Charles Spurgeon Commentary Luke 4:3

"And the devil said unto him, if thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread." — Luke 4:3 (ASV)

Satan met the hungry Man and suited his temptation to His present pangs, to His special weakness at that moment: "If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread." The devil suspected, and I think he knew that Jesus was the Son of God; but he began his temptation with an "if." He hissed that into the Savior's ear: "If thou be the Son of God." If you, believer, can be led to doubt your sonship and to fear that you are not a son of God, Satan will have begun to win the battle. So he begins to storm the royal fort of faith: "If thou be the Son of God." Our Lord was the Son of God, but He was then suffering as our Substitute; and in that condition He was a lone and humble man; what if I call Him "a common soldier in the ranks"?

Satan invites Him to work a miracle of an improper kind on His own behalf; but Jesus performed no miracle for Himself. Now, it may be that the devil is trying some of you tonight. You are very poor, or business is going very awkwardly, and Satan suggests that you should help yourself in an improper manner. He tells you that you can get out of your trouble very easily by some action which, although it may not be strictly right, may not be so very wrong after all. He said to Jesus, "If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread."