Matthew 4:2-11

Matthew 4:2: “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

I have never really understood this exchange. It’s clear that both parties knew what was going on, but I am at a loss. Jesus was hungry and Satan told Him to turn the stones into bread. How is that a sin? What command would Jesus have violated?

Some might say “Well, that would involve Jesus using His powers for Himself, which would have been wrong”, but the Bible never condemns people for working in their own self-interest. In fact, God encourages us to work and then enjoy the fruit of our labors. There is nothing wrong with that. Others have said “Well, if Jesus did this He would be feeding Himself in a showy, spectacular way to impress people”, but Jesus was in the wilderness – there wasn’t anyone else around. Besides, when this trial was over angels came and ministered to Jesus. That sounds pretty showy and spectacular to me! You also can’t say “Jesus should have gone to the bakery to buy bread”, because when this was over Jesus didn’t do that – angels came instead. No matter how you look at it, Jesus didn’t resolve His hunger the way that normal people do – there is nothing normal about “angels brought me groceries”. Why it’s wrong to turn stones into bread, but it’s fine to have angels deliver you food, is beyond me.

Jesus’ response is just as bizarre. He told the devil “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”. That is certainly true, but what does that have to do with the situation at hand? Jesus doesn’t say “No, it would be wrong to do that because of X.” Instead He basically says “People need more than just bread in order to live; they need God’s words too.” I just don’t see how that applies to this situation. I have no doubt that it really does apply, but I just don’t see it. I have seen pastors try to explain this temptation but I have never found their explanations to be very satisfying.

One thing we can see, though – and we see it in all three encounters – is that when Jesus was tempted He used the Bible to refute the temptation. He basically said “No, I will not do that, because God said this.” The reason Jesus did this is not because the Bible is some sort of magical charm that wards off evil spirits, but because the Bible contains truth, and its truth is what is needed to expose Satan’s lies.

Matthew 4:5: “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

This is pretty straightforward, and Jesus nailed it. Notice how Satan tried to use Scripture to make his argument, and how Jesus showed that Satan was just twisting God’s words in order to tell a lie.

Matthew 4:8: “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Notice that Jesus doesn’t argue with the devil and tell him that the kingdoms weren’t his to give, or that God was the one that set up rulers and tore them down. No, Jesus went straight to the real issue – God alone is worthy of worship. What the devil was offering, and whether the devil was even legally able to offer it, was not important. What was important was who to worship. As Jesus said, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Jesus did not get distracted or bogged down in side-issues.

Matthew 4:11: “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”

And that was that. I don’t know if there were any temptations other than these three; these are what were recorded, and they offer a great look at the way Jesus dealt with temptation. He faced it head-on, got to the truth of the matter, and then stood on the truth.

This also shows Satan’s active war against Jesus. When Jesus was born the devil tried to use Herod to kill him, but failed. When Jesus was baptized the devil tempted him to sin, but failed. The devil tried to keep Jesus from going to the cross, but failed. Jesus overcame the devil, fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies, and did exactly what He came to do.

It’s also interesting that angels ministered to Jesus. I’m assuming that means that they fed Him, just as they once fed Elijah when he was running from Jezebel. Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations even though He was weak, hungry, and tired, and after He got through this trial the Lord took care of His needs. I think there’s a lesson in there for us. We often want God to fix things now, even though God may want us to work through the situation instead. Rest will come – after our work is done.