NO NEED FOR A BATTLE OF WORDS

Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

There was only one intention behind the devil’s questioning of the very identity of Jesus- to cause him to either abuse, question or ignore who His real identity was. Jesus’ identity was the first point of attack because it held everything else together and he devil had probably said to himself ‘if I can make Him question his status as a son, I might just get him to sway’.

Those words that appeared to be nothing but just a preamble to the question was actually a seed of conflict that was being planted: ‘If you are the son of God…’ These seemingly harmless words can cause anyone to want to ask themselves multiple questions to determine if their identity is really correct; just like a young child who is told ‘are you sure your parents really gave birth to you?- you don’t resemble either of them.

Many people have strayed and fallen back because their very foundations crumbled when their identity was questioned: who they were, what they they stood for and what they believed. They were unable to stand firm because ‘their God given identities’ had not yet sunk in deep enough.

Jesus didn’t get into a war of words with the devil to either confirm or deny his claim- instead, He proclaimed God’s word. He didn’t need any reminding of who He was because in his mind, He was always the beloved and begotten of His father. That knowing was key to him standing firm in the face of temptation as He was all too aware of who He was and what He had. To us, that is food for thought.

Remember # You should never question who you are and what you have as a child of God.