Go away, Satan! For it is written

Matthew 3:7-4:11 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance; ⁹ and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³ Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. ¹⁶ After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.

In today’s text it says:  Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”  Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,  and he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”  Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;  and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.  There are several very important principles for our own lives that we can learn from the temptation of Jesus. First is that temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted but did not sin. There is nothing for us to feel guilty about when we are tempted. It is only if we yield to the temptation that it is sin. James 1:14-15 says: Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.   James 4:7-8 says: Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you.  When temptation comes, we should not try to resist it on our own. Instead, we should resist the devil by drawing near and submitting to God. The devil will flee in the presence of God.

We also see that Jesus temptation came after a time of fasting for forty days. The devil knew that after fasting Jesus would be hungry, so that was the first temptation. What the devil did know was that while fasting might make someone physically weaker, it makes them spiritually stronger. We don’t fast to get God’s attention. We fast to give Him our attention. In Psalm 37:3-4 the psalmist says: Trust in the Lord and do good; Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  When we delight in the Lord, focusing on Him, our faith increases. It is more than that we get the things we want. It is that He Himself becomes our hearts desire. When we have God, what could possibly tempt us?

Next, we see that the devil’s temptation began by saying: If you are the Son of God.   “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”  Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  It is always a tactic of the devil to try to get us to question the word of God, to take away from or add to what He said. That’s how he deceived Eve in the garden and it’s how he deceives many people to this day. Jesus responded to the devil’s temptation with the truth of God’s word. It is vital that we know what God has said for us to resist the deception of the devil. We need to know what God says, not what someone else says He said. We see also that just before Jesus was tempted, when He was baptized, the text says: After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  How futile of the devil to say if you are the Son of God, when Jesus heard the Father say: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  We too can hear the words of the Father if we will go to His presence. Hebrews 4:15-16 says: We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.

Finally, as he did with Jesus, the devil will try to offer us a different path to our destiny. Like Jesus, the devil cannot give us what is already ours. Like Jesus, we need to say: “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”   In Isaiah 55:8-9 says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.” In Jeremiah 29:11, God says: I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I will trust in Your word. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, both in and through my life. Amen.