The word “devil” in Greek means “accuser”; in Hebrew, the word “Satan” means the same. The Devil, who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, also tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Satan is a real being, a created yet rebellious fallen angel, and not a symbol or an idea. He constantly fights against God and those who follow and obey God. Satan is not omnipresent, nor is he all-powerful. Through the evil spirits under his dominion, Satan works everywhere attempting to draw people away from God and into his own darkness.
The Spirit compelled Jesus into the wilderness where God put Jesus to the test—not to see if Jesus was ready, but to show that he was ready for his mission. Satan, however, had other plans; he hoped to thwart Jesus’ mission by tempting him to do evil. Why was it necessary for Jesus to be tempted? Temptation is part of the human experience. For Jesus to be fully human, he had to face temptation (Hebrews 4:15).
During those forty days, Jesus ate nothing, so at the end he was very hungry. Jesus’ status as God’s Son did not make this fast any easier; his physical body suffered the severe hunger and pain of going without sustenance. The three temptations recorded here occurred when Jesus was at his most physically weakened state.
The Devil was trying to get Jesus to take a shortcut, to solve his immediate problem at the expense of his long-range goals, to seek comfort at the sacrifice of his discipline. Satan often works that way—persuading people to take action, even right action, for the wrong reason or at the wrong time. The fact that something is not wrong in itself does not mean that it is good for someone at a given time. Many people sin by attempting to fulfill legitimate desires outside of God’s will or ahead of his timetable.
The Devil arrogantly hoped to succeed in his rebellion against God by diverting Jesus from his mission and winning his worship. Satan tempted Jesus to take the world as an earthly kingdom right then, without carrying out the plan to save the world from sin. For Jesus, that meant obtaining his promised dominion over the world without experiencing the suffering and death of the cross. Satan offered a painless shortcut. But Satan didn’t understand that suffering and death were a part of God’s plan that Jesus had chosen to obey.
Satan offered to give dominion over the world to Jesus. This challenged Jesus’ obedience to God’s timing and will. Satan’s temptation was, in essence, “Why wait? I can give this to you now!” Of course, the offer had a catch: “If you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus replied to Satan with Scripture. For Jesus to gain rule over the world by worshiping Satan would not only be a contradiction (Satan would still be in control), but it would also break the first commandment, “You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 13). To accomplish his mission of bringing salvation to the world, Jesus would take the path of submission to God.
Jesus had quoted Scripture in response to Satan’s other temptations. Now, Satan tried the same tactic with Jesus: he used Scripture to try to convince Jesus to sin! Satan was quoting from Psalm 91:11-12 to support his request. The psalm describes God’s protection for those who trust him. Obviously Satan was misinterpreting Scripture, making it sound as though God protects even through sin, removing the natural consequences of sinful acts. Jumping from the roof in order to test God’s promises would not have been part of God’s will for Jesus. In context, the psalm promises God’s protection for those who, while being in his will and serving him, find themselves in danger. It does not promise protection for artificially created crises in which Christians call to God in order to test his love and care.
Jesus responded from the Scriptures again; however, he used Scripture with an understanding of the true meaning. The facts were that while God promises to protect his people, he also requires that they not test him. For Jesus to jump from the pinnacle of the Temple would have been a ridiculous test of God’s power, and it would have been out of God’s will. Jesus knew that his Father could protect him; he also understood that all his actions were to be focused on fulfilling his Father’s mission.
This would only be the first of many encounters that Jesus would have with Satan’s power. Jesus’ personal victory over Satan at the very outset of his ministry set the stage for his command over demons throughout his ministry, but it did not dissuade Satan from continuing to try to ruin Jesus’ mission. His defeat of the Devil in the wilderness was decisive but not final, for the Devil left him until the next opportunity.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Spiritual warfare is real. We have an enemy who wants to kill us, steal our joy and passion for the things of God and destroy anything and everything that God would build. (John 10:10b) We are in a battle over the souls of people. We are in a monumental struggle over the eternal destination of every person.
Lord, wake up Your followers. For too long they have been in a slumber. Numb to the spiritual realities that face them and unaware of the attack that is being waged all around them.
Raise up men and women of God who will be prayer warriors. Raise up men and women who will put your concerns ahead of their own. Raise up men and women who will see the needs all around and meet those needs.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, or which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)
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