Tempted But Not Defeated

Luke 4: 1-13

Satan Tempts Jesus

4 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”  ⁵ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

⁹ Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you safe   ¹¹ and ' In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Satan seeks to sabotage the mission of Jesus even before he formally begins it.  He uses all the cunning his "super powers" as a fallen angel can muster, cunningly appealing to the essence of  Jesus/ identity and mission. He appeals to his bodily needs, the power to make the mission easy and a reliance on the spectacular.  Jesus thwarts him each time and the devil retreats, but does not give up, simply waiting for another opportunity. 

We too are faced with challenges from Satan to abandon our own mission, even our Lenten observances. It is only the first Sunday of Lent, a time when we should have the most stamina and determination to proceed unflinchingly.  Let us "stick to our guns" from the beginning and keep Jesus and his dealings with temptation as our model.

Bro. Rene