The Temptations Part 3: Stones to Bread (Luke 4:1-4)
Fasting in the desert. Jesus and the Devil. “Change this stone to bread if you are the Son of God.” Luke 4:3-5.
You do know of course that Israel was baptized when it passed through the Red Sea. Then Israel entered the desert to be tested. And the first test was hunger. And now Jesus has been baptized in the Jordan River, he has gone into the desert to be tested. And he is hungry. Very, very hungry. Forty days in the desert. Forty days without food.
And Israel was hungry. In the Desert of Sin the people of Israel were hungry. They had no food to eat. They told Moses that he had brought them out into the desert to starve them to death. (Ex. 16:1-3) Food is a real need. It was a real need for Israel. And, it was a real need for Jesus.
Why would the Lord let his people come to this kind of hunger? Well, in Moses’ own words: to humble you, to test you. (Dt. 8:2) He caused you to go hungry and then he fed you. He fed you with manna from heaven. He was teaching you that man needs more than bread for life. Man must follow every word of God. (Deut. 8:3).
And you know this is the very verse that Jesus finally quoted to the Devil! When he was challenged to turn the stone to bread, Jesus quoted these very words Moses had given to the Jews about their own struggle with hunger. Man will not live by bread alone. (Lk. 4:4) And Matthew adds “but by every word which comes from God. (Mt. 4:4)
Work a Miracle [3:00]
Israel was tested with hunger. And Jesus is being tested with hunger. But Jesus has the power to bring his hunger to an end. And the Devil knows it. Jesus has the power to do miracles. So, the temptation is to use his miracle working ability to turn a stone into bread.
Jesus had never performed a miracle. There are a lot of stories in the gnostic gospels about Jesus performing miracles as a child. Like the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. It claims to cover the life of Jesus from age five until he was twelve. Like making some clay birds and then bringing them to life. And other miracles. And it ends with Jesus teaching in the temple at the age of twelve.
You may get excited about that. An entire Gospel of stories from the life of Jesus. Don’t get excited. If you were to take a look at it you would laugh. Really. You can read the whole thing in less than two minutes. There is nothing to it. It was written by gnostic heretics in the second century.
But John says Jesus did his first miracle in Cana of Galilee when he turned water into wine at the marriage feast. (John 2:11) Not when he was a boy.
John the Dwarf [5:02]
It is well known that ascetics go off and live in the desert. They deny themselves the comforts of life to gain self control over temptations. They try to find God in the desert.
Moses encountered God in the desert.
The Jews encountered God in the desert.
And Jesus goes out into the desert to have his devotion to God tested.
The desert was the place where ascetics went to be tested. To overcome temptation. To find God’s approval.
In fact, in the early centuries there was a mass movement of people into the Sahara Desert in Egypt. They wanted to escape the world. Live devoted lives. They are called the Desert Fathers. It was a huge movement of people to the desert and it lasted for hundreds of years.
St. John the Dwarf was one of these men in the fifth century. Early in his life John went to the desert with his brother Daniel. The two of them living together. Searching for God.
Well, John decided he was going to take it to the next level. He told Daniel he was going to leave, go into the desert alone, and live like an angel in Paradise.
Angels do not eat, so he took no food.
I am going to live like an angel. That is what we call raising the bar. Taking it to a higher level.
He was going to identify as an angel. A man who identifies as something other than a man. Imagine that.
But the desert was very cold at night. And he was hungry. After about a week, there was a knock one night at Daniel’s door.
“Who is it?”
“It is your brother John.”
“Go away. John has become an angel. He is no longer among men.”
Daniel would not open the door. Well, John continued to knock and in the morning, Daniel opened the door. And Daniel told John that he was not an angel. You are a man. And if you want to eat, you have to work.
Well, John learned an important lesson for life. It is hard to identify as an angel. And he went on to become a highly respected monk.
The desert is a tough place to be tested. It is a tough place to be without food. It was tough for Israel. It was tough for John the Dwarf.
And it was tough for Jesus. It was tough to be hungry. John the Dwarf lasted a week. But Jesus lasted for forty days, until his time of fasting was over.
Jesus’ Miraculous Power [9:10]
And, wouldn’t it be tough not to use his miracle working powers? For forty days Jesus was hungry. And for forty days he did not use his power to serve himself.
