Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ was tempted by the Devil during the forty days and nights he spent in the wilderness of Judaea, fasting, praying, and keeping the evil one at bay.
Finally, making no headway, the Devil resorted to, what he thought was, his 100% guaranteed, fail-proof temptations, that had always floored mankind before – greed for money, greed for power, and a desperate need to feed one’s ego.
But, to each temptation that the Devil laid out before him, Jesus countered with the only thing that could defeat the evil one’s design – the Word of God, as enshrined in the Scriptures.
When the Devil said to him, “If you are God’s Son, order this stone to turn into bread,” Jesus responded with, “The scripture says, ‘Man cannot live on bread alone.'” (Lk 4: 3 – 4)
Jesus was referring to the lesson God taught the Israelite’s fleeing from Egypt, how not to depend on bread alone, but on obeying God’s laws first (Deut 8: 3)
Yet, mankind has not learned this lesson till today. The Devil is having a field day making us hunger for money, wealth, material things like big houses, latest cars and gadgets, expensive holidays, etc., while hunger for spiritual things hardly cross our minds.
Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world. “I will give you all this power and all this wealth,” the Devil told him. “It has been handed over to me, and I will give it to anyone I choose. All this will be yours, then, if you worship me.” (Lk 4: 5 – 7)
Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!'” (Lk 4: 8)
The message is clear. Our God is a very jealous God, and will not tolerate any other gods put before him. Yet, mankind continues seeking power by using any means possible, including worship of other gods, in various forms, that promise this power.
Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down from here.” (Lk 4: 9)
The Devil now showed his desperation by resorting to scripture to confuse Jesus into giving in to his evil designs. He said, “God will order his angels to take good care of you.” Scripture also says, “They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.” (Lk 4: 9 – 11)
The Devil was clearly trying to pump up Jesus’ ego but a Spirit-filled Jesus was very clear in his answer: “The scripture says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Lk 4: 12)
Two thousand years down the line nothing has changed. Mankind is still feeding their bloated, king-size egos, while the Devil is still going around trying to confuse the children of God, by twisting and misinterpreting the scriptures.
All we see and hear is I, me, or mine, from people trying to be big on a small planet called Earth.
With all the technological advancement, and with all the progress in all spheres of human endeavor, man himself still remains the weakest link in the battle with temptation.
Because mankind has forgotten the secret Jesus Christ used successfully to combat the Devil in the wilderness of Judea – the Word of God!
