Many Christians believe that once we’re saved by grace, the rest is up to us. Yet in Matt 4:1-11, Jesus shows that the way to defeat Satan’s temptations is not by hard work (e.g. self-control); it is by resting in God’s grace (God’s gift).
While it looks like Satan is tempting Jesus with (i) bread, (ii) rescue, and (iii) rule, a closer examination shows Satan is appealing to vanity. The Son of God doesn’t deserve to starve; so use your powers to get food. The Son of God should prove his status before those at the temple; so jump and let them see God rescue you. And the Son of God doesn’t deserve to die to receive his kingdom; so take it now without the cross. Satan is tempting Jesus with (i) vanity, (ii) vanity, and (iii) vanity.
The way Satan usually attacks humans is by appealing to our need to be PLEASING; either pleasing to God, to those around us, or to ourselves. Since pride is ‘the one vice of which no human is free’ (C. S. Lewis), we CANNOT say ‘no’ to Satan’s attacks in our own power. We will always believe that we need sex, money, power, looks, promotion or facebook ‘likes’ in order to be pleasing. As such, we will do anything – even sin – in order to get those things.
The way Jesus defeated Satan was by resting in God’s word to him from the previous verse; ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’ (Matt 3:17). Because Jesus substituted himself for his people on the cross – the righteous for the unrighteous – this is now God’s word to Christians too. And this is how we will defeat Satan; not by fighting him in our own strength; but by realising that sin will not make us more pleasing, for we are already perfectly pleasing to the only person that matters.
Brendan McLaughlin
