18. Satan Tempts Jesus in the Wilderness

LINKS: Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

By anonimus [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Temptation of Christ (mosaic in the Basilica di San Marco)

BIBLE STORYTELLING: The Temptation of Jesus

PRAYING FOR THE GRACE

I seek the grace to follow Jesus’ model of resistance to the lies of the Evil One. 

BACKGROUND

18. Satan tempts Jesus in the Wilderness: Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

The Desert is a beautiful meditation of this passage by Pray as You Go.

Pray as you go · Session 1 (The Desert)

After His baptism, Jesus was led immediately by the Spirit for a time of testing by Satan in the wilderness which has been traditionally believed to be near Jericho. 

This might be obvious for those of you who have been through the Old Testament portion of the Bible Book Club, but I wanted to point out the "40 days" motif of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. Examples of this motif are seen in Genesis 7:4; Exodus 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8; and Jonah 3:4. Jesus' temptation of 40 days parallels Israel's wanderings and temptation in the wilderness for 40 years. Note He quotes from Deuteronomy which took place during Israel's wilderness wanderings. 

Also, note that Adam and Eve met Satan in a beautiful garden where all their needs were met, and they lost, allowing sin and death to enter into the world.  Jesus met Satan in a barren wilderness where he had nothing to eat for 40 days, and He won, ushering in eternal life for all who would believe (Colossians 2:15; Romans 5:12, 18)!  YAY!

To be tempted comes from the Greek word, peirazein, which in the positive sense means to "try or make proof of." Satan is described here as "the tempter" (Matthew 4:3), and brings out the bad sense of this Greek word, "to entice, solicit, or provoke to sin." This temptation had a dual purpose. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to have His faith tried, while Satan wanted to entice Him to disobey the Father. As our reading goes on, we will learn more about the ways of Satan.

The temptation closely resembles the temptation of Eve:

1) Appeal to the physical appetite 

Satan tempted Eve with the one thing she could not have, even though she had plenty of food from the garden (Genesis 3:1). 

Satan tempted Jesus to make stones into bread while Jesus was hungry (Matthew and Luke 4:3).   

Jesus resisted with Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:3 - God's Word is food for life!

2) Appeal to physical safety 

Satan tempted Eve by saying she would not die if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:4). 

Satan tempted Jesus by telling Him if He was the Son of God and Messiah, nothing could harm Him if He threw Himself from the highest part of the temple (Matthew 4:6 and Luke 4:9).  Satan used the prophecy from Malachi 3:1. It was a common belief that the Messiah would come from the sky into the temple. He was tempting Jesus to display Himself in the way people expected. 

This misquoting of Scripture by Satan caused Jesus to counter with more Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:16 - don't test God!  God would display His Son in His way.

3) Appeal to an easy way to power and glory 

Satan tempted Eve by saying she would be "like God, knowing good and evil" and this was why God was withholding this good fruit from her (Genesis 3:5). 

Satan wanted to give Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:9; Luke 4:6, 7) that God had allowed him to rule (2 Corinthian 4:4, John 12:31; Ephesians 2:2). God had another way for Jesus to become King and that was via the cross. 

Again, Jesus responded with Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20 - God alone deserves to be worshiped and served.

The score is Satan 0, Jesus 1.  Stay tuned. The battle has just begun.

REFLECTION

Jesus, because he has listened to his Father’s ordaining voice (during his baptism), is free to listen to the unordaining or discrediting temptations of the Evil One...Ignatius offers to those who would want to follow Jesus the experience of rejecting the falseness of any identities that come from material or social validation. Jesus has listened and believed and now begins the life of living out his belief in his Father and who he is in his Father’s own words...The Evil One constantly works to falsify our sense of our dignity, our ordination into Christ, and our holiness. We too have been baptized into Christ and his dignity. We too hear the insistent urgings to not believe in the me whom God has created and Jesus has blessed. (Retreat in the Real World, p. 180 [emphasis mine in parentheses])

Jesus knew who He was when He went into the wilderness. Do you know who you are? Satan wants to attack us at the core of our being as God's BELOVED. (Listen to the BELOVED recording from yesterday.) 

I do not think we take him seriously enough. He loves to get us when we are hungry for something to fill us (and I am not just talking about physical hunger here either). 

I met with a woman recently who works in a place where she encounters many people who probably have demonic influence in their life. She is also at a place of great hunger in her life, having a significant friend leave the area. As a result, she is seeing icky things. I encouraged her to "armor up" in the mornings by praying through the armor of Ephesians 6. She has started doing this before she meets with clients, and it has made a big difference.

Fighting Satan with Scripture is what I have learned from today's reading!

APPLICATION

Do you understand that you are God's beloved? Here is an exercise I have done with numerous groups and people, and it has so blessed them. It originally comes from Henri Nouwen's book, Life of the Beloved, and was made practical by Trevor Hudson. 

Here is a download of it:

Beloved Charter

I have my Beloved Charter up on my wall and in my wallet as a constant reminder of who I am. I added my Beloved Charter as an example along with Henri Nouwen's (with Scripture). What a way to battle the enemy!

PRAYER

Another way to battle the enemy is through prayer. 

This is from the "Morning Affirmations" section of Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship by Kenneth Boa. I invite you to pray this daily:

Protection in Spiritual Warfare 

O Lord, guard my heart against the temptations of the world and renew my heart and spirit: 

Since I have been raised up with You, O Christ, I will keep seeking the things above, where You are at the right hand of God. I will set my mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:1-2) 

I will be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving I will let my requests be made known to You, O God. And Your peace, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-8) 

Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, I will let my mind dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:9) 

O Lord, guard my heart against the weaknesses and temptations of the flesh so that I may reckon myself dead to sin: 

Father, I know that my old self was crucified with Christ, so that I am no longer a slave to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin. I will reckon myself as dead to sin, but alive to You in Christ Jesus. I will not present the parts of my body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but I will present myself to You, O God, as one alive from the dead, and the parts of my body as instruments of righteousness to You. (Romans 6:6-7, 12-13) 

O Lord, guard my heart against the attacks of the devil and give me the strength to resist him: 

As I submit myself to You, O God, and resist the devil, he will flee from me. (James 4:7) 

I will be of sober spirit and on the alert. My adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But I will resist him, firm in my faith. (1 Peter 5:8-9) 

I will take up Your full armor, O God, that I may be able to resist and stand firm. I put on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness; I put on my feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; and I take up the shield of faith with which I will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. I take the helmet of salvation and the sword of Your Spirit, which is Your Word, O God. With all prayer and petition, I will pray at all times in Your Spirit and be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:13-18)  (Reprinted by permission from Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship by Kenneth Boa, pp. 7-9)