Jump Start # 3752
Matthew 4:4 “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.’”
Our verse today comes from Matthew’s declaration of Jesus’ temptation. Having fasted for forty days, and alone in the wilderness, Satan taunted Jesus to turn stones into bread. Use a miracle. Feed yourself. You’re hungry. No one is out here. No one would know. Take care of yourself.
How innocent temptation often comes. How reasonable temptation can sound. What is the big deal about turning rocks into bread when you are hungry? No one would get hurt. How could that be wrong? The other two temptations are so obviously wrong. Jumping off and expecting God to save you, is really testing God. Bowing down to Satan can never be right. But this first one, how can that be wrong?
And, just like that, we can justify and excuse and even invite a temptation into our hearts. Let’s give this some thought.
First, Jesus knew Satan. He’s not kind. He’s not helpful. He won’t stop being evil for a moment to open a door for you. He’s disguised as an angel of light, but he’s not. He’s been a liar from the beginning and a murderer. Jesus knew His enemy. He knew his character and his heart. Doing what Satan suggests is always a wrong idea.
Second, if Jesus used a miracle when He was hungry, what will He do when He is hurting? Come off the cross, was the cry at Calvary. That’s nothing more than turn these stones into bread. Take care of yourself. Use a miracle to feed myself. Use a miracle when I’m hurting. Use a miracle when I’m scared. And, before long, Jesus no longer is an example for us. We can’t do miracles. If He used miracles to take care of Himself, what are we supposed to do? Jesus becomes pretty selfish is He resorted to using miracles whenever He needed them.
Third, the nature and purpose of miracles was to show mankind that Jesus was God on earth. It wasn’t to heal all sick. If it was, then He failed terribly. It wasn’t to put a smile on our faces or to make every day a good day. This is why the miracles were visible things. Didn’t anyone have heart disease or cancer in the first century? What did Jesus cure? Blindness, which is easy to verify. Deafness, which is easy to verify. Leprosy, which is easy to verify. Fevers, which is easy to verify. Crippled limbs, which is easy to verify. Even, turning water into wine, was something that was visible and easy to verify. Before others and things that were visible is what the miracles were used for.
Satan knew Jesus was alone. Temptation seems stronger when we are alone. Satan knew that Jesus was hungry. He knows when we are tired, stressed and worried. Jesus didn’t have Peter to remind Him what to do. Jesus didn’t have His mother to remind Him what to do.
Alone at school. Alone at work. Alone in a crowd. Alone by being all alone. Satan has a way of finding just the right time. Satan didn’t ask Jesus to make it rain. He didn’t ask Jesus to pick up a five ton rock. He knew the Lord was hungry. Rocks that look like bread would be easy to turn into bread. He knew. But, Jesus didn’t.
Jesus’ answer to Satan shows that God expects us to live on His word. His word will nourish us. His word will bring life to us. His word is what we need. The answer Jesus gave to Satan contained Scripture. It came from Deuteronomy. Jesus knew the word. And, with that He shows us how to resist Satan and keep temptation at bay from our lives.
Wrong can seem so right when our faith is not strong. Wrong can be presented as our only option, but it never is. Wrong can be justified because everyone is doing it. Wrong can be excused because it’s the one and only time we will do it. However, there is never a right way to do wrong and wrong is never right.
Stones to bread. How simple and how easy Jesus could have done that. But, He didn’t. And, that’s the lesson.
Roger
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