Feasting on the Father's Declaration

"Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he tried to redirect Jesus’ attention from the Father’s declaration on to other sources of validation (Matt. 4:1–7). '[Since] you are the Son of God . . .'   Embedded in that question is a doubt. The enemy was implying, “Well, since You are the ‘Son of God,’ Messiah boy. . . shouldn’t You be able to make things different? Why would the ‘Son of God’ be out here in the desert all alone? Shouldn’t You be able to make bread from the stones, or have the angels catch You when You fall?” What was significant about that was the Father had just declared over Jesus in the previous chapter: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Rather than feasting on the Father’s declaration, the enemy wanted Him to look to other forms of validation for His divine Sonship. Jesus told the enemy that He did not need bread or protection to prove He was the Father’s Son; the Father’s declaration was sufficient."

-- J.D. Greear; Keller, Timothy (2011-09-13). Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary (p. 49). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.