Appetite, Affirmation, and Ambition: An Introduction (Lent, Matthew 4:1-11)

On February 19, Pastor Jeff McLain started our new series - Appetite, Affirmation, and Ambition - with an introductory look at our Lent series and Jesus' temptation in the wilderness from Matthew 4:1-11.

Throughout Lent (2023), we explored how life (both the evil and brokenness in this world) tries to undermine the identity that we have in Jesus. The confidence that we have in our identity is often hijacked when life gets us to doubt God's provision, God's protection and God's promises. Doubts that undermine our confidence usually come through our temptations of appetite (Lust of the Flesh), affirmation (Pride of Life) and ambition (Lust of the Eyes). In this Lent series, we look at what it means to have our identity firmed up by Jesus and empowered by God's Spirit - so that we do not lose ourselves to our unhealthy and unhelpful appetites, need for affirmation, and ambitions.

River Corner Church is a growing church community of everyday people who gather to worship God, follow Jesus, and journey through life together. We gather on Sunday mornings, at 10:00 AM, at 524 River Corner Road in Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Learn more about our growing church community online through our website (www.rivercornerchurch.com) or our Facebook (www.facebook.com/RiverCornerChurch).

We invite you to gather with us on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM.

You are welcome to come as you are, just be you. As a community of everyday people, we want to be a people who live and love like Jesus in the places we live, work, and play.

If you have a question about something you heard in this message, or you want to learn more about our growing church community, visit us online at www.rivercornerchurch.com.

Transcript

            A few years ago, some scientists put GPS tracking devices on some hikers and dropped them off in the wilderness. Those 9 hikers were dropped off in a German Forest and others in the Sahara Desert. They were told to walk for several hours in a straight line. What they found is that eventually everyone stopped walking a straight line. Two people walking in the desert veered off the straight line, and a third person in the desert lost their way when the moon went behind some clouds. At that point he turned 90 degrees, and 90 degrees again. In otherwards, he became disoriented and walked in circles. Those in the forest, walked in circles, sometimes almost walking in circles every 10-minutes.[1] It doesn’t take long in life until we are overcome and disoriented in our journey, and repeating the same problems over and over again.

As February comes to an end, we find ourselves entering now into the season of Lent. This year, Lent officially starts February 22 and runs until April 6.  That means it starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. Lent, which means forty or fortieth, is a time in which many Christian churches take the time to remember and reflect on the 40-day period that Jesus spent time fasting in the wilderness. At the start of Jesus’ ministry, after his baptism, Jesus modeled discernment and spiritual preparation through fasting and sabbath. He models what it means to stay oriented in the desert and wilderness moments.

            There are many followers of Jesus that remember and reflect on the 40-day period that Jesus spent time fasting in the wilderness, by mirroring his fasting, in hopes of discernment and spiritual preparation. It is a period of time that followers of Jesus often prioritize prayer, simple living, almsgiving, and sacrificing things that often compete for our attention. Said another way, it is six weeks of deeper self-discipline, where we intentionally focus on hearing the voice of God within regards to an area of life, to reorient ourselves. It is a tradition that goes back to Early Christianity, with records showing that it was a common practice just a few hundred years after the death of Jesus. Early guidelines suggest it should be a time that is celebrated with fasting, but the consumption of bread, vegetables, salt, and water, was allowed so life is sustained and one doesn’t become too disoriented.

            As we enter the Lent season, I think there is some great things about taking the time to remember and reflect on Jesus’ time in the wilderness. Additionally, I think there is something special about entering a season in which we focus more intentionally on prioritizing spiritual disciplines. For the next few weeks, during this Lent season, we will be remembering and reflecting on Jesus’ time in the wilderness. I think there is a lot that we can learn about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. In some way, Jesus’ experience models life’s challenges that you and I face. In the story of Jesus’ time in the wilderness, we see him facing great testing, trial, and temptation. However, he doesn’t become disoriented and lose who he is, he doesn’t struggle and walk in circles. Throughout life, we too face moments of great testing, trial, and temptation; places we miss the mark and are tempted to become disoriented on our journey. The writer of Hebrews tells readers that Jesus had been “tempted in every way, just as we are.”[2] Though, the author of Hebrews says Jesus underwent temptations just like we do, the author mentions one important contrast or distinctive, despite being tempted, it says “he did not sin.”[3] If sin, or the places we miss the mark, separates us from God and disorients us on our journey, it is important to know the way to stay the course.

