(7) Jesus: Perfectly Sinless Pt. 2

Jesus' temptation begins. “And the tempter came and said to Him, "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 on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:3-4)

If we are really going to understand these temptations, we need to look at the context of the verses Jesus recites in response ot Satan. In response to this verse temptation, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy eight.

"You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness . . .. "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. (Deut. 8:2-3 NAU)

This temptation was a test of Jesus’ desires. Who’s desires would He live to satisfy? Satan attempts to appeal to Jesus at the point of a seemingly legitimate desire for food and physical well being. In an off-handed way, Satan is suggesting, “God is holding out on you! Your life will be better if you have some food. God is not giving you what you need physically. You need to make sure you are comfortable, taken care of!” And doesn’t Satan say these same things to us, tempting us to focus our desire on physical things and personal comfort?

This is also a test of dependance. This temptation of Jesus centered around an issue long since settled, and undisputably proved, that man may live without bread, as Israel in the wilderness lived forty years on manna but man cannot truly live without God. It is true, God usually provides through usual means; but he can, if he please, make use of other means to keep men alive. Jesus was being led by the Spirit of God. He believed God would provide everything He needed and He was determined to trust the Father.

This is a temptation to live life pursuing physical and temporal satisfaction rather than living exclusively to fulfill God’s will. This is a temptation to take our physical well-being into our own hands even to the point of violating God’s Word to take care of ourselves. It is the sin of failing to trust God to take care of me no matter how desperate my situation appears.

If it is God’s will for me to live, no lack of physical provision can snuff out my life. If it is God’s will for me to die, no abundance of physical provision will keep me alive. Read that again. Believe it! God determines life and provision for life. No matter how hard we work to get for ourselves, the reality is if God wants to take it away or withhold it, it is out of our control. We can work our fingers to the bone to get what we WANT, or we can obey God and trust Him to provide what we NEED. It is better to be hungry in the will of God than satisfied out of the will of God.

What do we learn from Jesus first temptation about how to live as a perfect human. It teaches us that perfect humans submit their desires to the will of God and His choice in how He chooses to provide. Even the perfect human must depend on God to provide rather than taking ir upon oneself to make it happen.
 
Next:  (8) Jesus: Perfectly Sinless Pt. 3