The first specific
temptation recorded is in response to this very real and desperate hunger that
Jesus would have experienced. The devil urges him to take things into his own
hands. I summarized this temptation as follows,
“Turn Stones to
Bread”—a temptation to self-satisfaction
meeting your own needs rather than trusting God (Matt. 4:3-4).
And the
tempter came and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God, command these
stones to become loaves of bread.”
But he
answered, “It
is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
from the mouth of God.’”
At this time the devil came to Jesus in a
terrible effort to provoke Jesus to doubt God's promised provision. The
temptation was one of self-satisfaction—for Jesus to take what he was
"rightfully" entitled to, if in fact he was the Son
of God. Satan attacked Jesus' sense
of Messianic awareness as the Son of God by using the word "if,"
and surely his tone of voice was one of derision and scorn like that of Jesus'
neighbors who refused to accept him as Messiah saying, "Is this not the
carpenter's son?"
We know that Jesus did not succumb to this temptation but
answered from the Word of God. His
emphasis was that life does not depend so much upon the physical nourishment of
bread as upon the God's creative Word of power—the same Word by which He spoke
all things into existence. Jesus’ answer
was quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3, which if viewed in its entirety says,
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with
manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make
you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word
that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
So what was Jesus’ ”manna” in this situation? What was the
word from the mouth of God that sustained him in this moment and in all the
other moments to follow? I suggest that it was the last verse of the previous
chapter, spoken at Jesus baptism,
And behold, a
voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17, ESV)
Jesus knew to whom he belonged. Jesus knew he was loved by the Father. Jesus knew his life was a pleasing offering. How can we answer like Jesus? What has our ever-faithful Heavenly
Father said about us that might sustain us through those moments and seasons of
temptation? There are many powerful passages we could call to remembrance. You
probably have some personal favorites. Here are four of mine—
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him
who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9,
ESV)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we
have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we
rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and
hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans
5:1-5, ESV)
Keep
your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he
has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5, ESV)
If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. (1
John 1:9, ESV)
Is
there a special Scripture that sustains you in temptation? It is better and
more nourishing than any physical bread. Come, let us encourage one another as the gathered community of Christ!