Wow. That is self-discipline. Let’s forget about the fasting and hunger for just a moment. If you were given the power to perform miracles today, how long would it be before you used that power?
If I were given the power to do miracles, how long could I go before doing my first miracle? Maybe about two minutes. Seriously! I would want to see it work! I would do something right away. Try it out as soon as possible. And then another, and another.
If you were given the power to climb tall buildings like Spider Man, how long would you wait before you climbed the first building? Or maybe just a very tall wall. How much self-discipline would you have? Could you wait a day? A week? What about a month? How about forty days? Jesus waited forty days. And then longer. Until the wedding feast at Cana. Great self-discipline.
And the danger is that if Jesus uses his power to serve himself, he will have set a bad precedent. If he uses his power to end his suffering now, he will use it at any time he has to suffer. He will always be able to bring his suffering to an end. If he ends his suffering now at the beginning of his ministry, surely he will end his suffering on the cross at the end of his ministry.
But not once did Jesus ever use miracles to serve himself or avoid suffering. He fed the 5,000, but he refused to feed himself. (Luke 9:10ff.)
The Inheritance [12:26]
There is more at stake here than just a loaf of bread. There is even more at stake than Jesus being a devoted son. That is important, but there is more.
What is at stake is Jesus’ inheritance. The Psalmist prophecies that the Son would ask his father for his inheritance and it would be given to him. God will give the nations as his inheritance. Psalm 2. The Son’s inheritance will be men and women from all nations. The redeemed. The saved. The elect.
Or, as Paul says, we are joint heirs with Christ. (Rom. 8:17)
When Esau came in from the fields famished, he traded his inheritance for a bowl of red stew. (Gen. 25:29-34; Heb. 12:16) And Jesus is being tempted to trade his inheritance—that would be us—for a loaf of bread. If Jesus commits this sin then he will not be able to die for the sins of others. If Jesus takes this stone and turns it to bread and eats, he will not have an inheritance. Why? Because there will be no redeemed people to inherit.
Oh no. This is not just about a loaf of bread. This is about the people of God. This is about Jesus’ inheritance.
I Believe in Evil [14:41]
Now to the Devil. Jesus was even was able to resist while being taunted by the Devil. We all know what a strong temptation is. You do. I do. We all do. But we have never had a face-to-face encounter with the Devil.
When I was much younger, I would sometimes see people being interviewed on television. Programs for adults. Very successful and influential people. People who write books. Philosophers. Scientists. People like that.
Sometimes the interviewer would ask, “Do you believe in evil? Do you believe in evil?” Some would say, “Yes, I do.” But others would say, “No, I really do not believe in evil.”
That was very confusing to me. Don’t believe in evil? Do you read the newspapers? Do you watch the news? Don’t you have crime where you live? Are you aware there is a war going on?
Don’t believe in evil? What kind of question is that? And what kind of answer is that? What kind of a crazy person are you?
And then I came to understand the question. Really what they were asking is, “Do you believe in an evil being or force that directs all the bad things that happen? Or, do all of these things just happen? Is there a personal, driving force? An evil being?
Well, the answer is yes. There is a personal, driving force behind evil. The Devil. He strategizes. He shoots fiery darts. He slanders. He accuses. He roams the earth. He destroys. Paul said we are not unaware of his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11).
He comes and speaks to Jesus. He tempts him. He quotes scripture wrongly. He takes him to a high mountain and shows him the kingdoms of the world. And to the pinnacle of the temple. And finally, he leaves Jesus alone. But he will be back.
How did Jesus respond to the Evil One? How did he overcome? How did he preserve his inheritance? He responded: It is written. Man will not live by bread alone. But by every word that comes from God. (cf. Mt. 4:4)
Yes, Evil is real. And so is temptation. Jesus did not trade away his inheritance. He did not succumb when he was tempted, like Esau. He resisted with the word of God. He resisted with the help of the Holy Spirit.
And Hebrews warns us to not be godless like Esau who traded away his inheritance. (Heb. 12:16). Jesus did not trade away his inheritance. And don’t you trade away yours.
Well, Jesus has resisted the first temptation. But, the Tempter is not finished with Jesus yet. He has more arrows in his sling. Next to the pinnacle of the temple. And then to a high mountain to see the kingdoms of the world.
Rick Walker
Vinogradar church of Christ
Vinekeeper Congregation
Kyiv, Ukraine
