As was stated in the previous blog Part I the Grand Inquisitor highlights the intent of God to give man his freedom in the anticipation that man in his freedom would choose to follow God. In regards to the first temptation, the Grand Inquisitor tells Jesus, “Turn them into loaves of bread and man will follow You like cattle, grateful and docile, although constantly fearful lest You withdraw Your hand and they lose Your loaves. But you did not want to deprive man of freedom and You rejected this suggestion, for, You thought, what sort of freedom would they have if their obedience was bought with bread? You replied that man does not live by bread alone…”

He goes on to say that God promised heavenly bread but man within his narrow view of things would tend to opt for the assurance of earthly bread. It is a temptation to give up the heavenly for the assurance of earthly bread. The question for us is “Is our worship of God based on his  fulfilling our physical needs?” Is our relationship with God based on circumstances? Jesus’ reply is that man does not live on bread alone. Rather man’s life should be free and his free choice of obedience to God should be above circumstances. Jesus could have come to earth and obtained man’s “worship” by fulfilling everyone’s hunger but then to what level would that worship be genuine or because it’s based on physical bread?

The filling of one’s physical needs and desires is a strong one, one often well understood by those in authority. A similar case in our current society is the need to feel secure from danger and terrorism even at the expense of our liberty and freedom.  Has security or personal safety overcome the need for freedom? Along more religious lines, the feeding of the poor and the care of the homeless is a strong pull for many charities and religions. Indeed it is an overarching theme in Christianity to love your neighbor and provide for the needy. The danger is the attachments we may add to those activities. “Here is bread if you will only come to church and listen.” What drives our desire to reach out to the needy? Did Mother Theresa provide pre-conditions or not in her reaching out to the needy in Calcutta.

Also, in our own lives is our faith dependent on what is going on in our lives? Is it based on whether God is blessing us at the moment or not? Is our love for God truly out of our desire to love God or is it because of what he DOES for us? Jesus proved his freedom to trust in God even during hunger and in need.