Satan tempted Jesus already during Christ’s forty-day fast (Mark 1:13,Luke 4:2), but the temptations in Matthew 4:1–25 involve Satan, first, trying to make Jesus doubt, or need to test his Father’s goodness (Matthew 4:6); but also to get Jesus to take care of his needs in his own power rather than relying on God (Matthew 4:3). While John did not want to humiliate Christ (Matthew 3:14), Satan urged Jesus to give up his humble dependence on his Father by twisting John’s remarks about God’s being able to turn stones into Abraham’s children, into the temptation to make stones into bread, to end Jesus’ hunger.
Both evangelists, Mark and Luke, indicate that Jesus was tempted throughout the entire period of forty days (Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2), but the three temptations expressly mentioned here by Matthew all took place at the end of the period of fasting. Satan, the tempter, tries to exploit Jesus’ vulnerability by trying to cast doubt in the mind of Jesus with regard to the Father’s pronouncement at his baptism, that is, This is my beloved Son.
While Jesus is battling extreme hunger, Satan’s tactic consists not in an outright denial of the pronouncements of God, but rather in creating doubts in Jesus’ mind (see Matthew 4:5–6). The devil tries to persuade Jesus to employ his power as the Son of God for his own diabolical ends instead of being obedient to the Father. His ultimate goal is to try and prevent Jesus from fulfilling his calling.1
He therefore challenges Jesus to make use of his power as the Son of God. While John the Baptist did not want the Son of God humiliated (Matthew 3:14), Satan desires to steal his power. Whereas John spoke before the heavens opened, the devil speaks thereafter. He knows that Jesus can speak, and it is so. Let him then create bread, and let him do so from these stones! The devil’s words here are reminiscent of the preaching of John, who had said that God could turn stones into children of Abraham. Let Jesus then do for himself what God can do for people. The devil tempts him to use his power to abandon the humiliating attitude of a dependent Israelite.2
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”