Jesus' Victory Over the Devil's Temptation

From the moment we became God's children, the devil has tried to steal us away from God.  It has been that way for believers throughout salvation history.  Adam and Eve faced temptation and failed.  The Israelites faced temptation and failed.  The great heroes of the Bible faced temptation and failed.  And so it went right up until the moment that Jesus entered into the field of battle.

            Jesus was not defeated by temptation.  He is the new Adam who got it right.  He is faithful Israel who was obedient to the Lord in every way.  He is the faithful Son God wants all of us to be.

Jesus’ obedience is the best possible news for us because his victory against the devil is counted as our own-- and he provides the model we need to remain faithful in temptation, taking our stand on the Word of God.  The Bible says that:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.

            When are tempted it is not because you are a bad person or because you are weak.  You are being tempted because you are a child of God.  It is BECAUSE you are a Christian that you regret it when you fail.  Being tempted doesn’t mean that you have lost your faith.  Struggling against it means you are still a believer.

            There is a spiritual battle that rages against us and in us and each of us must fight against temptation.  Since the day Satan and his angels rebelled against God, a battle has raged on and they have done everything in their power to wreck the fellowship that were created to have with God--and that certainly included tempting Jesus who was not only a human being like we are--but also the heaven-sent Savior of us all.

Right before his temptation, Jesus had been baptized--the Spirit had descended on him--the Father had announced his pleasure in him, identifying him as his Son--and yet immediately Jesus faced temptation from Satan. Jesus did not seek this out--he wasn't looking for a fight--it came because he was filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit. 

In the same way, we should not intentionally put ourselves in harms way spiritually.  If we have problems with alcohol we should stay away from places where it's served.  We should be circumspect in how we interact with the opposite sex.  And so on.  But even when we do all that we can to avoid it, temptation will still come to us because Satan is a destroyer and we are his goal.  The Bible says that:

Jesus ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

            If you remember the stories of Israel wandering in the wilderness for those forty years before entering the Promised Land, you know how they struggled with trusting God to meet their physical needs--how they grumbled and complained about their food. 

            Being hungry is no more a sin than being thirsty is a sin or desiring companionship is a sin.  God made us creatures with physical appetites.  But because of sin those appetites have become distorted and the devil tempts us to meet them sinfully.

Adam and Eve ate the one thing they were forbidden to eat in a whole world of food.  Noah served God faithfully and kept mankind from complete annihilation in the flood by building the ark but got drunk to celebrate.  David sinned sexually with Bathsheba.  That sorry list goes on and on and includes us.

            And so when Jesus goes hungry in the desert there was no sin in that--there would be no sin in turning a stone into bread (and certainly within his divine power) but what Jesus would not do was take his cue from Satan on how to meet a legitimate bodily need. 

            Jesus is the faithful Adam who says "no" to Satan.  He is the faithful Israel who is satisfied with his Father's provision no matter what it is.  He is the faithful Son God wants us to be, who find their sufficiency in God himself and trust his Word.    

            Jesus' faithfulness is our salvation and his method of remaining steadfast is something that every child of God can make use of.  In fact, the Bible says that we are to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  Now this doesn't mean that we simply quote some verse of the bible when we are tempted—though there is sure nothing wrong with that!  What it does mean is that who we are and what we desire and the direction and purpose of our lives is to be drawn from the Word of God. 

            The devil and the world want us to believe that we are nothing but animals at the mercy of our appetites.  But we are much more than that!  We are God's children and we find our life in his Word that has called us forth from death to life through the Good News of his death on the cross--The very thing which the devil would have wrecked in the next temptation.  The Bible says that:

The devil took Jesus up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”

            The really sinister thing about Satan's temptations is that truth and lies are always twisted together.  When the devil tempted Adam and Eve he promised them that they would be like God—knowing good and evil.  And sure enough they did know good and evil-- but what they discovered is that they were evil and God was good and they weren't like God at all and would die. 

That's the way it always is with temptation--Satan shows us the pleasure but hides the danger--the glass of wine with a meal that becomes an early death and a ruined family--the innocent friendship at work that becomes a destroyed marriage—and so on.

            That is how Satan tempted Jesus.  He showed him that which was rightfully his:  kingdoms and glory and power and honor and all Jesus had to do was render one act of worship to Satan.  Who would ever know?  They were all alone.  Why go through the rejection and suffering when what is rightfully yours, can be yours, right now?  Why die?

              This temptation cut to the very heart of Jesus' mission.  He had come for this purpose:  to offer up his own life upon the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world--to do what we have failed to do in giving our all to God.

But Jesus did not fail.  He did not abandon the way of the cross.  He set his face towards Jerusalem and never looked back.  After his death and resurrection he ascended to the Father and the ceaseless worship of angels and archangels and all the company of heaven sing his unending praises and on the last day every knee will bow before him BECAUSE the way of glory went through the cross.

            So it must be for us.  We are constantly tempted to take short-cuts in our spiritual life--to get joy and peace and hope apart from hard work of taking up our cross and following Jesus.   

The day will come when the hardships of this life will be no more--but that journey goes through the cross--not around it--and so we take our stand on the promises of the Word of God while recognizing that even there, that Satan is at work.  The Bible says that:

The devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”  And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

            How often do we say to ourselves:  “Well, if God really loved me…then this or that would take place”.  But who we are in God’s sight and what his attitude is towards us is certain!  It is Satan who tempts us to seek assurance in some external sign.

With Jesus, Satan used the Word of God itself—inviting him to put God’s promise to the test and cast himself down from the pinnacle of them temple with the promise that the angels would catch him as a sign to himself (and a testimony to everyone looking on) that he really was God’s Son.

But Jesus had already heard God’s Word concerning his identity at his baptism and that was sufficient.  The same is true for us.  When you were baptized God said:  you are my child.  You can be certain that promise is true and unchanging until the day that God calls you to your eternal rest.  Luke writes that:

When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time.

            The devil never gave up on Jesus—the devil was right there beside him trying to undermine his mission and destroy his purpose.  But Jesus was faithful each step of the way—going to the cross—laying down his life—rising again and descending to hell to announce—not only his own victory—but ours as well.

  The devil will never give up on us—but the Good News is that Jesus’ faithfulness in temptation is God’s promise to us of our own victory over Satan as we put our faith in Jesus and take our stand in his Word.  Amen.