1.
Before beginning his ministry in
Galilee, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. In Exodus 16, Israel
is led by God into the wilderness.
2.
Jesus begins a fast for forty days. Israel
was in the wilderness for forty years and complained because of their lack of
food.
3.
A key difference in these texts is the
responses of Jesus and Israel. Whereas Israel demanded bread from heaven from
heaven, Jesus continued to fast. Israel complained of their needy state, while
Jesus affirmed the will of God. Israel ultimately caved to the temptation of
complaining, while Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil. When tempted with
the devil’s provision of bread, Jesus exclaims, “Man cannot live on bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” He trusts that
God is sovereign within this temptation and ultimately is in control. By
continuing the fast, Jesus additionally affirms that God’s provision is steadfast
and sufficient. Jesus’s statement makes clear that earthly needs must be
rightly ordered behind the word of God. (Charles Nathan Ridlehoover, The
Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel [Library of
New Testament Studies 616; London: T&T Clark, 2020], 147)
