From the Mar/Apr, 2026 issue of *Touchstone*

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Wilderness Training

Mark Carrara on How the Temptations of Jesus Expose the Gospel of Self

The wilderness has always been God’s proving ground, where Moses was called, Israel wandered, Elijah heard the whisper of God, and John the Baptist thundered. And when the Spirit descended upon Jesus, he was driven not to the palace, not to the temple, but to the desert.

The wilderness strips away illusions. No crowds. No applause. No distractions. Only hunger, silence—and the hiss of the Enemy. Jesus entered that barren place carrying the weight of Adam’s failure and Israel’s rebellion. In the place where bread once became complaint, golden calves were built from fear, and prophets once fled in despair, he would stand.

And the voice that met him there has never fallen silent. It is the same voice that undid Eden and echoes still in our culture. The temptations in that desert were not random. They were a script, precise and rehearsed. Stones into bread. A leap for spectacle. A throne at a price. Subtle at first, blatant at last. Survival, spectacle, sovereignty. The gospel of self in three acts.

This is why the desert still speaks. Because every age is asked the same questions. Whom will you trust for provision? Where will you look for validation? What kingdom will you bow to in exchange for power? The wilderness is not ancient history. It is our present moment.

Stones into Bread

Jesus was truly hungry. Forty days without food had hollowed his body. Stones littered the ground at his feet. The suggestion came quiet but cutting, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

This was no invitation to worship Baal or burn incense to Caesar. It was more subtle. Use your power for yourself. Satisfy your hunger. Take survival into your own hands. The whisper beneath the words was clear: your life is not secure in the Father’s care. You must feed yourself.

This is the first and most constant temptation we all face: to measure God’s goodness by how quickly he gratifies our needs; to survive at any cost, even if obedience must bend. Israel had fallen here. When food was scarce, they grumbled. When thirst grew, they demanded. Their stomachs became their god.

And has our age not joined the same choir? Stones into bread has become the creed of consumerism. What do many of the “creature comforts” of our age promise, if not to turn stone into bread? Secure yourself. Protect your own. Amass the savings, secure the career, pad life with comforts, even if compromise is required. Safety has become our sacrament, and we will mortgage truth to purchase it.

The temptation still comes in quiet ways. A congregation softens truth to keep its pews full. A believer compromises convictions to keep a job. A generation chooses silence rather than risk rejection. Stones into bread. Survival instincts baptizing disobedience.

But Jesus answered with the words of Deuteronomy, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Bread sustains for a moment. The Word sustains forever. The wilderness exposes the lie: that our provision rests in our hands. Jesus chose hunger rather than distrust.

Mark Carrara has served as senior pastor of Highpoint Church in Port St. Lucie, Florida, since 2000, and is founding pastor of Foundations Christian Academy. He writes on faith and culture with a pastoral voice shaped by decades of ministry in the Assemblies of God.

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