Stones, Serpents, and Scorpions

In the Sermon on the Mount the Savior gave this teaching about the Father’s willingness to respond to our prayers: “Every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7:8-11)  The account in Luke adds one more example: “Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:12) The message is clear: if we ask the Father for something good, He won’t give us something harmful instead.  Stones, serpents, and scorpions are all objects which can hurt us, whereas bread, fish, and eggs are all things that we use for sustenance.  Interestingly, there is no guarantee that the Father will give us exactly what we request; rather, the Savior’s message seems to be that if we ask for good things of the Father, He will give us good things in return. 

               I believe that the specific items that Christ used in this teaching are significant.  For example, He once asked the Father for bread and fishes that brought forth a miraculous response.  When the people listening to Him were hungry, the disciples brought him loaves of bread and fishes, and then “he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled” (Matt. 14:19-20).  Christ had asked the Father for bread and fish to feed everyone, and He received it in abundance.  This was indeed a powerful example of the goodness of the Father and His willingness to give good things to them that ask.  The phrase about bread and stone also seems to have been an allusion to the encounter of Jesus with the adversary when the latter tempted, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3).  In this case the devil offered Christ a stone when the Savior was hungry and had fasted for forty days—certainly not an example of one giving good gifts to them that ask.  What’s more, the devil expected Christ to take the stone he offered and turn it to bread, showing himself as a foil of the Father who could give no good thing.  The scorpion and serpent could likewise be seen as symbols of what the devil has to offer for those who asks gifts of him: “The devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell” (Alma 30:60). 

            The Savior may have also been alluding to the exodus of the children of Israel in the items He highlighted in this teaching.  At the end of their journey, Moses told the people to remember God “who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna” (Deuteronomy 8:15-16).  Here we find many of the symbols from Christ’s teaching—when the people were surrounded by serpents, scorpions, and rocks, the Father instead gave them good things: bread (manna) and water.  He indeed gave them good gifts when they needed it, and what He did for them He can likewise do for all those who ask blessings at His hand.