The tempter [Satan] came to Him [Jesus] and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Matthew 4:3-4, NIV, words on brackets mine
What’s the big deal with the first temptation? The answer is that it tested Jesus’ (and tests ours, when we face similar temptation) source of provision- God or something else? That something else can be anything- the Devil, our money/strength/intellect/power/wealth/achievements, government, our job, our kids, etc.
Let’s look at this more closely….
On the surface, there seems nothing wrong with Satan’s statement. “Jesus, you are very hungry, having been without out food for ~40 days now. Why don’t you go ahead and eat? This is unhealthy; you are killing yourself. You should take care of your body so that it is good for God’s work. There’s no food around here, but that’s OK. You’re God, so just make food out of these stones and eat…”
Is food/eating wrong? No. Should we not take care of our bodies and not work (or starve) ourselves to death? Yes. Does God know we need adequate daily nutrition and other physical needs to function well and serve Him? Yes. So what is the big deal then about a little bit of food to a hungry man?
The answer lies in Jesus’ response: “God is my source of provision, not Me, you, or anything or anyone else. Until God gives me the OK to eat, I won’t. I know that right now, He wants me to finish this fast and temptation cycle. Afterwards, I trust Him to provide.”
There are several items here to unwrap.
First is the issue of God’s will. If you have followed Jesus for any period of time, I’m sure you’ve reached a point in your spiritual walk where there were times when you just knew that something was the right or wrong thing to do or not to do, even if under other situations and even to other godly people present, it is OK and not sinful. Jesus knew He couldn’t eat-not just yet. I’ve been in such similar situations and yes, sometimes I can’t logically explain it to even the godliest of people but I know that at that time and place, this is what God wants.
The second- and more important issue- is Jesus’ direct quote of Deuteronomy 8:3. It is helpful to quote a few verses from Deuteronomy 8 in order to give us the proper context. I strongly recommend that your read the entire chapter, but here, we’ll only focus on a few key verses:
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.…
….You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.
Deuteronomy 8:2-6, 17-18, NIV. Underlines and bolding mine
You see, the issue here is who is #1 in your life and proper acknowledgement, trust, and dependence upon God and not upon ________ (fill the blank for the things that replace God in your life). Yes, we have a responsibility to work and make a godly living somehow (God usually won’t do it for us), but it’s not about our power to provide, even if like Jesus, you are God and could make a miraculous amount of food (which he later did several times by the way, when God’s will and the timing was right).
I like to use the illustration of a great NBA basketball player. The great ones in NBA history make it look easy. I’m sure they practiced very hard. But is it all about them? How many great NBA players are there who were born or experienced a disability? Or died young. Or were born/raised in a different time, place, or environment that didn’t give them an opportunity to be an all-star NBA player? Only God knows. But that is the point- God provides even the best of the best with the key needs that these people then develop to greatness. If you doubt this, ask God to take your success away from you and see how quickly things go down the drain even if you give it you’re all. Your life and health? You could die today. Your money? They could be stolen, taken or loose value tomorrow. Etc.
God, in His love, uses challenging moments in our lives to not just glorify Him, but to also get our priorities straight and to enable us to live satisfying lives. In the context of Deuteronomy 8, we are told that God is about to bring the people into a very good land that they did nothing to enable it to be good, just “inherited” it. They would be filled, immensely blessed, and satisfied. Even Jesus was fed and ministered by the angels after the temptation finished. Thus, we see that God is using hard times not to “punish us” (unless of course we sinned and are experiencing the consequences of our actions that we ourselves chose), but to mature us.
Look again at verse 3: “He [God]…caus[ed] you to hunger and then fed[] you with manna…” God is not mean or cruel- He provided and still provides. But He does use teachable moments. Have you or anyone else you known experienced a situation like this: you work your butt off to provide food for the table, but then one of your kids just plain tosses the good food aside/refuses to eat on a regular basis. You then tell that child that he/she won’t eat the next meal(s) unless he/she works with you for it. Your child may make do at first, but then gets very hungry and does a chore with you or mows a neighbor’s lawn to help pay for the food bill that night. The child then beings to understand that the food (and clothing, shelter, phone, and many other things which he/she always had for free) actually cost the parent a lot of effort to obtain and should be valued? Maybe we can’t do this anymore in this age and time but I’m sure you’ve heard or read similar stories in times past. We all know that the parent here is not abusive-just teaching the child a lesson about where tonight’s food really comes from. It can be very enlightening.
The same with God. God provides for His own until it is our time to be with Him, then He’ll provide for us eternally and without the pain, hurt, suffering, and other evil and hardship that mars His provision in this sinful world.
To conclude then, we are practically guaranteed to be tempted or otherwise be in a situation where we have to choose: God or _____ as my provider. If you choose ________, you, like I and many others have, will experience a lot of stress, frustration, and pain when that _______ ultimately fails you. If you chose God, you may go through challenging times to see if you really mean what you believe, but God will always come through. This kind of life can actually be quite exciting though hair-raising as God may only provide at the last minute or show you that “you don’t need this right now.” but it’s a very peaceful, stress-free life full of blessing, joy, inner peace and amazement at all that God does and how He provides. Your choice which one to choose.