When Jesus entered the wilderness, He entered into a land that was basically a desert. The temperature in the region was tropical in nature and barren of any real vegetation except for the few trees and shrubs that bordered the Jordan River. For the most part the population was poor, sparse, and destitute of the culture that reigned in Jerusalem but was home to many wild creatures such as vipers, porcupines, jackals, wild boars, ibexes, and panthers.
Jesus was led to by the Holy Spirit, according to tradition, to a mountain top north of Jericho, about a two hours journey from where He was baptized by John. For forty days He fasted and communed with the Father in prayer. But during those days He was also put to the test by Satan in the form of temptation.
The season of Lent is designed to remind us of those forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness. It is not only a time of prayer and reflection, but a time of repentance, which means we will be challenge by temptation.
When it comes to temptation the most important thing that we should understand is that God is not the source of enticing us to sin. The Apostle James clearly condemns this type of attitude; “Let no man say when he is tempted “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13).
So where does the source of our temptation originate? Believe it or not, the temptations that each one of us faces are tailor made to cater to our individual desires. In other words, they originate within ourselves: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed” (vs. 14).
People today don’t like to here or believe that Satan and his horde of fallen angels have anything to do with our sin but they do. They know how to arouse our inner desires and will exploit them in their attempt to lure us away from God. They know that “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (vs.15).
In order not to be ensnared by the enemies tricks it becomes extremely important to we avoid those things, places or people where we knowingly will face temptation. It is also important that we engage in prayer so we might not fall into temptation just as Jesus advised His disciples to do on the Mount of Olives on the night He was betrayed (Luke 22:40). Another valuable tool in overcoming temptation is the use of Scripture: “Thy Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalms 119:11). And it was Scripture that Jesus used when He resisted Satan's temptations in the wilderness.
In order for us to fully comprehend how the enemy uses our inward desires against us and how we can overcome those enticements we can look at Christ’s experience in the wilderness.
Satan knew that Jesus was hungry at the end of His forty day fast so He used it as an attempt to entice Him to sin: “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Deut. 8:3).
Having failed in his first attempt Satan took Jesus up to the Holy City and sat Him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over you, and, in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11-12). To which Jesus replied, “It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Deut. 6:16).
Then Satan took Jesus up on a very high mountain top and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and then said to Him, “All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus answered him, saying, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve” (Deut. 6:13).
Many times in my own life I have focused on the fact that Christ Jesus may have been tempted and easily resisted because He was Divinity in human form and God cannot sin. But that point of view is completely wrong. Scripture reveals unto us that Christ Jesus was tempted just like we are, and even suffered because of those temptations, but yet did not sin (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15-16). Christ therefore can sympathize with us during our times of temptation. He knows the pressure we experience and therefore provides us with these comforting words from St. Paul: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it” (I Corinthians 10:13).
While no two people are exactly alike, the temptations confronting each of us are basically the same as those that confront others. Therefore we can help and learn from one another. But keep in mind that God makes no promise to help anyone overcome temptation until one repents of his or her sin. To repent means to confess our sin and then turn from it. It means going forth in life to no longer commit intentional habitual sin.
It is important to remember that breaking sinful habits take commitment and great effort on our part. That God does not look for perfection, merely obedience. He knows we will stumble and fall at times, but will be there to pick us up when we do.
May The Peace of Christ Be With You
After he was baptized in the Jordan by John Jesus set off on a forty day journey into the wilderness where he stayed among the wild beasts and was tempted by the devil. Jesus’ encounter with Satan wasn’t merely a metaphor but an encounter with a real individual.
Many people today, even those who profess to be Christians, have a tendency to downplay, even deny, Satan’s existence. Although they will admit that evil exists in the world, they refuse to believe that one who is known as the devil or Satan is a real individual. Most of this disbelief can be attributed to the way that Satan has been depicted over the centuries.
Satan isn’t some red guy in a suit with a pointed tail and pitchfork but a fallen angel that was created by God after the order of angels which means when he was created he wasn’t the evil one that he has become (Psalm 148:2,5; Colossians 1:16; Ezekiel 28:12-15).
During this season of Lent I believe it is important to stop for a moment and reflect on the enemy of God so that we may know who we are dealing with in our own wilderness journey.
