Sign in
MATTHEW 4:3 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 4:2Matt 4:4
“And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”
And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. The tempter opens with an if that is not uncertainty but challenge: the baptism voice declared you are my Son — prove it by using that identity to meet your needs. The temptation is not merely to produce food but to define what the Son of God does with divine power: uses it for himself, turns stones to bread, satisfies physical hunger by miracle. The stones-to-bread temptation is the temptation to use power for self-provision in ways that bypass trust and dependence. Adam and Eve in the garden were tempted through food (Genesis 3:6); Israel in the wilderness craved the food of Egypt (Exodus 16:3); Jesus in the wilderness refuses to let hunger determine the direction of his messianic mission.

Church Fathers on Matthew 4:3

The Devil who had begun to despair when he saw that Christ fasted forty days, now again began to hope when he saw that 'he was an hungred;' and 'then the tempter came to him.' If then you shall have fasted and after been tempted, say not, I have lost the fruit of my fast; for though it have not availed to hinder temptation, it will avail to hinder you from being overcome by temptation.

Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

If we observe the successive steps of the temptation, we shall be able to estimate by how much we are freed from temptation. The old enemy tempted the first man through his belly, when he persuaded him to eat of the forbidden fruit; through ambition when he said, 'Ye shall be as gods;' through covetousness when he said, 'Knowing good and evil;' for there is a covetousness not only of money, but of greatness, when a high estate above our measure is sought.

Gregory the Great · 6th century

He begins with that which had once been the means of his victory, the palate; 'If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves.' What means such a beginning as this, but that he knew that the Son of God was to come, yet believed not that He was come on account of His fleshly infirmity. His speech is in part that of an enquirer, in part that of a tempter; he professes to believe Him God, he strives to deceive Him as man.

Ambrose · 4th century · Ambros. in Luc., c. 4. 3
Read all 11 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
Matthew 4:3 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy