After fasting forty days, Jesus was hungry; the enemy came to tempt him and said ‘if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered “It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ (Matthew 4:3-4) There are so many things that can be drawn from this passage, but the one thing I want to draw out most is the enemy’s work to get Jesus to take matters into his own hands.
Jesus had just fasted forty days and He was hungry. Forty days is a long time to go without food. If you reach that place of extreme hunger, you can resort to some pretty desperate measures to get that hunger satisfied. It’s not until you’ve walked that road for some time that you can really understand the pressures that come with it.
The enemy’s first strategy was to target Jesus’ immediate physical need. I’m sure Jesus in His divinity could have commanded these stones to turn to bread and they would have. Jesus was God in the flesh; nothing was impossible for Him. The enemy’s request was not outside the realms of possibility. Of course the enemy was also taunting Jesus, questioning His divinity and challenging Him to prove that He was the Son of God, by doing this miracle.
There is a very important principle from this passage that we need to consider. Jesus lived His life in complete dependence on His heavenly Father. He never did anything unless He saw the Father do it. John 8:28 tells us, ‘So Jesus told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one and that I cannot do anything on my own. Instead, I speak as the Father taught me.”‘
He was led by the Spirit of God and lived in perfect obedience to God at all times. He lived by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. Even though He was suffering the effects of extreme hunger, He was resolved to do the will of God. He didn’t touch the situation by taking matters into His own hands.
Jesus wasn’t going to allow the enemy to put a wedge between Him and His heavenly Father. He was not going to take instructions from the devil or come under his authority in any way. He wasn’t going to allow His flesh, weakness, or His desire for food rule His decisions. No, Jesus was ensuring the sovereignty and supremacy of His heavenly Father in respect of His every decision.
When Jesus said “Man shall not live on bread alone” He was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
God took the children of Israel into the desert, to a place of barrenness, to teach them this essential truth: Human beings do not exist outside of God’s sustaining ability. God took the Israelites into the desert so they could learn that their inherent need was to be completely dependent on Him as their Source. There was no other way.
Jesus standing up to the devil was also was part of His redemptive work in the earth. It was His work to reverse the terrible loss humanity had suffered when Adam and Eve were tempted and fell in the garden of Eden. The devil came to Eve and questioned, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)
The enemy’s primary objective was to put a wedge between God and humanity. Jesus was at work here redeeming humanity, in His triumph in this moment of temptation, letting the enemy know that there was no way he was going to place a wedge between Him and His heavenly Father.
One day, I was out fishing and a boy and his father were fishing nearby. The boy, who wasn’t a Christian, said to me, “If God is real, then make Him get some fish to jump out of the water for us.” I looked at him and said, “Is that your Dad over there”‘ He said “Yes” I then asked, “Do you go around telling him what to do?” He looked at me with a guilty look on his face and the penny dropped, he said “No.” This boy understood the authority he was under, and we need the same understanding.
Maybe today you are under pressure. You’re wondering how you will get your next meal or pay your next bill. I want to encourage you to seek God for His direction for your life. Don’t allow life’s pressures and the temptation and lies of the enemy come and put a wedge between you and God.
Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t work, you should be active and live a life pleasing to the Lord. What I am saying is that you should never make a life’s decision based on the pressure of the moment. Take the time to seek God and get His response; His leading and direction for your situation. Let God lead you in all that you do.
Jesus had based His life on living by faith. Living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Even in the harshest conditions in the wilderness, He wasn’t going to let the situation change the fact that God was still His provider. He had fasted forty days and He was hungry, yet God was still His sustainer.
I believe Jesus wants us, as His disciples, to follow His example. We shouldn’t touch the things that God has ordained and spoken to us. If God led you to take a certain job, don’t quit just because it’s a bit tough from time to time. If God lead you to take a certain course of action that has resulted in your experiencing some difficulty, don’t alter your course.Keep following the orders you have been given.
If you’ve followed God and things aren’t moving as quickly as you would have hoped, or turning out like you had expected, I just want to encourage you to not be in a hurry to touch anything until you’ve heard from God. Don’t touch it. Don’t touch that situation; trust that God in His power has the ability to move, in His time.
We have had some incredible services over the years, I remember a time in Kentucky when I had stopped preaching in mid flow. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew I couldn’t say another word. I was under pressure to deliver my message; that is what was expected of me, but I wasn’t going to touch the situation. Well the Spirit of God just began to move powerfully in that moment. The Pastor was taken in a vision into heaven and he later thanked me for stopping when I did.
There are times when it’s best just to let God be God and not to touch anything. Sometimes the more we get our hands off certain situations, the more God is free to move. Don’t take matters into your own hands, like Jesus trust God is your source, your sustainer and the solution to every problem you face. He will come through for you.
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