry.  Yet, the same devil who tempted Jesus in the barren wilderness with food also tempted Eve in the lush garden with food.  Instead of choosing to obey God’s commands, she chose food.  Jesus chose to trust God over food.

A similar thing happened with Esau.  He was famished for having been outside hunting.  So hungry was he that he said he’d die without food (Genesis 26:32).  So Esau caved and sold his birthright for a bowl of soup.  As firstborn he appeared to be heir of what God promised his father, Isaac.  But at that moment the comfort of food was the priority.  He despised the promises of God, but he loved food.  Jesus is better than Esau.  He chose to trust God over food.

After the Israelites had left Egypt, they, like Eve and Esau, had eating issues.  God released Israel from Egyptian slavery, and immediately they started to complain.  They wanted food.  Like Esau, they figured they’d die without it.  They imagined things were better under Pharaoh than under God (Exodus 16:3).  God sent them manna, and every morning they were to gather it.  Only enough was to be gathered to feed them for the day.  Some gathered too much, and by doing so they proved they found comfort in food more than in God’s verbal promise to provide.  Unlike the Israelites, Jesus trusted God in the desert.

The people continued to grumble about the manna also.  They weren’t satisfied with the provision of bread, so again they longed to go back to Egypt (Numbers 11:4-6).  God’s anger burned against them, and in anger He sent them quail to eat.  They would eat it until it came out of their nostrils (Numbers 11:19-20).  God gave them what they craved, but even that was not enough so God’s anger rose against them and He killed the strongest of them (Psalm 78:21-31).  Unlike the Israelites, Jesus trusted God in the desert.  Jesus is better than His people.

Eve wanted food more than God in the garden.  Esau wanted food more than God after hunting.  Israel wanted food more than God in the desert.  Jesus wanted God more than food in the wilderness.  Jesus is better than all.

When Satan tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread, Jesus’s reply was significant: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4).  He was quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3.  He quoted it with authority, and not once did He question its inerrancy.   The text he quoted, Deuteronomy 8:3, is significant.  That is where Israel is chastised for wanting food more than the verbal word of  God.   Israel failed a test in the wilderness because the word of God was not their comfort food.  So did Eve.  So did Esau.

They failed because they wanted food for comfort more than they wanted the word of God for comfort.  Jesus got it right.  He craved the word of God as comfort food.

When facing temptation, Jesus said that the written word of God, the Bible, is His food.  He resisted Satanic bait by finding comfort in the word of God.  To God’s people God’s word is always comfort (Psalm 19:10; Psalm 119:50).  In quoting from Deuteronomy, Jesus passed the test and was obedient on our behalf.

He also set the example.  If you want to be like Jesus, you’ll uphold the authoritative and inerrant word of God — the Scriptures — as your comfort food.  You will live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

And, get ready, because Satan will mock you for doing so.


SHARE


Comments

Related Posts

  • The Rainbow Flag, Local Council, and Elmira’s Streets

    By Jacob Reaume | August 23, 2022

    Elmira is Ontario’s latest community to look at painting a trendy rainbow on one of it’s streets.  Apparently, the Canadian Association of Mental Health has requested that the municipality paint one on a local crosswalk as a show of support for the LGBTQS2+ community.  Those letters — LGBTQS2+ — are likely the latest alpha-numeric codeRead more

  • A Gay Bar with Free Math Lessons

    By Jacob Reaume | June 15, 2022

    I have been advising parents to pull their children from public schools for several years.  The primary objective of education should be to foster Christian virtue in the hearts of children.  Apparently this view was once shared by the majority of Ontarians to the point that they had it enshrined in law.  Section 264.1.c ofRead more

  • Protect Your Children from Public School

    By Jacob Reaume | June 9, 2022

    A few months ago, I reported (here) of a Waterloo Region public school teacher who the WRDSB chair censored at a board meeting.  Her offence?  She questioned whether school officials should be teaching children that hormone blockers are a good idea.  She did so while quoting a public school library book that presented hormone blockersRead more

  • Wisdom in Evangelizing Your Children

    By Jacob Reaume | May 17, 2022

    The following is adapted from a short sermon I gave at a child-dedication service on Mother’s Day. Introduction Many think that there is a recipe to get your children into the Kingdom of God.  “Maybe if I just protect them enough from the world they will be good,” some may reason. The problem is thatRead more

