Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to 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 comes from the mouth of God.’”

--Parallel verses:
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭12‬-‭14‬
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

Testing is allowed by God to strengthen and refine our faith. Jesus’ testing was after he relinquished his heavenly power (before being born a human) and when he was reliant on God and his Word. Satan knew Jesus had relinquished his heavenly title and powers in taking human form, and thought he could tempt Jesus as a human. And he tried with his best temptations.

After Jesus fasted and prayed, filling up with power from on-high and focusing his mind on God and his goodness, Satan came to him to tempt him and his first temptation was food. I find this interesting, as food was a part of the temptation that caused Adam and Eve to sin. And Satan, capitalizing on his obvious hunger, challenged him to turn a stone into bread.

But this challenge was much more than simply challenging him to feed himself. He was challenging him to relinquish his God-given mission and assume his divine power to help himself. It was a temptation to take matters into his own hands and not trust God to provide. It was a temptation of placing physical need over devotion to God.

Jesus did not argue with Satan about why his suggestion was not good. He just quoted scripture. He told him that we don’t only rely on food to live; this only gives us physical life. The Word of God gives us spiritual life for eternity, if we believe it! What a powerful truth to ward off temptation. True life is found in obedience to God’s Word.
Our parallel verses tell us that there is no unique temptation for us - the followers of Jesus. And in regards to Jesus’ temptations while on earth, we read: “For we do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬)

So not only can Jesus understand our temptations and empathize with us, but God promises to always give us a way out of the temptation. We just have to draw close to him and rely on his power.

Lord, thank you for this passage that helps me understand that not only were you tempted, but you used the Word of God as a weapon to fight off Satan’s temptations. May my study of your Word be of higher priority than food to me. Help me to rely on your Word for my strength!