            Certainly, I want to be clear that we will not discover something in Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness that will stop us from sinning. We are human, and we will not reach perfection on this side of the grave. However, I do think there is something we can learn about the nature of temptations in Jesus’ time in the wilderness. By reflecting on Jesus’ temptations, we may also find ways to develop both the awareness and confidence in dealing with our temptations. As the author of Hebrews says after sharing that Jesus faced temptations like we do, he models for us a way that “we may approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”[4]

            Throughout the Lent season, I also invite you to commit to a new spiritual practice or discipline over the next six weeks. Perhaps fast, try devotions in the morning and at night, journaling your prayers, or making use of an app likeLectio 365 or the Bible in a Year. Let me just say that sometimes it seems people practice a sacrifice or discipline over the Lent season as a means to an end. I am not asking you to pick up a practice or discipline to gain God’s ear, or as a way of receiving some sort of special blessing from God. The commitment to a practice or discipline is not a way to attain something from God, or a way to earn special favor or status. The commitment to a practice or discipline is not a time to boast, appear more holy, or put on a show for those in our spheres of influence. Rather, for the next forty days, I am asking you to commit to a new spiritual practice or discipline as a way of growing more intentional about the way you “walk by the Spirit.”[5] Because it is as we walk by the Spirit that we do better at not “grafity[ing] the desires of the flesh.”[6] The “flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other.”[7] The more we walk with God’s Spirit, the more effectively we overcome temptations in the way that Jesus did in the wilderness. As followers of Jesus, Paul says that “We have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.”[8] Walking more intentionally and more intimately with God’s Spirit is not just about overcoming temptations, but being more intentional to learn more of the wonderful things that God may have in-store for us as individuals, for our families, and even for us – River Corner Church – as a church community.

            If you have your Bible, turn with me to Matthew 4:1-11. This will be our key text for the next few weeks. Over the next few weeks, we will look at each of the three temptations that Jesus faced, and we will explore how Jesus overcomes each of those specific temptations.  This morning we will be looking at Matthew 4:1-11 to get just the introduction to this story. I will be reading from the New International Version.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights[9], he was hungry[10]. The tempter[11] came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”[12]

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”[13]

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”[14]

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”[15]

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”[16]

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

This story takes place at the start of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has entered the wilderness to be baptized by his cousin, John. Mark tells us that “the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.”[17] In the wilderness, people were finding themselves, they were removing themselves from the religious institutions and “confessing their sins.”[18] I am sure this upset the religious and political establishments. Mark’s narrative says that everyone, the whole countryside and all the people of Jerusalem, were willing to leave the temples, and the centers of life and religion, and travel out to where the weirdos, nobodies and wild animals lived. They were willing to overcome the obstacles to hear John speak because there was something different about John, and they could sense it.  This is the hope we can have for River Corner Church, that it is walking with the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit, that will draw people out into the wilderness, with the weirdos and wild animals, to be part of the church.

That difference about John was the Holy Spirit. The narrative tells us that as soon as John saw Jesus coming to be baptized, John pointed and said, “This is the one I meant.”[19] This is the one who has come, the Messiah, the one who will make right all the wrongs, the one who will solve the problem of sin. John witnesses the Spirit of God come down and fill Jesus. God the Father’s voice speaks affirmation over the identity of who Jesus was, which was a sign for John the Baptist, because God has told him “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”[20] At that point, some of John’s disciples see Jesus and “they followed Jesus.”[21] The Holy Spirit is what was drawing people to John and to Jesus, and away from the controlling systems and thought-leaders of the world. The same has been true of every renewal and revival throughout history, and it is true in today’s time.

We also see that at this point, Jesus is notably “full of the Holy Spirit [as he] returned from the Jordan.”[22] That Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit is important to note at this point. Not only is it a sign of his identity and his anointing as the Messiah, not only is it a sign for John the Baptist and his disciples, but this reality that Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit is also modeled as a way of living, it is the reason Jesus goes into the wilderness, and it is the reason he is effective in overcoming the middle of the tests, trials, and temptations he will encounter. From the start of Jesus’ ministry, we see a call to walk intentionally and intimately with the Holy Spirit.

The narrative of Jesus’ entrance into the wilderness starts like this, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.”[23] Mark tells it the same way, “At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert.”[24]Luke mirrors this narrative, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit…was led by the Spirit in the desert.”[25] All three gospel accounts speak of the Holy Spirit in the opening of the story, which means that there was a divine purpose in it all.[26] In all accounts of this story, we see that Jesus is not lured or seduced into the wilderness. He isn’t running away from his call. He isn’t lost, or cluelessly just wandering around in strange places. Rather, these narratives witnesses to the fact that there is great intentionality to the life and ministry of Jesus, an intentionally and commitment to being led by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is led into the desert or the wilderness, he is led by God’s Spirit into the very place that God’s people – many generations before – had not succeeded. God’s people had spent time in the desert and wilderness, and they had succumbed to the trials, tests, and temptations of life. They abandoned what it meant to be led by God’s Spirit. In the wilderness after being set free from their Egyptian overlords and oppressive circumstances, they would go on to doubt to focus on the problem and focus on it at such a level that God’s promises, God’s provision, God’s presence, and protection. Because Jesus is full of God’s presence, he can overcome the temptations. The same is true of us. Each temptation was defeated by citing a passage of Scripture that had reference to the temptations that confronted Israel in the wilderness.[27]Where they failed to be reconciled to God’s plans and presence, Jesus would succeed. Full of God’s presence, the Holy Spirit, Jesus would walk into the wilderness and overcome the temptations the evil one presented to him, the temptations that tried to lure him to doubt God’s promises, provision, and protection. 

From the start of this story of Jesus, we must remark that there are times we too, as individuals, might be led by God’s Spirit into desert and wilderness moments. Like Jesus, at moments of God’s great vision or leading, we shouldn’t be surprised that we may have to face the whispering voices and recognize them for what they are. Sometimes they are our own insecurities or anxiousness, and sometimes they are rooted in something deeper and darker, perhaps even evil. There are times that we – as River Corner Church – might be led by God’s Spirit into desert and wilderness moment that don’t seem fruitful or lifegiving. If God’s Spirit may lead Jesus into places where trials, temptations, and tests may take place then it is important to understand he may do the same for us and we must see how to overcome those tests, trials, and temptations. In learning to overcome our temptations, we won’t walk disoriented in circles, going sideways on our journey by doubting God’s promises, provision, and protection.

It is important we understand why God’s Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. The narrative we read reads, “to be tempted by the devil.”[28] This does not mean that God initiated the temptation.[29]  In fact, James (perhaps the brother of Jesus) writes, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”[30] If that is true, and that certainly fits the character of God throughout the whole scriptural witness, then it cannot mean that God is leading Jesus to be tempted. For this reason, “It is unthinkable that God should try to make anyone a wrongdoer.”[31] Undoubtedly, because the Spirit is leading Jesus, we know that this [all] took place in the plan of God.[32]  The word for tempt can be used in a negative and a positive way. The negative way implies to tempt. However, the positive way implies that he needed to prove himself; he had to overcome the place others became disoriented.

Biblical Scholar William Barclay points out, that “In English, the word tempt has a uniformly and consistently bad meaning. It always means to entice people to do wrong, to seek to seduce them into sin, to try to persuade them to take the wrong way. But peirazein has a quite different element in its meaning. It means to test far more than it means to tempt in our sense of the word.”[33] The concept- not the same word- of test is used in the same way, when it says that God tested Abraham, to test his loyalty. [34]   Again Barclay remarks that “It is the test which comes to those whom God wishes to use. So, we must think of this whole incident as being not so much the tempting as the testing of Jesus.”[35]

 Video – To Show How it is the Journey of Life

Some scholars believe this temptation took place near Jerusalem, on the central plateau which is the backbone of Palestine, and the Dead Sea there stretches the wilderness. The Old Testament calls it Jeshimmon, which means the Devastation, and it is a fitting name. It stretches over an area of thirty-five by fifteen miles.[36] Those who have traveled there mention it’s hard limestone, rocky mound hills, and deep dryness and isolation. We might speculate that in that desert or wilderness, Jesus could be more alone than anywhere else in Palestine. Jesus went into the wilderness to be alone, to overcome the trials of this life, that God’s people to date have not been able to overcome. Jesus’ task had come to him on his journey; God had spoken to him; Jesus now had to pull back an discern how he was to attempt the task which God had given him to do; he had to get things straightened out before he started; and he had to be alone.[37] In addition to Jesus, many prophets in the Old Testament and church fathers in church history, model retreat from the busyness of life to discern the next step. Perhaps you are in a season or a discernment personally right now that it seems hard to discern the way forward. Sometimes a retreat away, fasting from the busyness of life, is an important way to discern and hear God’s heart on the matter.