  • John Bunyan Opposed Church Attendance Limits

    By Jacob Reaume | May 12, 2022

    Just over a year ago, the Province of Ontario seized our church building and charged me, along with all our elders, with contempt of court for the second time.  The Province, claiming to be acting in the public good, had set limits on church attendance, and we had no regard for them.  We, ourselves claimingRead more

Newer PostOlder Post

Top 5 Trending

  • What does “makes her commit adultery” mean? (Matt. 5:32)

    October 25, 2018
  • The Rainbow Flag, Local Council, and Elmira’s Streets

    August 23, 2022
  • Yes, Bruxy Cavey Is A False Teacher

    July 11, 2018
  • King Alfred and Why He’s Called “Great”

    June 21, 2018
  • The Bloodlines of Jesus

    October 13, 2014

Latest Posts

  • The Rainbow Flag, Local Council, and Elmira’s Streets

    August 23, 2022
  • A Gay Bar with Free Math Lessons

    June 15, 2022
  • Protect Your Children from Public School

    June 9, 2022
  • Wisdom in Evangelizing Your Children

    May 17, 2022
  • John Bunyan Opposed Church Attendance Limits

    May 12, 2022

About the Author

Jacob Reaume

Born and raised in Guelph, Jacob holds a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He became pastor of Trinity Bible Chapel in August, 2009. Jacob is married to his high school sweetheart, Joanna, and together they have six children.

CHURCH LOCATION
Address:    1373 Lobsinger Line
Waterloo, ON, N2J 4G8

Phone: 519-658-6333
Email: info@trinitybiblechapel.ca

NEW HERE?

  • Service Times & Location
  • Welcome to Trinity!
  • What Should I Expect?
  • How Can I Be Saved?
  • University Bus Shuttle
  • Our Mission
  • Our Doctrinal Statement

OUR MINISTRIES

  • Trinity Kids
  • Trinity Youth
  • Small Groups
  • University Bus Ministry
  • Worship Ministry
  • Sunday Support
  • Evangelism

GET CONNECTED

  • Step 1: Connect
  • Step 2: Consider
  • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
  • Step 3: Commit to Serve
  • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
  • Get Baptized
  • Events Calendar
Trinity Bible Chapel on Rumble
Copyright © 2022 Trinity Bible Chapel
  • Jesus
  • About
    • Service Times & Location
    • Our Mission
    • Our Four Pillars
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
      • Our Doctrinal Statement
      • Specific Issues
        • Baptism and Communion
        • Church Government
        • Church Membership
        • Church Planting Philosophy
        • Church Structure
        • Counseling Philosophy
        • Creation, Evolution and God’s Sovereignty
        • Eternal Security of the Believer
        • Sufficiency of Scripture
        • Spiritual Warfare
        • The Trinity
        • Women in Ministry
        • Worship
    • Church Staff
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Project Rehoboth
      • Rehoboth Updates
    • King Alfred Academy
  • Connect
    • New Here?
      • Welcome to Trinity!
      • What Should I Expect?
      • How Can I Be Saved?
      • Get Baptized
      • University Bus Shuttle
    • Get Connected
      • Step 1: Connect
      • Step 2: Consider
      • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
      • Step 3: Commit to Serve
      • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
    • Resources
      • Weekly E-News
      • Events Calendar
      • Church App
      • Subscribe to Our Podcast
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Bible Reading Plans
      • Weddings
      • The Church At War Conference
      • Antichrist and His Ruin Documentary
  • Ministries
    • Trinity Kids
      • Parenting Resources
      • Web Protection Guide
      • Parenting Conference Audio
    • Trinity Youth
      • Youth Ministry Blog Posts
    • Small Groups
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Small Groups Blog Posts
      • Accountability Resources
    • University Bus Ministry
      • Adopt-A-Student Ministry
    • Worship Ministry
      • Family Worship
      • Weekend Song List
    • Sunday Support
    • Evangelism
      • Evangelism Videos
    • King Alfred Academy
    • Homeschool Collective
      • New to Homeschooling
      • Resources
      • Planning Pages
  • Sermons
    • Latest Sermon
    • View All by Date
    • View by Series
    • View by Preachers
    • View by Topics
    • View by Scriptures
    • Subscribe to Our Podcast
  • Blogs
    • The Pastor’s Blog
    • Trinity Ministry Blog
  • Give
Trinity Bible Chapel