There was this young boy named Alexander who wanted a baseball bat more than anything else in the whole world. He started saving all of his change to go toward that baseball bat, but every afternoon, the ice cream truck would come down the street, and he couldn’t resist. So, one night as he prayed before bed, he said, “Lord, please help me to save my money for that baseball bat, and please keep that ice cream truck off my street.”
Certainly you know how that little boy felt. All of us have to face temptation on a frequent basis. C. S. Lewis provided a great service to the
Indeed, temptation is universal, and we learn its evil through our repeated failures to conquer it. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man,” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Common to man, he said. The temptations that you face on a regular basis may not be of the same matter, but they are of the same nature and same intensity as those faced by the one sitting to your left, or right, or in front of or behind you, or the one standing in the pulpit before you. And we ought to take courage in the fact that they are of the same nature and intensity as those faced by Jesus Christ Himself. Hebrews 4:15 reminds us that He was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” He went out into the wilderness to undergo 40 days of severe and intense testing, but He did not falter. He overcame these and every other temptation He ever faced. And as we look at the biblical narrative of His temptation, we will see several important truths that will fortify us in our own struggle against temptation as well. Time will only permit us to look at one element of this today, and we will look at two more truths next time.
I. Jesus was tempted by Satan (v13a)
Satan hates God and is out to make war with Him. But Satan cannot strike God directly. Instead, he attacks Him indirectly by persuading those whom God loves to disobey Him. This was the case when he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, it was the case when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, and it is the case when he tempts you and me to turn away from God and choose sin over righteousness. First Peter 5:8 rightly identifies the devil as our enemy, and tells us that he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Jesus had warned Peter that Satan desired to sift him like wheat. Jesus referred to Satan as a thief who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. In contrast Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.” If it is true that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, then the converse would be that Satan hates you and desires to devour and destroy you. And he seeks to do this at opportune times through opportune tactics.
A. Temptation strikes at opportune times.
In Luke 4:13, Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness concludes by saying, “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.” This tells us that there are certain times in our lives when we are more subject to falling prey to him. We learn from Jesus’ temptation that one of his most opportune times is in the wake of great spiritual high-points.
Notice in v12 of Mark 1 the use of the word immediately. This word is characteristic of Mark. He uses it more than 40 times in his gospel, this being the second (the first was in v10). Immediately is used in v12 to indicate the temporal proximity of this temptation with the events that preceded it. And what preceded it? The baptism of Jesus, at which time, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form as a dove, and the Father declared from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” There was no time to linger in the glory of baptism.[1] Satanic temptation took place immediately.
Jesus taught His followers that the servants are no greater than the Master, the students no greater than their Teacher, and if this was the case for Jesus, it will be the case for you and I as well. Whenever we come to a moment of great spiritual blessing, we must be on alert, for certainly it is just such moments that Satan considers opportune for temptation.
Years after his Screwtape Letters was completed, C. S. Lewis revisited his fictional demonic character in a brief piece entitled “Screwtape Proposes A Toast.” The scene was “in hell at the annual dinner of the Tempter’s
Peter boldly confessed in Mark 8:29 that Jesus was the Christ. But just four verses later, he began to rebuke the Lord, causing Jesus to say, “Get behind Me Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God 's interests, but man's" (Mk 8:33). A great spiritual high-point, followed by a humbling Satanic attack. The Apostle Paul certainly found this to be true as well. In 2 Corinthians 12, he described the surpassing glory of a direct revelation given to him from the Lord. But he said, “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (2 Cor 12:7). A great spiritual high-point, followed by a humbling Satanic attack.
We long for moments of spiritual ecstasy. And praise God, He grants them on a more frequent basis than we deserve. But our basking in those glories can take our eyes off of the continuing battle between God and Satan, and in those times, Satan finds opportune times to tempt us to deny the very God in whom we exulted just moments before. So we must learn this lesson from the temptation of Jesus concerning the opportune times of Satan’s temptations.
B. Temptation strikes through opportune tactics.
In Ephesians 6:10-11, Paul admonishes the Christian to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might, and to put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. The Greek word translated schemes in that passage is the word methodeia—you can see how we get our word method from this. It is a word that means “to treat methodically,” or “to handle according to plan.”[3] Satan has a plan, he has a method, a modus operandi, and we are not ignorant of his schemes, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:11.
Mark does not go into detail about the specific temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness, but as G. Campbell Morgan said, “we are not wronging the Gospel story if we assume that the temptations of the forty days were along the lines revealed by Matthew and Luke.”[4] Those gospels tell of three specific temptations that Jesus endured during his forty days in the wilderness. Morgan says, “In those stories we have an exhaustive picture of every avenue which evil can approach Mansoul. Temptation today seems very varied, but it may always be classified under one of these headings.”[5] What are these “headings”? First John 2:16 says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” I suggest to you that these are the three categories of temptation that we all must face. Turn to Luke 4 and see how Satan tempted Jesus in these ways.
· Luke 4:3 -- And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
This is the lust of the flesh – appealing to our natural desires and urging us to seek their satisfaction in inappropriate ways. What did Satan use to tempt Eve in the garden? A fruit. And what did she notice first about that fruit when she saw it? Genesis 3:6 says that she saw that it was good for food. What is wrong with food? Does it not satisfy a natural desire? But the food she saw was forbidden. And it is never right to satisfy a natural desire through forbidden means.
It would not have been wrong for Jesus to eat in the wilderness, but it would have been inappropriate for Him to exercise His divine power for the satisfaction of His own natural desires.
