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.’”
Why did Jesus quote Scripture to the devil? He was, after all, the Author of the words he was quoting. Why didn't he just say, "Man shall not live...etc., etc."? Why the "It is written" bit? Being God incarnate, surely Jesus was beyond quoting Scripture. Yet, he quotes Scripture, not only in his temptation by the devil in the wilderness, but again and again throughout the record of the Gospels from a wide spectrum of OT books. Here's a link to a listing of all of the places from which Jesus quotes the OT:
Jesus quotes of the Old Testament
And from Jesus and the apostles:
A list of Old Testament books quoted by Jesus and other New Testament writers.
In light of how often and how much Scripture was quoted by Christ and the apostles, I wonder at those who pooh-pooh fellow believers doing so. A number of years ago, I joined a Bible study in a very large Baptist church I was attending. The "facilitator" leading the study took us through the content of the lesson and then opened the study up for questions and observations. I offered a comment, in doing so quoting Scripture from memory. To my surprise, the facilitator scoffed at my Scripture quoting, saying, "Uh oh, we've got a Bible quoter here!" Not only was I shocked by the rudeness of this remark but by the profoundly unbiblical character of it. Why wouldn't I quote from Scripture? Clearly, this facilitator was unaware of just how much and often Jesus and the apostles quoted from Scripture - which sharply diminished my confidence in him as leader of the Bible study.
The divinely-inspired word of God has unique authority and power not found in our own paraphrases of, or vague references to, Scripture.
Isaiah 55:11
11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Isaiah 40:8
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
Psalm 19:7-8
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psalm 1:1-3
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Ephesians 6:17
17 And take... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
In light of these verses (and many others I didn't provide), one ought to be very careful of any believer who denigrates the quoting of Scripture, suggesting that doing so is an unnecessary bother or that there is some stage of spiritual maturity at which one no longer needs to quote the eternal, powerful, purifying, enlightening words of God Almighty.
Psalm 119:11-13
11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have told of All the ordinances of Your mouth.
