How to survive Satan’s Attacks
Luke 4:1-13
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.’” 5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 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. 7 “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘aYOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”
9 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.’” 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” 13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
I had a great uncle that when he turned 80 years old, he never left his apartment until he died. He lived in that apartment with his wife for five additional years. He lived in the Bronx, which is in New York City, and was not the safest place to be living in the 1980s for a person of Jewish descent. He felt that evil was out there in the world, and it would eventually manifest itself in his death. Today I wonder if he had understood the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the works of Jesus Christ that might’ve made a difference to him.
I want you to be careful about what I just said because evil is out there in the world, and we must be on our guard for it. Even though you are believers in Jesus Christ, our enemy Satan is still out there in the world, infecting people. One thing we must be very careful about is not to be infected. One could say that Satan's power has infected us like a pandemic since Adam and Eve were placed in the garden of Eden and will continue to infect us until the end of time.
This narrative about Jesus’ temptation in the desert refers to three theological points: (1) the nature of evil; (2) the power of temptation; (3) the nature of Christ. The nature of evil is doing anything which is contrary to the Word and Will of the LORD. It’s like having two angels on your shoulders. The good angel is on the right shoulder and the evil angel is on the left shoulder. Every time the good angel directs you to do something good, the evil angel tells you how absurd it is to do and suggests something else which may sound good but is pure evil. Evil clothes itself in good and we must recognize this and beware not to fall into the trap of evil. Committing sin can make us feel good. Getting away with something that we shouldn’t get away with can make us feel like we have power. The power is false and eventually the act of evil will come back to haunt. Through faith in Christ that sin is removed from our soul by our prayers.
The power of temptation is strong, especially for humans. Jesus was in a weakened state when Satan approached Him. The temptation to get food after forty days must have been strong. Yet Jesus resisted with all his might. Satan did not win. For us today, temptation comes in many forms. Peer pressure exists at all ages and can become a powerful force pushing us to do evil. We must learn from Jesus that those who place their faith and trust in Him will find the inner strength from the Holy Spirit to fight temptation.
What we learn about Christ from the narrative is that even in a human form, Jesus never forgot who He was. Jesus could not fight and defeat the forces of Satan if he had given into him. Jesus always remained loyal to the mission that God sent Him on. If we become 100% dedicated to the mission of Christ, we will develop a “shield” against the forces of evil in the world.
Tests, tests and more tests are a theme that flows through the Scriptures. Why these tests? Possibly, God allows these tests to help strengthen our hearts. We can see tests in the earliest stories in the book of Genesis. The LORD tested Noah to see if he would follow. Abraham received plenty of tests from God. Each test was an opportunity for spiritual growth. God allows tests for us to help us grow in our faith and devotion to God.
Jesus had the Holy Spirit with Him while He was in the Wilderness. You and I have the Holy Spirit with us. Every time Satan tosses a test at us, we must turn to God through the Holy Spirit to lead us away from the temptation and evil. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must learn to keep Jesus in our heart throughout all circumstances.
We cannot insulate ourselves from the troubles of the world, but we can keep our divine shield by following Jesus and reading the Word of God daily.
Satan will not attack you until you are at a low point in your life. Regardless of whether the low point is caused by physical health or broken relationships, Satan will wait for the best time to attack you. From the narrative, we understand Satan waited until Jesus was physically drained from the forty-day fast. It is when you are not expecting Satan to appear that He does.
Satan tried three different ways to sway Jesus to abandon God. We must take care that Satan will come to us when we are at a low point and try to convince us that God has abandoned us. Why did God let Jesus fast in the desert for forty days? Why did God allow you to feel you were traveling alone when Satan attacks? This is a perception on our part. God will never abandon the truly faithful. If you cannot feel God’s love and grace with you, then you must do whatever it takes to feel His love, in other words you are preventing God’s love and grace from shining through you.
The second way Satan tries to gain our love is by flat out lying to us. Satan did not own the kingdoms of the Earth. Since he did not own it, how could he possibly give it away? That’s the lie. Satan will offer all kinds of gifts to gain our favor. We must be able to see through the lies and not move away from God because of something Satan cannot give us.
The last temptation was for Jesus to test God. Having faith in God is having faith in the promises of God. We are told through the Scriptures that God will always be there for us. Satan wants to build doubt in your mind so that he can take you away from God. Trusting in God does not mean that you test God. To test God is to say you have doubts or that you do not believe in God. For those who put God to the test need to know that it is Satan that is driving this doubt.
One must continue to have faith and trust in God, no matter what life throws. A faithful discipleship to Jesus Christ can overcome everything.
Too many Christians believe that just being baptized is enough to fight off evil. There is much more needed to combat Satan. Just like Jesus, we must be prepared to face the forces of evil that prevail in our world. How do we do this? Our example is Jesus in the wilderness. We call upon and rely upon the Holy Spirit to guide us and to bring us out of temptation when it happens.