In this story, Jesus is prepared for the journey ahead by walking in step with the Holy Spirit, by stepping out of the pressures of the world around them, and by fasting from the pressures of this life so that he could focus on God’s voice and leading. In this story, Jesus is tempted by the accuser, by the source of all evil, because even the Satan can see what God is up to in the life and ministry of Jesus. However, it is important to note that at no point did Jesus’ defeat Satan in divine, otherworldly, or supernatural ways. Jesus had become a man, was tempted as a man, and overcomes the temptations as a man. As a human, Jesus models for us what it means to turn to God and his scriptures for strength and deliverance from temptation.

Jesus proves walking with God’s spirit and scripture can be victorious, something the people of God had not been able to do before. As Israel came out of the water, the red sea, and lost themselves and their faith in the wilderness, Jesus now comes out of the waters and right into the wilderness. He spends 40-days in the wilderness, mirroring the time Moses fasted for 40-days and mirroring the 40-years Israel wandered through the desert. Jesus is successful in doing what God wanted Israel to do, be a light to the world.

We can follow Jesus’ victory by intentionally committing to spiritual practices and disciplines that will prepare us for temptation in seasons we feel as if we have been led into the wilderness and/or desert. When we are walking with God’s Spirit, we can be prepared to face anything. Paul tells us that there is “No temptation [that] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”[38]

Almost all temptations can be boiled down to three sins, the three sins God’s people faced in the wilderness and Jesus faced in the wilderness. 

We will be looking at these three temptations in the weeks ahead. Those temptations look specific, a tempting to turn stones into loaves, a temptation to see God provide rescue, and a temptation to get the kingdoms of the world.

Those sins can be better understood as the temptation to question God’s provision, God’s protection, and God’s promises. Another way of looking at them might be seeing them as temptations of appetite, temptations of the need for affirmation, and the temptation of ambition. Elsewhere in the scriptures these three sins are called the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the lust of the flesh.[39] In this introduction to the story, we do see a few important things.

1.     Wilderness moments that are full of tests, trials, and temptations will happen almost simultaneous when God is calling us forward into our journey.

a.     Different than consequences of sins.

b.     Testing, trial and temptings are attacks on our identity.

c.     Looking to hijack a God’s desired future.

2.     Wilderness moments that are full of tests, trials, and temptations will not only be external but internal.

a.     They are getting us to question.

b.     They are implementing doubt.

c.     These are internal not ONLY external. (it’s not Potiphar’s wife)

d.     The food isn’t the temptation, the questioning of God’s provision is the tempt.

e.     Where our innermost thoughts and desires can be hijacked, God’s preferred future can be derailed.

3.     Wilderness moments that are full of tests, trials, and temptations will not be one and done.

a.     Jesus’ effectiveness in resisting the temptations doesn’t mean Satan never came back.

                                                        i.     They look different.

                                                      ii.     Come in different ways.

                                                    iii.     Same temptations

                                                     iv.     His identity will be mocked by the religious leaders and bystanders he encounters.

                                                      v.     As he hangs on the cross, again he will be questioned “if you are God’s son…”

                                                     vi.     All wilderness moments attempt to stop us from carrying out God’s calling, just as the enticing whispers tried to stop Jesus from carrying out God’s calling to redeem Israel and the World.

b.     Though, the more we succeed, the easier the authority comes.

4.     Wilderness moments that are full of tests, trials, and temptations will capitalize on strengths.

a.     Our biggest gifts are often our biggest weaknesses. – God son and miracles.

b.     Satan is tempting Jesus with his supernatural ability. It proves he is stronger if Jesus fails.

c.     We must become a master and not the servant of our abilities.

5.     Wilderness moments that are full of tests, trials, and temptations will attempt to twist how we read scripture.

a.     We will become disoriented when we allow the wilderness to rob the scriptures of their power and authority.

The image of Jesus’ experience is representative of the human experience. Time and time again humanity has been tempted to doubt God’s provision, promise and protection. That is what we reflect on in the Lent season. What we might call The Test, life desires to test our dependence on God. This has been true since Adam and Eve. Through the Prophets, through the story of the Israelites and much more. James, after the life and ministry of Jesus, writes we should welcome the test. James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James invites us to do what Jesus was able to do, to flip the script. On the reason for testing. 

What test in your life right now, are you most doubting and distrusting God’s provision, promises and protection. What would happen if you flipped the script on that wilderness moment from something you lament to something you welcome, because you know what God is preparing you for. This is why I am asking you to pick a new discipline in the Lent season. (Giligans Island, never stopped trying to get off the island – out of the wilderness – but they also learned to make life happen to learn in the moment).

