Joel M Bradshaw

11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.–Matthew 4

This famous passage is less about things to do when you are tempted and more about who to turn to.

Satan tempted Jesus with IF statements, questioning who Jesus was and eternally is. Though Satan attacked, he was not able to land a blow on Jesus. The reality is that Satan is not Jesus’ equal. Though tempted, Jesus did not sin. Satan questioned who Jesus is and Jesus showed who he is. Therefore the devil simply left. The rest of the Gospels, demons don’t push back or say no to the authority of Jesus. They all submit, every time.

The point here is not that if I quote Scripture at the devil I will win. We might picture ourselves with the Sword of the Spirit from the armor of God and having a grand sword fight duel with the devil. No.

The point here clearly is that Jesus is God. Jesus revealed to Satan who he was dealing with. So when both John and Jesus said REPENT for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, they mean it. Jesus is God. Satan was ultimately powerless against Jesus.

On the cross, Jesus would fully and finally win the war against Satan, but I argue that Satan knew his defeat in this chapter today. When you are tempted, there is a place for biblical self-talk. My focus this year is to tell myself to ‘take captive selfish thoughts and submit them to Christ’ from 2 Corinthians 10:5. Biblical self-talk is what changes the matter for people with depression.

But the point of this passage is that the answer to temptation is to run to Jesus. Repenting is turning from self and turning to Jesus. Jesus is God. In the midst of temptation, he won. So we turn to and depend upon Jesus. We fight in his power and stand firm in his victory.

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

The Devil’s reality is defeat by Jesus. Therefore, in temptation don’t focus on the fight as if you can defeat the Devil, stand firm in Jesus, who already has.–JMB