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Musée Condé Chantilly, France, MS. 35, Fol. 56v./Giraudon/Art Resource, NY

Jesus displays supreme equanimity in the face of his first test—to turn stone into bread—in this page from a 15th-century German manuscript illustrating the life of Jesus. The author of the Gospel of Matthew has the devil preface Jesus’ first two tests with the crucial words: “If you are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3, 6). These words, Murphy-O’Connor suggests, prompted Jesus to examine God’s intentions towards him: Would God provide and protect him, as he did the Israelites? By having Jesus quote Deuteronomy 8:3—“No one shall live on bread alone”—the gospel author presents Jesus as reliving the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness, but over 40 days rather than 40 years. Jesus’ faith that God will provide contrasts with the irresolute faith of the Israelites during the Exodus: Though the Israelites followed Yahweh into the wilderness, their faith faltered when they refused to believe he would satisfy their hunger. Jesus, however, exhibits a “perfect heart”: He waits patiently for the sustenance he knows God will provide.