Luke 4:2 And He did not eat anything in those days, and when they were concluded, He became hungry. (3) And the devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God, speak to this stone that it become bread. (4) And Jesus answered him, It is written, "Man shall not live on bread alone."
For the Lord Jesus to accomplish His ministry, He had to defeat God's enemy, the devil, Satan. This He had to do as a Man. Hence, He stood as a Man to confront the enemy of God. The devil, knowing this, tempted Him to leave the standing of man and assume His position as the Son of God. Forty days before, God the Father declared from the heavens that Jesus was the beloved Son of the Father. The subtle tempter took that declaration as the ground to tempt the Lord Jesus. If the Lord assumed His position as the Son of God before the enemy, He would have lost the standing to defeat him. To cause a stone to become bread would certainly have been a miracle. That was proposed by the devil as a temptation. Many times the thought of having a miracle performed in certain situations is a temptation from the devil. The devil tempted the Man-Savior to take His position as the Son of God. But the Lord Jesus answered by saying, "Man shall not live on bread alone." This indicates that He stood in the position of man to deal with the enemy. The demons addressed Jesus as the Son of God (Matt. 8:29), but the evil spirits do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:3), because in confessing Jesus as a Man they admit they are defeated. Although the demons confess Jesus as the Son of God, the devil does not want people to believe He is the Son of God, because in so believing they will be saved (John 20:31).
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 77-78. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
