JESUS’ FIRST TEST – YOU DON’T NEED GOD

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 does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:3, 4.

Jesus was both man and God.  Would He use His power as God to meet His own needs or would He, as a man, trust God to meet His need?  For Jesus to act as God would have disqualified Him from earning the right to die for mankind. To pay the debt for mankind, He had to live as pure man and perfect man – totally dependent on God to meet all His needs.

Satan was aware of the power of Jesus’ words. Jesus only had to speak the word and it would be done, but He refused to say anything He did not receive from the Father. This was much more than merely satisfying a physical need.  This was about “Who is in charge – who is Lord?” Jesus always submitted to His Father’s authority. It was a simple matter for Him to multiply bread to feed thousands, but He refused to remake rocks into bread to feed Himself. That would have been tantamount to magic.

Jesus was never taken off guard.  His mind-set was to depend on His Father continually and to respond only to His word for direction in every situation. He refused to be lured into any action that would exalt Himself over the Father.

Jesus had to be put under pressure in the most extreme of circumstances to ensure that, no matter what the situation, His strategy and modus operandi would be clear. He would live under the Father’s authority and the Holy Spirit’s leading every moment of His earthly life. To act out of His position and power as God would have given Him an unfair advantage over the rest of humanity. Whatever His needs or the needs of the people to whom He ministered, they had to be met according to the rules of the kingdom of God. He had to demonstrate and declare the kingdom of God as a son of Adam.

At the heart of this test was His attitude and relationship to the Father and His word. God’s word shapes the universe and everything about our human life. He both created and sustains creation and provides for all the needs of His creatures by His word. Adam acted outside of God’s word and brought chaos into creation. Satan tried to lure Jesus into doing the same thing. Unlike Adam, Jesus knew the implications of disobedience and refused to take the devil’s bait. He remained resolute in His commitment to obedience.

The issue was that Jesus chose to trust His Father’s word over meeting a personal need at that moment because He knew that the Father would provide for Him at the right time. This was His chosen path for His whole ministry.