Matthew 4:3-4 3And after coming to him, the tempter said, “If you are the Son of God, say, ‘Let these stones become bread.'” 4But answering he said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’ ”
The first temptation Jesus faced was physical in nature. Verse 2 ends with the obvious statement that Jesus was hungry. The devil is identified as the tempter. He is the deceiver of humanity and distorts the truth of God and human experiences in creation. The Greek word translated if can be interpreted in a construction like this as “since” and can introduce an obvious fact. There was no question in the devil’s mind about whether or not Jesus was the Son of God, but the devil was trying to take Jesus’ recent experience and distort it. He was trying to appeal to Jesus’ hunger to raise doubts about Jesus’ divinity and place in God’s plan. The words of the voice from heaven in 3:17 still echo in the minds of the readers of this Gospel.
The first test was to see if Jesus would place his fleshly needs higher than his identity as the Son of God. Each temptation was a real and not theoretical possibility. Of course, he could turn stones in to bread. He later fed over 9,000 people on two occasions with just a handful of pieces of bread and a few fish. As the divine Word, he was the one through whom all things were created and through whom all things exist (John 1:3; Colossians 3:16). Would he use his divinity for selfish reasons? This was a test of priority: self or the Father’s will.
Every temptation that Jesus faced reflects back on what Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden. This temptation enticed Jesus to eat something that appealed to his taste and eyes, his physical body, just as Adam and Eve saw the fruit and that it was good for food (Genesis 3:6). Jesus turned to the Scripture from Deuteronomy 8:3 to pass the test of the flesh. His real nourishment came from his heavenly Father. Spiritual nourishment was more important that physical nourishment. Feeding the soul is more important than feeding the body. Jesus trusted himself fully into the hands and care of his Father. Trust at this level requires a fully committed life. Jesus sets the pattern for us. This first temptation should refocus our priorities, which can become blurred by the enticements of the world.
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