He Didn't Need Bread

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:4, NKJV

Jesus was in crisis.

Baptized, anointed by the Holy Spirit, acclaimed by God, now He had been driven into the wilderness by the Spirit where he fasted forty days and forty nights.  During that time he was tempted by the devil, threatened by wild beasts, and afterward he was hungry.  I would imagine he was very hungry, physically ravished from the self-denial of his fast.  But regarding that fast he was in good company—Moses and Elijah both endured forty day fasts as they prepared themselves for the work of the Lord.

Weakened in flesh, but empowered in Spirit, Jesus is confronted by Satan, who says to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Jesus could have done it.  Later he will fill Peter’s nets with fish on at least two occasions and multiply the five loaves and two fish to feed 5000 men and their families, and multiply seven loaves and a few small fish to feed 4000 men and their families.  He will even turn water into wine and a mudball into an eyeball.  Jesus certainly had the power and ability to turn those rocks into bread.  So if he was hungry…

At least that was the devil’s reasoning.  You have the power.  You’re hungry.  If you are who those angels said you were 30 years ago, if you are who you claimed you were in the temple at 12, if you are who that voice at the Jordan said you were, if you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. 

Jesus had the ability.  But he refused to exercise it.  Why?

In three and a half years of ministry that followed, Jesus took the same course over and over again.  He never used his own power for his own personal benefit.  Not once.  Not when he was tired.  Not when he was thirsty.  Not when he was hungry.  Not when he was hurting.  Not when he was rejected.  He told James and John they did not know the heart of God when they wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans who rejected him.  He told Peter to sheath his sword when the priests came to arrest him; ten thousand angels stood ready to heed his beck and call if he wanted them.  Instead, he submitted according to his own prayer moments before—Not my will, Father, but thine be done.

Jesus had the ability, but he did not have the authority.  It was not in the heart and will of God for Jesus to turn stones into bread.  Jesus’ needs would soon be met by angels; he just needed to hold out a while longer in the testing.  He could have given up, given in, given over to the tempting of the devil.  He could have called forth a nice MLT—a mutton, lettuce and tomato, where the mutton is lean, and the lettuce is crisp, and the tomato is nice and juicy.  He could have used his power to meet his own need.  But he didn’t, because it wasn’t what the Father wanted Him to do.  So He goes to the word.

It is written, he said.  He gave us a good pattern for combating the temptations of the flesh and the devil.  Quote the word to your desires, quote the word to combat the whispers of the devil.  It is written, he said.  Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 

He was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, where Moses is teaching the Children of Israel an important lesson.  When they were wandering in the wilderness those first few days after the triumphant Red Sea crossing, they ran out of water, they ran out of food, and they ran into an enemy.  These tests were put there by God, to humble Israel and reveal what was in their hearts.  God wanted to see if they were really going to honor his commandments.  Of course, they didn’t.

Moses says, “He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”  He goes on to tell how their clothes and shoes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell during all that wilderness wandering.  That God took care of them, as long as they obeyed Him.  Israel thought they needed bread to eat and water to drink; God showed them all they needed was Him.

Philippians 2:8 says that Jesus humbled himself and became obedient.  He humbled himself from his position of shared glory with the Father.  He humbled himself from his place at the right hand of the majesty on high.  He humbled himself from his eternally coexistence with God, and when He became a man, He put off the glory of the godhead and put on the cloak of humanity in all of its weaknesses and frailties.  He took on the ability to become less than the full Incarnation of God, and if he had chosen disobedience or rebellion instead of submission, he would have become just a man.  Instead, he chose humility and obedience.  He chose to deny himself and his abilities, to deny his own flesh, and rely upon God.

Jesus understood He did not need bread; He just needed God.