Once a beautiful angel, Satan reveled in the glory of Heaven until one day he succumbed to His desire to be like God. Because of his prideful desire, God cast Satan out of Heaven. To retaliate against God, Satan continues today to try to defeat God by defeating God’s children; first Adam, then Jesus, and now us. Over the years Satan’s schemes haven’t changed. He tries to entice us with the same temptation he used first with Adam and then with Jesus; the temptation to doubt God and His Word. Jesus overcame each temptation Satan hurled His way and through His victory, Jesus demonstrates how we too can be victorious.
Although Jesus was God when Jesus came to earth, He made himself nothing; He humbled himself and became obedient to God’s authority and for that reason, Jesus could be tempted just like you, me, and Adam (Philippians 2:5-8).
Satan’s Plan
Satan often begins his assault at the first sign we are ready to be obedient to the mission God has for us. For Jesus, this was no different. As soon as the Holy Spirit empowered Jesus to begin His public ministry, Satan did everything he could to thwart Jesus’ mission to save humanity. (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11).
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.”During that time the devil came nd said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’]”Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”Then the devil went away, and the angels came and took care of Jesus.”
Matthew 4
God allowed Satan to test Jesus, just as He allows us to be tested so that He can humble us, know what is in our hearts, and whether we will be obedient (Deuteronomy 8:1-6). In the desert, God prepared Jesus for His mission and through tests and trials, God also prepares us for our mission.
The Testing of Jesus
When that temptation didn’t work Satan tried to get Jesus to jump off the highest point of the Jewish Temple to test God and see if God would do as His word said and send His angels to save Jesus. God had already warned Israel not to test Him in Deuteronomy 6:16. Testing God would be doubting God and His promises and demanding God do something to prove himself. This would be a sin against God. Jesus didn’t need to test God to know that His promises were true; He trusted Him and knew that if He jumped, God would rescue Him.
When the second temptation didn’t work, Satan tried a third time. This time He offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would just worship Him. Satan recognized that tempting Jesus with immediate power would be alluring. Jesus knew because of His Father’s promise that He would eventually rule over all the kingdoms of the world, but the path God set out for Him would require time and the ultimate sacrifice, His own life. Satan, in effect, was offering Jesus a shortcut to power with none of the pain and sacrifice; all Jesus would have to do is worship Satan.
Philip Yancey in the Jesus I Never Knew paints Jesus’ dilemma so eloquently:
“Nailed to the cross, Jesus would hear the last temptation repeated as a taunt. A criminal scoffed, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us.” Isn’t that what Satan did? He tempted Jesus to display his deity and forego the suffering He would have to go through on earth in order to save us. “But there was no rescue, no miracle, no easy, painless path. For Jesus to save others, quite simply, he could not save himself. That fact, he must have known as he faced Satan in the desert.” (p. 73). Jesus did not accept Satan’s offer and Satan left Jesus alone, at least until a more opportune time.
In the desert, Jesus overcame Satan and showed us a path to overcome him as well. Although God will test us, His word says that “He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear …and when you are tempted, He will also find a way out so you can endure it.” 1st Corinthians 10:13 Jesus demonstrated the way out for us.
Temptation to Supply Our Daily Bread
Just like Jesus, we will be tempted to supply our “daily bread” instead of relying on God to meet our needs. During those times when we get “hungry” for God’s provision and begin to doubt that it will come, we should do as Jesus did and speak the word of God to that doubt and that temptation, for the word of God is more powerful than a double-edged sword and it will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent (Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 55:11). God’s word says that He will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
Temptation to Test God
Just like Jesus, we will be tempted to test God, especially when things aren’t going according to our plan. We will want to grumble against Him as the Israelites did, but instead, we should follow Jesus’ example during His 40 days in the desert and be obedient to God’s Word, for His Word has been tested and proven in the fire and it is true (Proverbs 30:5).
Temptation to Worship Wrong Things
Finally, just like Jesus, we will be tempted to worship things of this world like money and power. By dangling money and power in front of us, Satan will be tempting us to worship him and not God. We can’t serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). We must choose between God and this world. Although choosing God is not always the easiest choice and can lead to rejection, persecution, and pain, this choice is possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Jesus chose us. Let us choose Jesus.
