Matthew 4:1-7

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

³ And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

⁴ But he answered, “It is written, “‘ Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘ He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will hold you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.'” _________________________________________

The tempter

Satan first thought to find some weakness in Jesus that he could exploit. After Jesus had fasted for over a month, he thought he had found the weakness. Jesus was really hungry, and he could have justified performing the miracle, but the suggestion came at the prompting of Satan. Jesus would break his fast, but only at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Neither time nor hunger was to be the determining factor. Jesus would wait for God’s word.

So, the next thing Satan does is exploit that dependence upon the word of God. He quotes a Scripture out of its context, to see whether Jesus would fall for that trap. Lots of people are convinced to do the wrong thing by the misquoting of Scripture. Jesus refused again. He knew that putting himself in danger in order to force God to act was testing God.

Jesus, give us your wisdom to wait until your word clears the way for us to act.