From
Meditation 120 onward we have seen that the full armour of God is a divine
gift to all God’s children. The apostle Paul takes the armour of a first
century Roman soldier to show us how we can protect Jesus’ life within us
against Satan’s attacks. We have already spoken about girding our waist with truth, putting on the breastplate of
righteousness, shoeing our feet with the preparedness of the Gospel of peace, taking
up the shield of faith and receiving the helmet of salvation.
In Meditations 129 and 130 we
reflect on the ‘sword of the Spirit’. Paul writes:
“Take
(or receive) ... the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17**)
(Continuation of Meditation 129)
How does Jesus wield the Sword of the
Spirit?
If
we want to know how we should handle this divine sword effectively, we need to
look at Jesus’ example. Before His earthly ministry began, God moved His Son to
the desert for an initiation test by Satan to see if He was worthy of serving His
Father on Earth. Three Gospel writers describe this event: “Then Jesus was
led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the
Devil” (Matthew 4:1*). “Immediately the Holy Spirit compelled Jesus to
go into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12*). “Then Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, left the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit to go out into the
wilderness, where the Devil tempted Him for forty days” (Luke 4:1-2*).
First example
At the end of the forty days of Demonic
temptations, Satan launched the last three attacks. Jesus had not eaten all
this time (Matthew 4:2; Luke 4:2) and must have been exhausted and desperately
hungry. Therefore, Satan’s first temptation was all about food: “The Devil
came and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, change these stones into
loaves of bread.’” (Matthew 4:3* and Luke 4:3*). The New King James Version
translation of the original Greek text is better: “Now when the tempter came
to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones
become bread’” (Matthew 4:3***).
The apostle Paul writes to the
Christians in Colossae (Turkey): “Christ is the one through whom God created
everything in heaven and earth” (Colossians 1:16*). Therefore, He did not
have to prove that He had the power to command stones to become bread. Yet,
Paul writes to the church in Philippi (Greece): “He (Christ) made Himself
nothing; He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form”
(Philippians 2:7*). He had come to lovingly serve His heavenly Father. That was
part of His Earthly ministry.
That’s
why Jesus resisted this temptation of Satan with the sword of the Spirit: “No!
The Scriptures say (Deuteronomy 8:3*), ‘People need more than bread for their
life; they must feed on every word of God’” (Matthew 4:4* and Luke 4:4*).
The New King James Version renders more correctly: “Jesus answered and said,
‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4***; Luke 4:4***).
Second example
The
second of these last three temptations began as follows: “Then the Devil
took Him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple...” (Matthew 4:5*;
Luke 4:9*). We don’t know how that happened. Was this during a vision, a
levitation or a real life experience? The original Greek text gives the
impression that the latter took place. The verb used here means ‘to take along
(as a companion)’. Was Jesus willing to follow Satan to the temple to be tested
according to His Father’s will?
Standing
together on the flat roof of the temple, Satan said to Jesus: “If you are
the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, He orders His angels to
protect you. And they will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking
your foot on a stone” (Matthew 4:6*).
This
second temptation develops as follows:
1.)
For the second time Satan questions Jesus’ authority by saying: “If you are
the Son of God”.
2.)
Besides, Satan invites Jesus to prove His divine Sonship.
3.)
Satan quotes the passage from Psalm 91:11-12 incorrectly and out of context. It
originally says: “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you
in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your
foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11-12***). Satan omits the words “in all
your ways.” This verse has been written as a comfort to God’s children on
their way through life and facing all possible dangers. Satan bends this verse
and misuses it as a means to invite Jesus to test God and prove His divine Sonship.
By jumping and being miraculously saved by angels, Jesus would manifest His
divinity in a spectacular way. However, He had come to earth as a humble
servant of His heavenly Father to suffer and die for the salvation of mankind.
Interestingly,
Jesus does not start a discussion with Satan about his false quotation of God’s
Word. He simply confronts this satanic deception by correctly quoting
Scripture, saying: “The Scriptures also say (Deuteronomy 6:16*), ‘Do not
test the Lord your God.’” (Matthew 4:7*; Luke 4:12*)
Third example
Matthew
writes that for the final of these three temptations, Satan takes Jesus to a
very high mountain: “Next the Devil took Him to the peak of a very high
mountain...” (Matthew 4:8*). Which mountain is so high that you can see all
the nations of the world? Did Satan show this picture to Jesus in a vision? We might
think of the prophet Ezekiel (7th century BC) who lived with the
Jewish exiles in Babylon. There he writes: “In a vision of God He (i.e. God)
took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain...” (Ezekiel
40:2*). Did the same happen to Jesus? We don’t know.
However,
more important is the way Jesus was tempted by Satan. Matthew writes: “...
(Satan) showed Him the nations of the world and all their glory” (Matthew
4:8*). Luke writes: “... (Satan) revealed to Him all the kingdoms of the
world in a moment of time” (Luke 4:5*). The actual temptation was about
power, yes even world dominion! Satan would give that to Jesus if He would acknowledge
him as supreme authority. Matthew writes: “‘I (Satan) will give it all to
You,’ he said, ‘if You will only kneel down and worship me’” (Matthew
4:9*). Luke writes: “... And he (Satan) said to Him (Jesus), ‘I will give
You all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me, and I can
give it to anyone I want to. So if You worship me, it will all be Yours’” (Luke
4:6-7**).
Jesus
says later in one of His discourses that “there is no truth in Satan. When
he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father
of lies” (John 8:44*). Also in this third temptation, Satan lies about his
pre-eminent authority. Everywhere in the Old Testament we are told that only God
is the King of all the earth. We only remember Psalm 47:2*: “The LORD Most
High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.”
