Fighting Temptations: Bread or Stone? (1)

East of Jerusalem, stretching from the Judean Mountains and dropping off in Jordan Valley and Dead Sea, is the Judean Desert. Arid and barren, yet home to many an ascetic, outcast, or outlaw over the millennia.

Jesus, after his baptism by John the Baptist, also called it home for about forty days.

It was in this desert that, after forty days of fasting, the “tempter” came after Jesus. The synoptic gospels all record this incident, but Matthew’s account really goes into detail:

The first temptation was for Jesus to turn stones into bread. If you look at this at surface level, it’s almost like the “tempter” was really concerned about Jesus’ welfare. I mean, He’d just finished fasting for forty days—what’s so wrong with doing a quick miracle and feeding yourself?

But Jesus really understood what He was being asked to do.

“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.””                   

Matthew 4:3 (NKJV)

This temptation wasn’t merely testing Jesus’ ability to continuously deny Himself per se. It really was testing His identity—His understanding of His relationship with God. And Jesus’ reply highlights this.

“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”              

Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)

What makes life worth living?

Is it food (read as ‘bread’)? Food keeps you alive in this world, but does it make life worth living?

Is it pleasure? What makes life worth living? You’d find many answers to this question.

For a believer, what gives life its value is how much of it is spent in accomplishment of Purpose. Now it’s not just any purpose, but purpose as God has defined it (Revelations 4:11). Both the purpose (Hebrews 10:7) and everything we need to fulfill that purpose (2 Peter 1:3) can be found in “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”.

What makes life worth living is knowing God’s will and doing it. And if Jesus really ‘was’ the Son of God, He would have known this. So that temptation really was testing Jesus’ knowledge of God’s will for Him—a test of sonship.

There are times we’ll be tempted so badly to give in to things we’re not supposed to give in to. A time-tested way to victory over this kind of temptation would be knowing and reminding ourselves of God’s will for us; remembering our sonship; reminding ourselves of His ability to keep us from falling.

God’s will is for us to depend on His word for sustenance. Giving in to those temptations won’t make life worth living—His word will.

---

Dear esteemed reader,

You’ve been following us for a while, reading our blog, listening to our podcast and being blessed by our content in general. But what if you got the opportunity to be a part of this work?

That’s right, we are calling for volunteers! If you’re skilled in any of the above-mentioned areas, and have a desire for faith-driven impact, you’re just who we’re looking for!

Click this link to apply. We can’t to meet you.

With love,

Team IPS. 🤍