Lent 2024

I’ve written about the temptations of Jesus before, in a post from 12th March 2019. In the former post, I focused on the three times Jesus was led in the passage, the first was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the desert. The other two were the devil that led Jesus: Jesus allowed this.

Well, well, well! Let’s talk about how this whole situation shakes things up for Jesus, wearing both his divine and human hats.

If you’d rather indulge in the previous post than this one, I won’t be offended. I’d love for you to read both, but if time is not on your side, then it’s your call.

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple ⁶ 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.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ 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.’”

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

Matthew 4:1-4 ESVUK

For those brave souls who haven’t given up on me yet, hold onto your hats!

Jesus is our example…

Some folks love to analyse Jesus like dissecting a frog in biology class. They argue that when Jesus felt hungry, it was his human side grumbling, and when he declared, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test,” it was his divine nature talking. As for me, I just can’t wrap my head around it. When I look at Jesus, it’s like trying to separate red paint from blue paint – where does one end and the other start? I’ll have to come back to this later.

The Devil is really sweating it now! He’s looking at the clock and feeling the heat – he knows his days are numbered. Jesus just got baptized, and there was this whole visual spectacle with the Holy Spirit descending like a divine mic drop. The Devil’s like, “Oh no, gotta shut this down ASAP.” He’s pulled this stunt before, trying to off Jesus when he was just a wee babe, and even targeting all the other baby boys in Bethlehem just to cover his bases. But last time, those sneaky angels intervened. This time, he’s going for a direct approach. It’s getting tense down there!

It’s like Genesis 2.0, the sequel nobody asked for! The Devil thinks, “I got Eve with the fruit, now let’s see how Jesus handles some snacks!” First, he tempts Jesus with food, then with a shot at fame, and finally with the ol’ power trip. Classic temptations!

The Devil’s problem is it does not work.

Jesus is our teacher…

Oh, seems like Jesus and the Devil had quite the conversation there! We don’t need to get caught up in that, do we?

Sorry, but we don’t get a pass on this one. There are two reasons – it’s all about you and me, and I’m excited about that!

We do the Devil’s work

Yes, we all get tempted, even Jesus did. I mean, even the guy upstairs wasn’t immune to it! The Devil was like, “Hey, Jesus, why don’t you just show off a little miracle for yourself, huh?” But Jesus was like, “Nah, man, I’m here for the people, not for a flashy performance.” And then there’s Peter, bless him, trying to steer Jesus away from his destiny, and Jesus is just like, “Pete, you’re acting like Satan right now.” I mean, he wasn’t possessed or anything, but talk about human nature gone wrong!

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Matthew 16:22-23 ESVUK

We can resist the Devil

In the epic tale of The Lord of the Rings, picture this: the brave hobbits arrive back at their homeland, the peaceful Shire, only to discover the not-so-departed Saruman pulling off a wizardly ventriloquism act! This devious ex-wizard may have lost his powers, but his knack for trickery remains intact. Looks like the Shire is in for quite the unexpected encore!

The power of the Devil has been vanquished by Jesus for all time on the cross. Despite the Devil’s attempts to deceive us, it’s important to recognize that the Devil is a liar with no true power.

We can handle the Devil, but wait! This is phase 2 in James’ master plan. Don’t just jump into resisting. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). Have you got in line with God? You should, because it’s God’s power in us that kicks the Devil into touch. A Christian in sync with God can look the Devil in the eyes and say, “It’s just you, scram.” Hasta la vista, Devil!

The Godhead and humanity intertwined

In Jesus, humanity and God were fully intertwined. This powerful combination conquered the Devil both in the wilderness and on the cross, demonstrating the triumph of positivity and hope.

It is the beautiful fusion of humanity and God dwelling within us through the Holy Spirit that empowers us to conquer the temptations of the Devil. As we surrender to God our Father through the Holy Spirit residing in us, we bask in the triumph of Jesus.

Get basking!

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Incarnation – Epiphany – The baptism of Jesus – Temptation – Good Friday – Easter – Ascension – Pentecost – Trinity – The Return (advent 2024)