HOW JESUS HANDLED SATAN

LUKE 4:3-8 
3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" 
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." 
8 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" 

OBSERVATION: 
 

Now do not change the channel. There is an evil power; his name is Satan, and he is real. He is not more powerful than our God by any means. But it is important to recognize we do have an adversary, an enemy. One of Satan's most effective strategies is convincing people that he does not exist.   

In this passage, we see Jesus squaring off with Satan. Satan offers temptations but gets rebuffed by Jesus each time. What is good to note is that Jesus does not use His divine power to back off the devil. He simply uses the word of God.   

Each time the enemy offered Jesus a temptation, Jesus countered with God's word. Each time Jesus quoted a scripture, and each time He acted on the scripture, not Satan's suggestions.   

Even though Jesus was the sinless, spotless Son of God, He relied on the scripture, God's word, to overcome the temptation. He did not reason with Satan. It was no and a scripture. Satan lost each time 0 for 3.  

APPLICATION: 

The beauty of this passage is multifold. We see the importance of knowing God's word. This will help us steer clear of Satan's deception that is rampant in our day.  

We also see that Jesus was not in a struggle with Satan. He resisted him with God's word and won.  

Keep in mind that Jesus was our example. If He used God's word to defeat Satan, so can we. Putting God's word in our hearts and speaking or acting on it in the face of temptation will also work for us.   

We do not have to live terrified of our enemy and what he will do to us. He has been defeated by Jesus, and now we enforce that defeat by resisting and overcoming the temptations that come our way.   

But do not resist the devil in your own strength. Jesus said, "it is written," and we need to copy Him.   

PRAYER: 

Lord, You were not intimidated by Satan, and I do not have to be either. You have given me Your word and Your Holy Spirit. So greater is the Holy Spirit in me than the enemy who comes against me. You used "it is written," and so can I.