Come At Me, Satan

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,“‘Man shall 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 and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him."- Matthew 4:1-11

I love this passage of scripture. Here, we see a side of Jesus that shows us he is indeed fully human on top of being fully God. It says that Jesus was in the desert for 40 days, fasting and praying, and at the end of the time period, he was hungry. It was here that Satan decides to make his move. It is important to note that Satan did not strike when  Jesus first entered the desert, but as he was preparing to come out of it. As long as we are in the desert, Satan has no problem with us staying there. It is only when we are getting ready to get back into God's paradise that he gets scared. So, Satan comes up to Jesus and tries to tempt his human side. "You're hungry, make food and quench your hunger. There is nothing wrong with a little bread right? Of course not. God wouldn't mind if you use your spiritual gifts to satisfy yourself. You haven't eaten for 40 days and you deserve this." Luckily for us, Jesus was prepared for this despite his grumbling stomach. "It is written,'Man shall not live by bread alone'" Twice more, Satan tries to tempt him, and again Jesus refutes him with scripture. Finally, Jesus sends him away and Jesus left to begin his ministry. I find it cool that the chapter immediately following this story is the Sermon on the mount, one of the most popular passages to preach in church. Satan knew something was about to begin as soon as Jesus was born, and he knew he would be defeated if he did nothing to stop Jesus from starting his ministry. Fortunately for us, Jesus has already defeated Satan and nothing he can do will stop us, but we have to do our part. Jesus was able to stand against the devil's attacks because he not only read the scriptures, he knew personally the one who inspired men to write it. He had the word hidden in his heart ready to pull it out when the moment arose. Each of us have our own "sermon on the mount" inside of us that is waiting for the right time to come out. Before that happens, Satan is going to throw everything in his arsenal to try and take you down. Stand firm and trust in the Lord with everything. Rely on his truth and he will help you refute Satan's lies.

Adam Semple- A Young Man On A Mission From God

*photo credit- Crosswalk Blog