Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
This passage of scripture recounts for us the fierce temptation that Christ endured on the issue of appetite. Adam and Eve first fell on this very point, and therefore Jesus took up the issue from where our first parents failed. At this time spoken of in the passage for today, Christ was suffering extreme pangs of hunger, for he had been fasting for forty days and nights, and was therefore close to the point of death. It was at this moment of extremity that satan then took the opportunity to tempt Jesus to go outside of God's will, by using His supernatural power to create bread.
If Christ had yielded to this temptation He would have lost the battle with the devil, for He would have confirmed satan's argument that in extreme circumstances, a person is justified in doing wrong in order to survive. This nefarious reasoning carries with it very serious connotations, for then we would be justified in stealing from others in order to live. But Christ showed by His example that is is better to die than to do wrong. In other words, if the Father chose not to deliver Him at this time, then so be it, but under no circumstances, no matter how severe, would He set the precedent of justifying evil for the common good.
This experience of Christ is pregnant with instruction for us living at this time, in which satanic principles, methods, and reasoning are often used to justify evil deeds and sinful practices. For instance, many people try to turn stones into bread by filling out fraudulent tax returns each year, with the reasoning that they are trying to pay off some personal bills. While it is good not to owe, and it is scriptural to pay our just dues in a timely manner, yet we should never adopt satanic means and methods in trying to do that which is inherently good. There is nothing wrong with eating bread, but there is a right way to eat it, which the Bible sanctions and confirms. Let's read:
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Ecclesiastes 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
Let us therefore be found standing firm for righteousness, even in the face of extreme and dire circumstances, for we are called to walk in the footsteps of Christ who said "Follow Me" God bless!