ASSAULT ON THE INDIVIDUAL (Part Two)

By Bob Myhan

he threefold temptation of Jesus, in chapter four of Matthew and Luke, is an example of Satan's assault on the individual. However, before studying this event, it will be helpful to consider what it means to be tempted.

ames writes, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away of his own desires and enticed" (1:14). This does not refer to normal desires given by God but to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). It is by being “drawn away…and enticed” that one is led to engage in the “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16-21).

he man who “looks on a woman to lust for her,” for example, is not merely in danger of committing adultery with her; he “has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

o "entice" means "to lure by a bait," which is what a fisherman does; he knows the fish will not just swim up and willingly take the hook into its mouth, so he puts something on the hook to attract the fish and obscure the hook.

atan does exactly the same thing. He attracts us with things that we desire, but may not have with the approval of God. For example, "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13:4). The desire for a permanent scriptural mate is natural, but the desire for a temporary or unscriptural mate is not. Therefore, those who mate temporarily or unscripturally are "fornicators” or “adulterers," having been drawn away by their own desires, enticed, and given in to the temptation.

lthough Jesus "was in all points tempted as we are" (Heb. 4:15), He was never "drawn away of his own desires and enticed" because He had no inordinate desires such as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” of which to be drawn away and enticed. He never, for example, was in danger of committing adultery because He never looked on a woman “to lust for her.” Therefore He was "yet without sin."

fter fasting for “forty days and forty nights," Jesus “was hungry.” Satan, knowing hunger to be a driving force in man, suggested that Jesus demonstrate His unique Son-ship to God by commanding, "that these stones become bread."

t is interesting that Jesus had not yet performed a single miracle; His first would be changing water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana, after returning to Galilee (John 2:1-11). Therefore, Satan knew Jesus had the power to convert the molecular structure of the stones so as to make them edible, and assumed that He had an inordinate desire to eat.

ut Jesus made it clear He was concerned with something far more important than mere physical nourishment: spiritual nourishment from the word of God. "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." The point is that there is more to life than physical sustenance of the outer man. There is also the spiritual sustenance of the inner man. It was also His purpose to confirm His power by feeding others rather than Himself (Matt. 14:13-21). Failing in his attempt to get Jesus to sin by appealing to His appetite, Satan tried another approach.

ringing Jesus to Jerusalem, he "set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over You,” And “In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone."’” Here, Satan quotes scripture, but Jesus showed that Satan had perverted the verses he quoted, not having harmonized them with other passages. For "'it is written again, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God."’”

uch audacity as Satan had proposed would put the Father to an unnecessary test, which the Israelites did again and again in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:1-10; Heb. 3:7-11). Satan assumed Jesus desired such a thrilling, public rescue by His Father. But he miscalculated. Failing again to find something with which Jesus could be drawn away and enticed, Satan assaulted Him from still another angle.

e presented to the eyes of our Lord "all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if you will fall down and worship me.’" Bowing down before Satan would have been far easier than being mocked, scourged and crucified, but failing to do the Father’s will would have defeated His purpose of earth.

esides this the kingdoms Satan displayed were political in nature, and Jesus had no political ambition of which to be “drawn away…and enticed.” He had come to establish a heavenly spiritual kingdom, rather than an earthly political kingdom. Thus, rather than worship the devil, Jesus replied, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."

oing the wrong thing is always easier than doing the right thing, because the latter always requires determination and, quite often, moral courage. Worshipping Satan simply was not an option for Jesus. Let us ever strive to have the determination and moral courage to do the right thing!

ttacks on the individual almost always come through one or more of these avenues. That is why we are to "Do not love the world, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15-17).

f you will think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, if you'll love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and if you'll love your neighbor as yourself (Phil. 4:8; Mark 12:30,31), you will have neither the time nor a place in your heart, to love the world or the things that are in the world. &