Matthew 4:3-4
One thing that strikes me is that Satan is a master at introducing doubt. He basically employs the same device he used against Adam and Eve: "Did God really say..." only here he says, "If you are..." Here it is a direct attack from Satan's mouth; through the rest of Jesus' life the same sentiment or test would be expressed through people: if you are who you say you are, then heal this person or perform this miracle or come down from the cross. It must have been a real temptation to shut people up and remove all doubt by reacting to their requests. I know I would have.
The other thing that strikes me is that Jesus relies heavily on Scripture to defeat temptation. He refuses the premise of Satan's attack (are you really the Son of God?) by not addressing that question at all and then he uses a verse which reminds me that I am to depend on God for everything and not myself. This goes back to the very first sin recorded in history. Rather than go to God with any questions of what might be right or wrong, Adam and Eve decide they would rather make the choices for themselves. This is the same tactic Satan uses here: "Jesus, God brought you out here. The least he could do is feed you. Obviously he can't be trusted and he is not good so why don't you take matters into your own hands." Jesus responds by saying that there is something more important than food.
Which raises the question, why would it be so wrong to change the stones into bread? I think one reason is that it would have shown an independence from God. Jesus would have been saying that he (or Satan) knows better than God what is good and necessary in this situation. I am influenced quite heavily by Henri Nouwen's In The Name of Jesus when it comes to this passage and he suggests another reason: that this was a temptation to be relevant. The pressing need was hunger and the way to alleviate that is with food. Jesus reminds us all that there is usually something more important than the pressing and presenting need. If we spend all our time seeking to be relevant, we will miss what is more important - the word which comes from the mouth of God. Don't get me wrong, I think we should be doing what we can to meet people's pressing needs but we must never forget that which is most important. Jesus reminds us of that here.
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1 comment:
It is interesting how we decide for ourselves instead of going to God and asking, is this right? How much pain would we save if we decided to turn to God in temptation and ask, what is your will in this situation? Some good insights Jer.
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