Luke Chapter four opens in this way “Then Jesus returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was
led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil.”
(Luke 4:1-2a HCSB)
Jesus had just been baptized, He had heard the Fathers voice
and He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
It from here he entered the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Jesus is tired and hungry, He is coming off of
a spiritual high and he is tempted. The
Devil first tries to get Jesus to fall into the trap of meeting His physical needs,
by turning a rock into bread. Before
setting Jesus up with temptation Satan tried to cast doubt in the heart of
Jesus by saying, “if you are the Son of God”, for which Jesus answered back
with Scripture. There would be two more
temptations written down before it was over and Jesus would be victorious because
the Holy Spirit and the word of God.
Looking at this story my thoughts are on the nature of temptation
itself. Where it comes from and when it
comes and how do we overcome it. Jesus
was coming down from a very high spiritual moment. He was fulfilling the scriptures, His Father
had spoken and He was feeling very confident.
Entering the wilderness, it would not have taken long for Him to have
grown tired and hungry. Perhaps he was
starting to feel the loneliness, it was at that moment the enemy made his move
and tried to have Jesus use His divine powers to meet a physical need outside
of God’s will. He used pride and doubt,
Satan’s weapons of choice. What can we
learn from this? One thing we learn is Satan
is crafty and has years of experience in human nature. He knows when we are most vulnerable, when we
are confident, tired and in need physically.
In my life when I’m coming off of a spiritual high and
feeling good about my walk the enemy is lurking. He waits for the time when I’m getting hungry
and in need of rest. It will be around that time I will get a text, or a message,
phone call, a driver who cuts me off, my wife or kids will say something…the
perfect words that strike the chords of pride and doubt and I cross over into
sin of thoughts or deeds. Following sin
there is a time of guilt and remorse. I
will seek the forgiveness for those whom I wronged and especially from God. But
how could I have avoided the entire situation in the first place? How did Jesus avoid it?
Jesus was aware of His condition and He was keenly aware of
the enemy. He knows the enemies tactics. So Jesus was ready for Satan’s attack. We too need to be aware of our weakness and
when we are most vulnerable. Know yourself,
know what will trigger sin and avoid it.
Secondly Jesus countered the Devil with the word of God. Ephesians chapter six reminds us we are in a
spiritual battle and tells us how we can win “In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be
able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word. Pray at all times
in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all
perseverance and intercession for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:16-18) Jesus countered the
Devil with the word of God, He was ready and used the sword of the Spirit to
defeat the enemy and defeat temptation. The Psalmist reminds us “I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against
You. (Psalms 119:11) Treasure the
word of the Lord, place in your hearts by reading it and studying it daily. Pray
for God grace to help you through the temptation. Surround yourself with people who know you,
know your weakness and who will also keep you in prayer. Have people you pray
for regularly to keep you mindful and diligent of the need for prayer.
Lastly remember temptation is not sin, giving into that temptation
is sin. Don’t play around with temptation,
take it very seriously and stay in God’s word and in prayer and you will know
victory.
