What reasons did Jesus have for following Satan’s suggestions? What reasons did he have to say no?
Reference: Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12–13, and Luke 4:1–13.
Temptations test our strengths and vulnerabilities. Jesus confronted Satan face-to-face in three crucial areas of opportunity. Each time, Jesus denied what was easiest and immediately beneficial. Why? Let’s look at how he won his battles, because the same approach will work for us.
Temptations Are Real Enticements
We should never make the mistake of visualizing Satan as the horned red monster so commonly pictured in movies. He doesn’t identify himself as a roaring lion, either. Yes, he is seeking whom he might devour, but he presents himself as a caring helper, not as one who would ever want to harm us. The apostle Paul said he appears as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), which helps explain how he could deceive a third of the heavenly host (Revelation 12:3–4).
Visualize Jesus and Satan like two of the very best chess masters. Heaven had once been Satan’s home, and he recognized Jesus as the Son of God. He knew Jesus had grown in wisdom and sature and favor with God and man. Any move he made to tempt Jesus would have to be true, realistic, and desirable. After an infusion of God’s presence at baptism, Jesus knew who Satan was. Any move Satan made should be questioned, because it probably had a less-than-obvious intention.
That’s the way the game was being played.
Physical Temptation: Turn Stones to Bread
Led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus spent the next forty days in fasting, maybe similar to the times Moses spent with God on Mount Sinai, without food or water. Any interaction between Jesus and Satan during that time would have been on the conversational level, as if they were friends talking to each other. Satan was smart enough not to make a “helpful” suggestion about food until after the fast was over.
Now, the forty days have passed, so nothing would be wrong with Jesus eating bread. Satan knew Jesus could take stones and turn them into bread, and Jesus knew, as well. Otherwise, the temptation isn’t real. I don’t think Satan was questioning whether Jesus was the Son of God. He was saying that since he was, he should turn the stones into bread and regain his strength.
Satan’s temptation was valid because there was nothing wrong with making stones out of bread. Except for one thing: Jesus wasn’t taking orders from Satan, and the Holy Spirit hadn’t directed him.
Jesus was totally surrendered to the Father’s will, so the answer was no.
Emotional Temptation: Relationship with the Heavenly Host
Satan hadn’t enticed Jesus to self-service on the physical level, but what about the emotional? What emotional need might Jesus have wanted to satisfy? At first glance, Satan seems to be saying that Jesus should take a flying leap off into the abyss, which sounds worse than absurd. It’s downright stupid. Who would ever feel tempted to do that?
Jesus knew the truth of what Satan suggested. After forty days of fasting, Jesus was even more aware of his relationship with the heavenly host. If he jumped, a host of angels would be with him long before his feet reached the ground. We might think Jesus, as the Son of God, was immune from any feeling of loneliness. If so, we would be wrong. Years later, he prayed for God to restore the glory he once had, before he came to Earth (John 17:5).
The temptation was real. Good move, Satan, for telling Jesus he was in control and could seek satisfaction wherever he wanted. How easily we are caught in that trap. To use two terrible clichés, Jesus knew where his bread was buttered and didn’t want to bite the hand that fed him. No way. He refused to take control and tempt God.
Jesus was totally surrendered to the Father’s will, so the answer was no. Again.
Spiritual Temptation: Fulfillment of Purpose
Finally, Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. If he couldn’t appeal to Jesus with physical or emotional enticements, how about immediate satisfaction of Jesus’ purpose on Earth. Satan couldn’t have known the whole plan, or Jesus wouldn’t have been crucified. But he must have known that God didn’t want anybody to perish (2 Peter 3:9), and with Satan’s offer, everybody on Earth could be saved, not later but now, without all the pain and suffering.
Because God was the source of his spiritual DNA, not Joseph, Jesus could never bow to Satan. It wasn’t in his nature. He was totally surrendered to fulfill God’s plan for salvation, so the answer was no. For the third and final time. He would pay whatever the cost was, even his own life.
Jesus was totally surrendered to the Father’s will, so the answer was no. Yet again.
Saying Yes to God
Whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, our defense against Satan’s offer to help us is always the same. We experience victory by total submission to what God wants. We deny anything we want that would damage our relationship with him.
If our flesh is in control, as it was with Adam and Eve and most of their descendants, we’ll most likely surrender to the “wonderful” opportunities for short-term gratification. But if we know God well enough to appreciate the Giver more than his gifts, then we will choose against short-lived pleasures, knowing that our eternal reward is so much more valuable. We must reject anything that might damage our relationship with him.
When we are totally surrendered to our Father’s will, the answer is always no to Satan’s offers.
Let me make this perfectly clear: if you listen to God’s Spirit within, you will seek to please him and to benefit others, not to satisfy your selfish desires. Completely surrender your will to whatever God wants. Then your resistance to the devil is an absolute no, and he has no reason to hang around. — Galatians 5:16; James 4:7 The Discussion Bible
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