You have a calling to bodily be a light, to be healing and peace, in the places that you live, work, and play. I believe God has put you in your spheres of influence for a reason. River Corner Church has a calling to bodily be a light, to be healing and place in our places and spheres of influence. Both you and I – and we as a church – accomplish this by remembering what God has called us to, staying committed to bringing Jesus light, healing and peace to the world, and by the power of the Holy Spirit avoiding and disarming the voices that long to draw us back into the darkness and have us wonder purposely in the wilderness. We remain disoriented and missing out on God’s preferred future for us as long as we allow life to rob us of the trust of God’s promise, provision and protection. We will see next week how life tempts us to doubt God’s provision, through the lust of the flesh, or our appetite. 

[1] See: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/study-shows-people-walk-circles-woods/story?id=8368583
[2] Hebrews 4:15 (New International Version)
[3] Hebrews 4:15 (New International Version).
[4] Hebrews 4:15 (New International Version).
[5] Galatians 5:16 (New International Version).
[6] Galatians 5:16 (New International Version).
[7] Galatians 5:16 (New International Version).
[8] 1 Corinthians 2:12 (New International Version).
[9] For Jewish readers already Images of Moses fasting in Exodus, or the Israelites lost in the wilderness, and Ezekiel’s journey through the wilderness for 40-days came to mind. Perhaps even Moses’ time on the ark, a time of testing and proven allegiance would have come to mind.
[10] Recently, I saw an article of a pastor overseas that tried a 40-day feast, failed and died. Fasting has its strengths, and it is upheld in the Old and New Testaments as a way of removing distractions to hear the voice of God. It is never meant to be legalistically done or a formula. Some speculate Jesus was not “not eating” but living simply off what was in the desert.
[11] Satan, the accuser or attempter, as listed here is not a BIG player in the Old Testament. We get glimpses of Satan in Job and Ezekiel. Jews do not and did not have an understanding of Satan as many Evangelicals do today. Satan, or The Satan, is someone who provokes or opposes God's plan. For instance, Peter is acting as a Sa-tan when he tries to question Jesus. A similar word is used when the Angel opposed Balaam on his donkey. Some Jews believe satan is more of a job description, more than a proper name. Matthew’s readers would have understood the role but not necessarily that an evil being came in the flesh to oppose Jesus. For Jews, in the Hebrew Bible at least, Satan is ultimately subordinate to God, carrying out his purpose on earth of seeing if people have their stuff. Or that he isn’t real “being” at all, but is merely a metaphor for sinful impulses, a role we through evil, do fall in.
[12] It never fails, the choclate cake in the grocery store when your shopping hungry is always the first temptation. Prophets and Israel struggled with their hunger. Elijah was fed by Ravens, Israel by Manna, Satan is trying to get Jesus to doubt God’s provision. The human condition is hard. We can lose our call if we aren’t careful in protecting our appetite and what we hunger for.
[13] Jesus uses Deuteronomy, the struggle in the wilderness, to show that scripture has more authority – if we allow it to - than human desire or experience
[14] The tempter knows scripture and quotes from Psalm 91. He is trying to get Jesus, in his human condition, to doubt God’s protection or that he really is the son. How good is this promised land, as the Israelites once grumbled. The human condition is hard. We can lose our call if we aren’t careful in protecting our need for affirmation. Jesus uses scripture to keep the temptations in check.
[15] Here it seems the temptor models an entry into the spiritual world, and tries to get Jesus to be his own ruler. We get a feeling of Adam and Eve here. Temptation tries to hijack Jesus’ ambition, by getting him to guestion God’s promises.
[16] Many things will compete for our attention – especially the need for affirmation, the problems of ambition, and our appetite. Those things will hijack us when they interrupt our trust of God’s promises, provision, and protection. Jesus models that overcoming looks like seeking God and his Kingdom, worshipping god, even more intentsely.
[17] Mark 1:5 (New International Version).
[18] Mark 1:5 (New International Version).
[19] John 1:30 (New International Version).
[20] John 1:33 (New International Version).
[21] John 1:36 (New International Version).
[22] Luke 4:1 (New International Version).
[23] Matthew 4:1 (New International Version).
[24] Mark 1:12 (New International Version).
[25] Luke 4:1 (New International Version).
[26] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 71.
[27] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 71.
[28] Matthew 4:1 (New International Version).
[29] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 72.
[30] James 1:13 (New International Version).
[31] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 72.
[32] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 72.
[33] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 72.
[34] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 72.
[35] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 72–73.
[36] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 73.
[37] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 73.
[38] 1 Corinthians 10:13 (New International Version).
[39] 1 John 2:16 (New International Version).