The Devil and the word

The story of the temptation of Jesus is a great one to us, Jesus was tempted and felt the pain of that but he didn't give in to that and the way he deals with things is a significant example to us. Also revealing to us is the way the devil behaves in this incident as it shows us how the Devil really works.

First of all the devil targets need:
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:1-4 NIV)
This is an interesting one because surely it would have been OK for Jesus to eat, the devil offers him something that seems to be fine, if you're hungry why not eat, what's the problem? The problem is priorities as Jesus puts it by quoting from the Bible, he says that bread is one thing but without God it's pointless. Jesus makes God his priority above even food, and he uses the Bible to combat the devil. Jesus' example shows us that it is through studying God's word that we can combat the devil's attacks, knowledge of God will help us overcome.

From there the devil targets piety:
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:5-7 NIV)
The devil sees that Jesus uses the word of God to combat him and thinks that he can use the word of God to trap Jesus. We should never fool ourselves into thinking that the devil is not smart, he is incredibly intelligent and will meet us head on and adapt as we adapt. This also means that we shouldn't take people using the Bible to back themselves up at facevalue but rather examine the word of God and make sure it matches up. Again Jesus goes back to the Bible, he doesn't need to show off his holiness to bring glory to God because he shouldn't be testing God, the devil loses out again.

And so the devil continues, looking to entice with power:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:8-10 NIV)
Power is a very tempting thing but the old saying is true "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" Jesus is offered control of the world by the devil if he worships him. Of course Jesus already has the world so it's a silly offer but he tries none the less and of course Jesus doesn't buy it again going back to the Bible.

Jesus is the model for us, he always goes back to the Bible and he maintains a good relationship with The Father that helps him to combat the Devil's threats. Even in not responding to the promise of ruling the earth does Jesus provide an example, because that is something that we also will inherit through Christ and as such that is no real promise to us. Let us remember the example of Christ as we undergo temptation.