Jesus Answers 9 Essential QuestionsSample

What is truth? At the end of a grueling 40-day fast, Jesus must face the devil and endure a succession of temptations. Right out of the gate, the tempter offers this insinuating challenge: “If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread.” The evil worming its way into the devil’s sly interaction with Jesus is this—“If you are….” He is challenging the truth of Jesus’ identity—a primary and consistent “weapon” in his mission to “kill, steal, and destroy” everything that matters to God. At the core of this insinuation, Satan is questioning the very foundations of truth. And Jesus responds (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3) with an answer anchored in the bedrock of truth: “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.’” When human beings decide for themselves what truth is, we descend into brutality and confusion and hopelessness. When we look to God’s own words as the source of our truth, we find life and hope and redemption and courage and strength. All truths are tributaries of the massive river of Truth, who is Jesus himself—this is why he is called “the Word” (John 1:1).