Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. Luke 4:1-2 [NIV]
It is remarkable that the first thing the Spirit led Jesus to after his baptism, was to go to a desolate place where he would be tempted, suffer discomfort and apparently achieve none of his ministry objectives. Can this be right? Well yes, the scripture is clear.
Maybe this was training for his ministry ahead, which would certainly be tough as he faced the Pharisees questions and would ultimately be led away to be executed. Maybe it was better to face the devil's challenge now than half way through his ministry. Maybe it was Jesus choosing to put himself in the place of temptation that we all face, so that he could identify better with our human condition.
Whatever the reason for the Spirit's leading, we read that despite these trials, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit (see Luke 4:14). Jesus’ victory over temptation was not one that he returned from empty, as we might expect to, but full of power.
This leads me to wonder whether we have the right attitude to temptation. We often speak of praying for protection from the enemy, maybe conscious of the draining battle. Yet, I wonder if we should rather be praying for the armour of God? Are we prepared to do battle, or do we just want to be removed from it? It is maybe only as we engage in the fight, we know the empowerment of God with us and have our wills changed to be like his.
Remembering the “Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God”, (Ephesians 6:17), here are three Scriptures that I find helpful in the fight:
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39.
Jon Seaton
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