Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him 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: 1-4
Put yourself in this physical situation. You have eaten nothing for forty days. You are hungry. In this fantasy, you have superhuman powers and can create bread out of rocks. Would you succumb to the hunger and use your powers to meet physical needs? Without being prompted by satan, would there have been anything wrong with Jesus saying “Man, I am hungry, I think I will zap up some food for myself?” Jesus would have laid out the design for a microwave in scripture!
Of course, we know that Jesus has the knowledge and power to resist the wiles of satan. He has the scriptural knowledge to recognize satan’s twisting of God’s Word and straighten it out. The rest of this passage involves a couple more temptings of Jesus and ends with Angels coming to His rescue after He has refuted those wayward calls.
Yes, Jesus has been tempted in ways that we cannot imagine, or can we? Have you heard the saying “If satan us not tempting you, then he has you right where he wants you?” I remember something quite similar to this being said in a sermon. This makes quite a bit of sense, when you think about it. As long as you are not studying God’s Word, praying for the salvation of others, working to bring the lost into God’s House or any furthering of His Kingdom on earth, you are not a threat to satan and his goal of burying God’s Word. Because of this satisfaction with your spiritual life, satan will be glad to let you stay in that state of bliss.
