Tuesday 13th January
Read Matthew 4:1-4
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’
4 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ (NIVUK)
The occasion for the first test, a test concerning food (like the first humans in the garden), was the hunger Jesus felt in the wilderness after a long fast.
The test is not simply about Jesus’ power to turn stones into bread if He is the divine Son. The Baptist has just rebuked the Jewish leaders with a similar statement; God can turn stones into children of Abraham if He so chooses! The slanderer is questioning Jesus’ identity – just proclaimed by God – and arguing that if He is who God claims He wouldn’t be hungry. The test is about Jesus’ willingness to trust God loves Him when the circumstances He is in scream the opposite.
It is a fair test. Listen to Jesus’ words. “‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 ‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11) (NIVUK).
Trusting God will provide, and give good gifts, is hard when circumstances suggest otherwise. Perhaps that is why a humble request to provide bread daily is at the heart of the Lord’s prayer?
