He Departed for a Season

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. (Luke 4:1-13)

Most of us remember the biblical account of the temptation of Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. While Matthew and Luke gave the details of the temptation of our Lord, Mark chose to simply state, “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him” (Mark 1:12-13).

Wise old Satan waited for just the right time to tempt Jesus. Following the baptism of Christ, God announced to all gathered there along the banks of the Jordan River, “And suddenly a voice camefrom heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:17). The official proclamation was made as to the true identity of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Albert Barnes made the following observation:

Satan’s temptations are often the strongest immediately after we have been remarkably favored. Jesus had just been called the Son of God, and Satan took this opportunity to try him. He often attempts to fill us with pride and vain self-conceit when we have been favored with any peace of mind, or any new view of God, and endeavors to urge us to do something which may bring us low and lead us to sin. (Barnes’ Notes)

Satan hoped that with the public acknowledgement that Jesus was the Son of God, His heart would be swelled with pride making Him susceptible to the devil’s temptations, for this is the scenario of mortal man (Proverbs 16:18). In addition, pouncing upon Jesus, as though He had been a mortal man puffed with pride, Satan waited until Jesus was hungry before approaching Him. Christ had not eaten for 40 days, making Him physically weak. It is reasonable to expect one who is hungry to react favorably with the offer of food. Also, Satan’s request seemed reasonable to the human nature of man. However, Satan failed to remember that Jesus Christ was not merely a human, but He is the Son of God.

Jesus answered each of the three avenues of temptation with “it is written” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). Christ used God’s written Word to rebuke Satan for attempting to make Him a follower of the Devil.

Luke 4:13 states, “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.” Satan decided that he would leave Jesus alone for a period of time. He did not give up; he planned to attack at another opportunity, when he hoped Christ would be more susceptible to his wily ways. The Scriptures do not reveal any other attempts of Satan to tempt Christ, but the Bible clearly teaches that Satan planned to return.

Just as Satan tried to lure Christ away from God, he is diligently seeking Christians that he can pull away from God. People of the world are Satan’s servants; he does not need to tempt them to sin. They already live lives of sin. The devil places his emphasis on drawing Christians away from God to lead them into a life of sin rather than a life of service to God.

We must know the Scriptures in order to resist the temptations of Satan. Today’s Christian must have the attitude of the Bereans as recorded in Acts 17:10-11. They searched the Scriptures daily, verifying the teaching of Paul and Silas. This was not an easy task. They did not have a completed Bible as we have today. The Bereans had to go to the synagogue, request a scroll, study it and then return it. They did this every day. We need to study our Bibles every day.

Satan may leave us alone for short periods of time, but he is always lurking about waiting for opportunities to lure us away from God (1 peter 5:8). Satan looks for times when we are weak, lonely or fearful. Satan looks for times when we may be feeling invincible. Sometimes when we feel we have conquered one sinful trait we fail to protect ourselves from the devils attacks in other areas of our lives. Satan is always looking for our weaknesses to use those to tempt us to sin.

Satan left Jesus for a season, and he will leave us temporarily, but know this – he is always looking for our weaknesses to tempt us and to make us his servants.