Temptation

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 and 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 angels came and took care of Jesus. (Matthew 4:1-11)

The Devil believes the Bible and takes it seriously. That’s why, when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, most of his temptations came with biblical citations. Satan imagined that Jesus would have to do what he said, since it was biblical.

Satan’s temptations were subtle lies, the consequence of his selective misreading and misunderstanding of the Bible. Satan, like many people, ignored the context of the passages he quoted. He went to the Bible looking for phrases to bolster his point of view. He imposed his agenda on the text, rather than looking for God’s agenda.

Jesus responded to Satan by quoting the Bible back to him, challenging the Devil’s misunderstandings. Jesus was not willing to search the Bible to find a passage that would justify what he wanted to do. Instead, Jesus knew the Bible as a whole and then did what the Bible wanted him to do. It was easy for Jesus to see through Satan’s lies.

Because Satan took the Bible seriously, Jesus’ scriptural responses shut him down. Jesus’ success against the Devil demonstrated that knowing the Bible well is the best shield against temptation. Jesus demonstrated that Satan’s lies can be overcome.

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