Satan is a positive character; meaning he wears disguises and his objectives lie in only one direction. He is no doubt two-faced but never doubly minded, undecided, vague, or feeble in his purpose, desire, or ends. There has never been any irresolution, hesitancy, or aimless action undertaken by him in his war against God. Satan has character and character is felt. He is not merely an influence as so many want to claim. Christ Jesus didn’t deal with mere influences when He encountered demon-possessed people. In dealing with them Christ made a clear distinction between the human personality who was possessed and the personality of the demon who possessed them. In his view they were two distinct individuals and they were personal beings. Christ both spoke and commanded them as individuals—real living deities. And in turn they professed to know Him, confessed His divinity, bowed to His authority, and unwillingly obeyed His commands.
Satan is a master chameleon as well as deceiver. He can become any color or thing that he needs to become in order to pull off the lie. Since he is angelic, he is not limited by space and time, flesh and blood, such as we are and therefore we cannot compete or outsmart him. Satan possesses and wields great power but his power and authority is limited and control by God. This power however is greater than we alone can exercise.
Satan’s greatest desire’s is to be worshipped by all of humanity and therefore goes to great lengths in his attempts to achieve this goal. He is constantly grooming diabolical helpers along the way; many of these are of human origin. He is capable of appearing as an “angel of light” and therefore has his own false version of Christianity. He has his own phony doctrine (1Timothy 4:1), counterfeit communion table (1Corinthians 10:21), counterfeit spirituality (Galatians 3:2-3), based upon a counterfeit gospel (Galatians 1:11-12), his own synagogue (Revelation 3:9), his own dwelling place and throne (Revelation 2:13), and finally, his own false apostles, deceitful workers, false ministers, and false prophetesses (2 Corinthians 11:13,15; Revelation 2:20).
Satan’s human helpers are transformed into ministers of righteousness; propagating doctrines of death and destruction that are so subtle they go for the most part unnoticed. Some of these doctrines have been introduced slowly, slyly, in a way not to shock or alarm anyone and some have been around for decades, even centuries. These false workers of righteousness claim their doctrines come from the God of light; but in reality they are spiritual cyanide. It is extremely difficult for many professing Christians to believe that Satan can use a preacher, evangelist, deacon, priest, or other clergy. That by what they proclaim they become a tool of Satan; for they proclaim another gospel, a gospel different than the truth presented by Paul or the other apostles concerning the truth of Christ Jesus. Yet, this can be and is the case in many areas of Christianity.
Satan is a prince (Ephesians 2:2; John 12:31; Luke 11:14-23), the god of this age (2Corinthians 4:4), who commands a great army composed of both spiritual and fleshly forces. Those of flesh and blood help him advance his kingdom by working knowingly or unknowingly on his behalf—these individuals are not evil, they merely do evil. These are the ones scripture refers to as “the sons of the wicked one” (Matthew 13:38), “ministers of Satan” (2Corinthians 11:5), and “children of the devil” (1John 3:10). The ranks of his spiritual forces clearly outlined in Ephesians 6:12 are the forces he utilizes to gather information and implement his will. Through both his demonic followers and his human agents his will is implemented through a system of thought known as the world. The “world” in this context is a way of thinking that dominates the life of humanity.
Last but not least is the fact that Satan and his unseen forces posses great powers and are capable of assuming visible form (Matthew 4; Luke 4); cause blindness (Matthew 12:22); paralysis (Acts 8:7); convulsions (Luke 9:39); induce self-destructive or bizarre behavior (Luke 8:27; Matthew 7:15); compel animals to destroy themselves (Matthew 8:28-34); create powerful illusions (Exodus 7:11-12); and perform signs and wonders (Matthew 24:24; 2Thessalonians 2:9). These demonic spirits have the power and capability to directly influence our health, moods, imaginations, and thoughts. And no one is beyond his sphere of influence for he managed to infiltrate the sacred circle of Christ’s apostles. He caused St. Peter to stagger (Luke 22:31-32), and then possessed Judas Iscariot moving him to betray Christ and finally commit suicide. Therefore no one should make the mistake of minimizing Satan’s power or deny the reality of his kingdom of evil. However one must also avoid the error of giving into despair—he cannot go beyond the limits imposed upon him by God.
May The Peace of Christ Be With You
