THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 4 - Verse 3

Verse 3. The tempter. The devil, or Satan. See Mt 4:1.

If thou be the Son of God. If thou art the Messiah—if God's own Son—then thou hast power to work a miracle; and here is a fit opportunity to try thy power, and show that thou art truly his Son.

Command that these stones, etc. The stones that were lying around him in the wilderness, No temptation could have been more plausible, or more likely to succeed, than this. He had just been declared to be the Son of God, (Mt 3:17) and here was an opportunity to show that he was really so. The circumstances were such as to make it appear plausible and proper to work this miracle. "Here you are," was the language of Satan, "hungry, cast out, alone, needy, poor, and yet the Son of God! If you have this power, how easy could you satisfy your wants! How foolish is it, then, for the Son of God, having all power, to be starving in this manner, when by a word he could show his power, and relieve his wants, and when in the thing itself there could be nothing wrong!"