Jesus had been led into the desert by the Holy Spirit for a period of prayer and fasting. He had been there 40 days without a morsel of bread or a drop of water. To put it mildly, "he was hungry" (Matt 4:2). His body, in fact, was in desperate need of nourishment.
The Tempter (Satan) appeared, knowing Jesus's body was in a weakened state and hoping his spirit had began to falter, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread" (v. 3). You say you are the Son of God, surely you can do this little thing to prove your case and address your hunger.
He was the Son of God, he could turn the stones into bread and he had a legitimate need, why shouldn't he? He would later turn water into wine just to keep the celebration going at a wedding (see John 2:1-12), why not similarly turn these stones into bread to feed his famished body?
The reason is provided in his response, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (v.4). Jesus did not wander into the desert and find himself without food, he was led there by the Spirit of God to fast and pray in preparation for his ministry on earth. He could not take matters into his own hands and be led by the Spirit at once. He had a choice to make.
His choice was based on a profound truth: life cannot be sustained by merely keeping the body fed, the spirit, moreover, must be nourished. The spirit is the source of abundant and lasting life. And, when the feeding of both comes into conflict, as when being led by the Spirit to fast, spiritual feeding must be given priority.
To turn stones into bread and break his fast would have been to turn aside from the Spirit's leading, taking the reigns into his own hands. His desire would have had to trump God's will. For Jesus, the right choice was clear - no need to chew on it. Jus' Sayn.
No comments:
Post a Comment