When the Tempter Comes

December 9

“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” Matthew 4:3, 4.

Jesus had been led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and while there, He had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. By the end of this long period of time, He had probably lost the initial pangs of hunger and had entered a state of emaciation associated with prolonged periods without food.

It was at this time when He would have been aware that further prolongation of His fast would be devastating to His physical well-being that His archenemy satan approached Him with the taunt that He had the power to relieve His hunger then and there. The evil one was suggesting that the Divine Second Member of the Triune Godhead had every right to resort to turning stones into bread in order that His own need might be met.

Of course, Jesus could have done that, just as He could have negated the ravages of starvation upon His body, but He did neither. Instead, He quoted the Word of Truth, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” Matthew-4-4.

The temptation did not end at this point of victory for the Lord, for the evil one was not finished with his assault on the Holy One. At this juncture, he took Him to the pinnacle of the temple and again quoted scripture to Him. Here he said, “If You are truly the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here for it is written that God shall set His angels around about You that You may not dash Your foot against a stone,” Matthew 4:6.

Jesus’ retort to this blasphemous use of His power was, “It is written that you must not tempt the Lord your God,” Matthew 4:7.

With this clear denunciation of abusing the power He possessed, Jesus should have been done with the temptation of satan, but He indulged him one more attempt at breaking His own commitment to leave the trappings of deity (see Philippians 2:6, 7).

In Matthew 4:8-11, we see the following scenario unfold: the archenemy of our Almighty God takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the earth. We may suppose that this includes not only all the peoples and governments of that day but of all future religious and political systems that would ever exist on planet Earth.

The evil one posed to Him a proposition: simply worship me and I will give all these kingdoms to You. There will be no need for a cross; simply bow before me and You can have it all without any cost to yourself. In other words, You, Jesus, will be my administrative chief while I attain the worship of the people as god.

Jesus refused this blasphemous scheme with the words, “It is written that you shall worship only the Lord your God and HIM only shall you serve.” At this juncture, the devil left Him, realizing his attempts to undermine the plan of salvation were futile.

This requires us to ponder the God-ordained purpose of our calling. It requires us to evaluate our methods of living life. Do we, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,” trusting that as we do, all these things will be added," according to Matthew 6:33? Or do we seek gratification for our needs and desires through the world’s compromised methods?

Do we trust the truth of God that He will supply what we need? Lord Jesus, help us to have complete confidence in our Heavenly Father who promises us that He shall provide our needs through You by His riches in glory, according to Philippians 4:19.