Yet,
God’s Word is also clear about the fact that man’s rebellion against God has
brought him under Satan’s power. Jesus calls Satan “the prince of this
world” (John 12:31) and the apostle Paul points to Satan as “the god of
this evil world who has blinded the minds of those who don't believe” (2
Corinthians 4:4*). It is God’s rightful judgment that rebellious man has been
handed over to Satan’s dominion (see Romans 1:18-32). Therefore, Jesus came to
save mankind from this evil trap.
Jesus does not give in to Satan’s
lies and temptation. He wards Satan’s attack off with an authoritative command
and by quoting for the third time God’s Word again: “‘Get out of here,
Satan,’ Jesus told him. ‘For the Scriptures say, You must worship the Lord your
God; serve only Him’” (Matthew 4:10* and Luke 4:8; Deuteronomy 6:13 and
10:20).
This last round of temptations
results in Satan’s defeat. Matthew finishes the story by telling: “Then the
Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus” (Matthew 4:11*). Luke
ends his report by saying: “When the Devil had finished tempting Jesus, he
left Him until the next opportunity came” (Luke 4:13*).
What do we learn from Jesus’ example?
God did not only command us to receive the
sword of the Spirit from Him to ward off Satan’s attacks, He also gave us His
Son Jesus to show us how to encounter the Evil One. Here are some things we can
learn from Jesus’ confrontation with Satan:
1.)
First of all it is important to
know that God sometimes leads us (like Jesus) into direct confrontation with
Satan and his demonic powers to test our loyalty to Him and our divine strength
to protect Jesus’ life in us. I can think of the following texts:
---
“Remember how the LORD your God led you (Israel) through the wilderness for
forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find
out whether or not you would really obey His commands.” (Deuteronomy 8:2*)
--- “You must
not listen to the words of that (false) prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is
testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all
your soul.” (Deuteronomy 13:3**)
--- See also Job’s
story in the Old Testament Book of Job.
---
“Remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different
from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation
from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are
tempted, He will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” (1
Corinthians 10:13*)
---
“It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was
testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice
his only son, Isaac.” (Hebrews 11:17*)
--- “Consider
it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you
know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (James 1:2-2**)
--- “God
blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive
the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” (James
1:12*)
--- “So be
truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you
to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to
show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies
gold-- and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your
faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much
praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the
whole world.” (1 Peter 1:6-7*)
2.)
Like Jesus, we should know that
Satan never tells the truth. Jesus said: “He (Satan) was a murderer from the
beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he
lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of
lies” (John 8:44*). He might promise us the world but the end will only be ruin.
Think only of Adam’s fall (see Genesis 3). He might try to sow doubt into our
hearts about being God’s children, like “if you were a child of God, you would
not do such a thing.”
3.)
We should be aware that Satan
might transfigure himself as an angel of light when he fools us by believing
his false presentation of God’s truthful Word which results in leading us
astray while we delude ourselves that we are doing God’s will.
God warns us through the mouth of the
apostle Paul about this Satanic strategy when he writes to the Christians in
Corinth (Greece): “Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light”
(2 Corinthians 11:14*).
(2 Corinthians 11:14*).
Instead
of reasoning with Satan and ourselves, we should always fight off his
temptations (like Jesus) by proclaiming: “The Scriptures say” or “It
is written”. Needless to say, this declaration presupposes that we know
God’s Word, i.e. the Bible.
It
seems that nowadays many Christians in western society either don’t know the
Bible or don’t accept the full authority of God’s Word over their lives. The
obvious result is: the invasion of a secular worldview, a materialistic
lifestyle, a hedonistic attitude, sexually immoral conduct, etc. It seems that time and again Satan and his
demonic armies find inroads into Christian lives and churches. The apostle Paul
warned of this moral decline in Christian circles at the end of time. He writes
to one of his co-workers: “You should also know this, Timothy, that in the
last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only
themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God,
disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing
sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and
have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They
will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love
pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will
reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people
like that.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5*)
4.) Finally, when Jesus knew that His testing
time had come to an end, He commanded: “Get out of here, Satan!” With
divine authority, we might resist Satan in the same way as Jesus did when we
know that our testing time is over. I think of James’ appeal: “Humble
yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” (James
4:7*). The apostle Paul urges the Christians in Ephesus (Turkey): “Do not
give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:27**).
Last
but not least, I think of the warning words of the apostle Peter: “Be
careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls
around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm
stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian
brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of
suffering you are” (1 Peter 5:8-9*).
We
are not alone in our struggle against Satan and his Demonic army. Our Christian
brothers and sisters worldwide are standing in the same battle. We can learn
from their experiences as we all follow our Lord Jesus on the way to His messianic
kingdom.
Translations: * New Living
Translation; ** New International Version; *** New King James Version
About “Satan and our
rebellious lives”, see Meditations 19-21.
About “The Holy Spirit and His
ministry”, see Meditations 27-34.
About “God’s major project:
transforming me and my church into the likeness of Christ”, see Meditations
45-48.
About “Do not bring sorrow to God’s
Spirit”, see Meditations 49-55.
About “How to overcome
the power of sin in my life and in my church?” see Meditations 101-121.
About “Sexual
immorality: Divorce and Adultery”, see meditations 91-93.
About “Sexual
immorality: the Greek word ‘porneia’ (from which comes our word
pornography) as a New Testament definition of any kind of sexual sin”, see Meditation
94.
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