Mat 4:3-4 | KingComments | STEP | The first temptation of the enemy is on the terrain of bodily needs. Hunger is a bodily need. The devil proposes that the Lord satisfies His bodily needs by using the power He possesses to make bread from stones. It is an impressive thought to see that the Lord Jesus really has a need for something that He could otherwise provide for Himself with the power He possesses. Here again we see the unfathomable mystery of His Person that He is completely Man and also truly God. It is not a sin to be hungry, nor is it a sin to eat, nor is it a sin for the Lord to use His power. But He is the dependent Man. It would be a sin for Him if He provided His food without God having said it. The temptation here is to perform an act in independence from God. The world has been ruled since the fall by acts of this nature. They prove that the man who loses God becomes an egotist, someone who thinks only of himself. With the words “if You are the Son of God”, the devil challenges Him to prove it by ordering the stones to become bread. But His Father did not tell Him to do so. Therefore He does not do it. This also applies to us. If we don’t have a clear instruction from God to do something, we should always wait for Him to give it. Faith, trust, proves itself by waiting for God to reveal His will. The Lord has taken the place of a servant, and that is not the place to command. Personally He has the power to make bread from the stones. We do not have that power. However, we can also make bread from stone in a spiritual sense. We do so when we use the beautiful, attractive things in the wilderness of the world to satisfy our needs. That raises the question: What do we fill our mind with, with what food? The Lord does not want to use His power for Himself, in independence from God. It is a constant feature of the work of the Holy Spirit in the children of God that they do not use miraculous powers for themselves or their friends. Paul did not use that power for himself or his fellow-workers. The power of the Lord’s actions lies in the Word of God. With this He answers the devil, without entering into discussion with him. In His answer He shows that true life can only be found in what God has said ( ). If we focus on this, we will be preserved from acting in our own power and the damaging acts that result from it.

‏ Matthew 4:3-4

The First Temptation

The first temptation of the enemy is on the terrain of bodily needs. Hunger is a bodily need. The devil proposes that the Lord satisfies His bodily needs by using the power He possesses to make bread from stones. It is an impressive thought to see that the Lord Jesus really has a need for something that He could otherwise provide for Himself with the power He possesses. Here again we see the unfathomable mystery of His Person that He is completely Man and also truly God.

It is not a sin to be hungry, nor is it a sin to eat, nor is it a sin for the Lord to use His power. But He is the dependent Man. It would be a sin for Him if He provided His food without God having said it. The temptation here is to perform an act in independence from God. The world has been ruled since the fall by acts of this nature. They prove that the man who loses God becomes an egotist, someone who thinks only of himself.

With the words “if You are the Son of God”, the devil challenges Him to prove it by ordering the stones to become bread. But His Father did not tell Him to do so. Therefore He does not do it. This also applies to us. If we don’t have a clear instruction from God to do something, we should always wait for Him to give it. Faith, trust, proves itself by waiting for God to reveal His will.

The Lord has taken the place of a servant, and that is not the place to command. Personally He has the power to make bread from the stones. We do not have that power. However, we can also make bread from stone in a spiritual sense. We do so when we use the beautiful, attractive things in the wilderness of the world to satisfy our needs. That raises the question: What do we fill our mind with, with what food?

The Lord does not want to use His power for Himself, in independence from God. It is a constant feature of the work of the Holy Spirit in the children of God that they do not use miraculous powers for themselves or their friends. Paul did not use that power for himself or his fellow-workers.

The power of the Lord’s actions lies in the Word of God. With this He answers the devil, without entering into discussion with him. In His answer He shows that true life can only be found in what God has said (Deu 8:3). If we focus on this, we will be preserved from acting in our own power and the damaging acts that result from it.