Before Christ began His 3-year ministry on earth, he was led by the Holy Spirit out into the Desert where He was subjected to temptation from Satan. This lasted 40 days and during that time, Jesus did not eat.
I don’t know about you, but I am confident I would not last even a few days without sustenance before pure weakness set in… but Jesus did it. I want to remind you that at this point, He was just like any other man, which means His body would have started to break down due to a lack of nourishment just like yours and mine would.
Compounding that fact, was that He was being subjected to temptation from Satan, who was and is, the Prince of this World, which made this entire ordeal even more difficult. But, let me be clear, this encounter was not by accident. Christ did not go to the desert to hide but rather He was led to this confrontation by God. Why?, Because as Erwin Lutzer states in his book, God’s Devil, “God wanted to prove that Christ would win in the very arena of temptation where Adam failed”.
In case this fact slipped your mind, Jesus already knew Satan. How? Because He created him. Lucifer, as was his name, was one of the highest-ranking angels ever. He led worship in Heaven and had a direct connection with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. However, evil was found to be in his heart so God cast him out of Heaven along with one-third of the angels he had corrupted.
Today, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to add some color to these “temptation” events and try and bring the supernatural perspective that the Bible only tells us in 2D. What Satan presented to Christ would have been truly amazing and frankly would have blown you and me away.
Temptation #1
And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Matt 4:3
First of all, Christ could have turned the stones into bread in a second. In fact, He basically did the same miracle just a few weeks later when He fed the 5,000 but, we know Satan does not play fair. As Lutzer states, “The essence of this temptation was to show the needs of the body are more important than the needs of the soul.” This was low-hanging fruit and he knew Jesus was hungry, famished, and even starving. But Christ saw through his plan and would not give Satan the disobedience he wanted.
Temptation #2
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone”. Matt 4:6
This temptation is far more sinister because if Christ quotes scripture, then so does Satan. Lucifer knows the scripture better than you and I. But think about this, Satan quotes scripture to entice Christ into sinning. He literally tried to hamstring Christ by using scripture against Him.
Next, consider this; Satan somehow takes or carries Christ to the apex of the temple in Jerusalem…using his demon power. We know that Christ would NOT have allowed him to do this without His consent.
Thirdly, do not be misdirected here. Satan was deliberately trying to misuse God’s word just as he will do with you. Are you ready for when you hear the word of God used in the wrong way? Can you discern the difference? Remember when I mentioned this temptation is the most sinister by far?
Finally, Christ simply responded, “DO NOT put your Lord God to the test”. Christ did not fall into the trap that Satan set. He wanted Christ to choose sin even while pointing to a verse and Christ would not.
Let me remind you of Martin Luther’s words from many years ago when he said, “The devil is God’s devil. We have forgotten that only when we know who God is can we know who the devil is. Blessed are those who are convinced that the prince of this world has become a slave to the Prince of Peace.“
Temptation #3
The devil led him up to a high mountain and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Matt 4:8-9
Again, Christ is taken or carried up to a very high mountain on earth using the demon power of Satan. In an instant, He is shown all of the Kingdoms of the world. Think about that for a second. Christ witnessed Rome in all of its splendor or Ancient Greece or Egypt with the Pyramids. Consider the amazing supernatural experience of ALL these kingdoms displayed to Him at the same time.
Now, I realize that these are earthly kingdoms and NOT Heavenly ones but the sheer power of this should not escape you. Why did Satan do this? It was his last act of power with Christ. He was providing Christ a “shortcut to the kingdom”. He was offering all the authority of the world if He, Jesus Christ, would bow down and worship him.
As we know, Christ did not deviate from the will of God and told Satan to go pound sand. Sorry, that was my paraphrasing. He told him that “you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve”.
This Case is Closed…
What is the point of writing and sharing this post today? You and I can follow the very same example that Christ set for us by refuting and resisting the enemy using God’s word. Frankly, that is exactly what God wants us to do with it but with one caveat…you must know God’s word well enough to discern when it isn’t…
That is my challenge to you today-
Until next time Guys-
Lutzer, Erwin. (2015) God’s Devil, Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.