Matthew 4:1-11 - Turning Stones Into Bread

Okay, it's time for the first temptation. First, lets look at Satan's words, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." The opening phrase, "if you are the Son of God," is classified in Greek as a 1st class condition. Basically, Greek classifies different kinds of conditional sentences in a way that allows us to understand what is meant by it. In other words, what does he mean by "if". You will frequently hear this stuff abused in preaching and teaching, with people reading stuff into it. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard someone say that a 1st class conditional "if" actually means "since." That is not the right idea, especially here in these verses.

Instead, a first class condition indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. So here, Satan is not saying, "Since you are the Son of God, make bread." Rather, he is saying, "If you are the Son of God - and let us assume that this is true for the sake of argument - then command that these stones become bread." Ultimately, Satan is wanting Jesus to prove his sonship.

(We'll see this phrase two more times in Matthew, one more time in this passage, and once in Matt 27:40. In 27:40, it is interesting that the people passing by as Jesus was crucified were using these words verbatim. "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." I think this temptation in the wilderness, where Jesus is focused on fulfilling all righteousness, was preparing Him for the cross. He is both proving His worthiness to bear the sins of men and being prepared to bear the sins of men.)

I don't want to beat a dead horse and rehash the last post, but do you think this would have been a legitimate temptation? My dad always says, hunger is a strong motivator. Jesus had had no food for forty days. He's hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. And yet, He has all the omnipotence of His heavenly Father right there - the ability to take care of His own needs immediately. I think it would have been very tempting.

So how does Jesus respond? His response will give a clear picture of His own understanding of what this temptation means and what His objective is. He says, "It has been written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word proceeding from the mouth of God,'" a quotation of Deut 8:3.

When interpreting any passage, we want to pay close attention to any OT quotations. The fact that this quotation is coming from Jesus should draw our attention even more. So we should look at the context of Deut 8:3. There Moses is recalling the period of the Israelites' wandering in the wilderness detailed in Exodus 16. That means that we should back up even further and look at Exodus. In Exodus 16 we find the Israelites overcome with hunger and grumbling about their lot, wishing that they had stayed in Egypt, and having such a short memory and so little faith that they do not believe that the God who parted the Red Sea could provide food for them. They have a faith problem. God provides for them anyway.

Fast forward to Deut 8. To get more of the context, lets start in verse 1 and go through verse 6:

"All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. 2 "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. 4 "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 "Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 "Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him."

If we take a step back and look again at the parallels in Matthew between Jesus' life and the history of Israel, Jesus' quotation here makes total sense. He is in a situation just like the Israelites were. Hunger and exhaustion. Yet, where Israel failed, Jesus did not. He is fulfilling all righteousness, obeying where Israel did not, keeping the commandments Israel broke. He is trusting His Father where Israel did not.

Satan is offering Jesus the easy way out. If you are the Son of God, why should you suffer? Use your power to provide for yourself. But what was Israel's failure in the wilderness? They did not trust Yahweh to provide for them. So what must Jesus do to obey where Israel did not? He must trust Yahweh to provide for Him. He must live on every word proceeding from the mouth of God - be totally dependent on His Father for all things, not only for physical sustenance, but in every other way as well. He must fulfill all righteousness.

Let's think now about the Hebrews passage I referred to last time:

Hebrews 4:14-16 "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

How effective a high priest would He be if He used supernatural means to deal with temptation? Would He be able to "sympathize with our weaknesses" if He had chosen to just turn the stones into bread? Notice also the "therefore" in v.16. The fact that Jesus was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin, is the basis on which we may draw near with confidence to Him so that we may receive mercy and find grace when are in need. It was necessary for Jesus to resist this temptation for two reasons: 1) we cannot supernaturally meet our own needs, therefore to sympathize with our weakness He needed to endure temptation as we do; and 2) it would have signaled a lack of faith in His heavenly Father to provide for Him.

I think we need to step back from this very familiar passage and meditate on the depth of the love of Christ for us, His covenant brothers and sisters. In His hour of hunger and weakness with His body undoubtedly crying out for Him to follow the tempter's advice and take care of His own need, He chose to trust His Father, fulfill all righteousness, prepare Himself for the cross, qualify Himself to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and experience the full weight of temptation that He might serve as our great high priest, able to sympathize with our weakness and grant us mercy and grace. Oh, how deep is the love of Christ...

So, what are we called to do here? We are called to do what Jesus did - trust in our heavenly Father to provide for us. There are a myriad of ways that we could be tempted to meet our own needs outside of the plan of God. Whatever the temptation, the key is to be totally focused on God as our Great Provider and Christ as our Great High Priest. We must ask Him for grace and mercy in our time of need. We must draw near to the throne of grace and call on our High Priest, who has been tempted in every way as we are, for the strength to persevere and obey until the Father meets our need.

How do we draw near? By meditating on the Word and by prayer, all our attention on Him. Trusting Him.

For next time, look at the second temptation. Try to find the OT verse Jesus quotes and the verse Satan quotes. What light does this shine on the NT narrative?

And thank the Savior for fulfilling all righteousness so that He might become our Great High Priest. Drink Deep.