Jesus responded to Satan by citing Deuteronomy 8:3: It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone.” Luke only records that portion of Jesus’ response, but Matthew gives us the whole statement: It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.' " Quite simply, Jesus employs this passage to indicate that our obedience to the word and will of God is more important than the satisfaction of our natural desires. You and I have natural desires. God has placed restrictions on how we might satisfy those desires. The desire itself is not necessarily wrong, but when we seek to satisfy it in ways that God has forbidden, then we have succumbed to the lust of the flesh.
· Luke 4:5-7 – And he [the devil] led Him [Jesus] up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours."
This is the lust of the eye. Satan parades something desirable before our eyes to see if we will act sinfully to obtain it. Do you remember the second thing Eve observed about the fruit? It was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, the Bible says. It wasn’t just that she thought it would satisfy her hunger – it was beautiful. It appealed to her visually. But this was not the only beautiful thing in the garden. It was full of wonderful flora and fauna, all at mankind’s disposal. And additionally, God Himself walked in their midst in the beauty of His holiness. And by allowing the temptation before her eyes to guide her, rather than the dictates of God’s commands, she forfeited her access to all the other beauty God created for her enjoyment.
It was not wrong for Jesus to desire dominion over all the kingdoms of the world. He will have full dominion over them in God’s perfect time. The chorus of Revelation is that the Kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. But if in that moment of temptation, He had yielded to the lust of the eye, He would have forfeited His divine claim to those kingdoms by submitting Himself to Satan’s service instead of the Father’s.
Jesus responded to Satan’s temptation by saying, "It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Our allegiance to God takes priority over anything that appeals to our eyes. There is nothing wrong with beauty. Thank God for beauty. When something appeals to our eye, or to our other senses, we deem it as beautiful and desirable. But we must not disobey God in order to take hold of that which our eye beholds as beautiful. We do not serve our eyes or our appetites. We serve God and worship Him alone. Anything that threatens our devotion to Him must be resisted as a temptation to sin.
· Luke 4:9-11 -- And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10 for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,' 11 and, 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.' "
This is the pride of life. Satan is tempting Jesus to put on a public spectacle to draw attention to Himself and to test the promises of God to see if they are true. You recall the third thing that Eve noticed about the fruit in the garden? It was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and it was desirable to make one wise. This appealed to her pride as temptation always does.
In tempting Jesus, Satan made his own appeal to Scripture – to Psalm 91. Did you know that Satan can quote Scripture? He can, and just like he did with Eve in the garden, he can use it to trip you up. But he couldn’t trip Jesus with it. Here, he met the author of Scripture. Jesus knew full well that Psalm 91 was not an invitation to draw attention to oneself, or to make God prove His promises.
Jesus responded to this temptation by saying, “It is said, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" Jesus did not need to draw attention to Himself. And He did not need to prove the promises of God. He was secure in His mission and in the love and care of His Father. You and I are prone to satanic attack in the area of our pride. We want to be made much of, and Satan knows it. So he will often bring us to the place of personal exaltation to see if we will follow his example in trying to elevate ourselves above God. But God’s way is that the one who exalts himself will be humbled, but God will exalt the one who humbles himself.
So these are Satan’s tactics. This is his modus operandi. He appeals to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. And he has been doing this since the beginning of time in the garden. And his timing is opportune in that he brings this temptation our way, often but not always, in the wake of great spiritual high-points.
If you were the coach of a football team, preparing to take the field against a stronger and more experienced team, you might feel very intimidated. How will you plan your offensive attack? How will you defend against theirs? If only somehow you could study the opposition’s playbook, then you would know exactly how you should operate on the field.
Well, friends, spiritual warfare is not a game. Satan isn’t out to win an athletic championship. He is out to strike the heart of God by destroying the lives of those whom God loves. He is a skilled and experienced adversary. But through the Word of God, we have been given a glimpse at his playbook. And this ought to do much to fortify us in our own battle with temptation. Knowing that there are certain times when temptation is more opportune than others ought to cause us to walk circumspectly in those occasions. We know that one of those times is immediately following spiritual victories. Perhaps as you examine your own life, you notice other times as well. Times of loneliness, stress, fatigue, or other seasons of life may stand out in your mind as times when temptations are more intense or more frequent. Knowing those times ought to help you know when you need to rely the most on the strength and power of God.
And knowing Satan’s tactics – his appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life – ought to fortify us against such attacks and help us know how to defend ourselves against him. This we know: Paul said in Ephesians 6:17 that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and Jesus demonstrated how to employ that sword in each of the temptations he faced. Each time Satan tempted Him, He responded with the Word of God modeling for us the necessity to be absolutely dependent upon God’s strength and His word in the face of temptation.
Every one of us faces temptation on a regular basis. But if we understand our adversary, his timing and his tactics, we can have victory. We have all suffered defeat on many occasions. All of us have succumbed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But the grace of God invites us to return to Him to find grace and forgiveness. Jesus Christ overcame His temptation so that He could go to the cross as the sinless sacrificial lamb who would lay down His life as a substitute, dying in our place for our sins.
[1] James Edwards, Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to Mark, 39.
[2] C. S. Lewis, “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” in The Screwtape Letters: Also Includes “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), 128; Also found in Lewis, The World’s Last Night and Other Essays (San Diego: Harcourt, 1973), 70.
[3] Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged in One Volume) [abr. by Geoffrey Bromiley], 672.
[4] Morgan, The Gospel According to Mark, 25.
[5] Ibid.
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