The Devil’s Sly Temptations
- The Devil’s temptations appear innocent
- Jesus is the Scapegoat, who bears all our sins in the wilderness
- Angels minister to us amidst our weaknesses
News that the Devil and his demonic minions are at work in our world among us is entirely unsurprising. Of course we see that the devil is actively promoting unrest and violence in our communities, seeking to murder the unborn and the elderly, driving people to murder themselves, giving easy access to lewd materials, breaking apart marriages, sexually confusing especially the young, and leading countless Christians to renounce the faith. But one of the things the temptation of Jesus shows us is that the devil doesn’t always operate so obviously, but frequently his temptations appear to be rather innocent. When the devil’s temptations are innocent looking then we more easily fall prey to his sly work.
Just look at how the devil tempts Jesus to see how innocent and harmless his temptations appear to be. When Jesus is hungry, he tells Him to “command these stones to become loaves of bread.” This doesn’t sound bad, afterall if God can give manna from heaven and water from rocks, this isn’t much of a stretch. Then the Devil quotes the Bible: “He will command His angels concerning you.” Finally, he offers to Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; just think of all the good that Jesus would accomplish!
Of course you are good Christians and you know that if the devil is tempting you, you should resist him. So this is why the devil not only tempts Christians with obvious and grievous sins, but often he tempts us covertly in ways that we don’t even recognize as sinful. Perhaps he doesn’t tempt you to turn stones into bread, but he certainly does tempt you to love daily bread more than the Lord. Daily bread is all that pertains to this body and life, as we learn in the Lord’s Prayer in the Small Catechism, “such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”
We very often prioritize the needs of our body above the Lord. How often does work, family, and health take precedence over God? What are those things that you schedule everything else around; are those things anything else than the Lord? Would you remain a Christian if it meant losing your job or a family member? This is the way the devil often tempts us is through things which appear good. You need your job to take care of your family. You need to keep that relationship going with that family member no matter what, that way you could continue talking to them. Your children need to be involved in all of those activities because it will make them better people. God wants to give you daily bread, so who are you to turn it down when you can get it?
Yet the Lord Jesus says quite plainly: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God certainly does give us our daily bread, but the Giver of the daily bread is the One we worship, not the bread.
The devil often tempts us to put the Lord to the test. It sounds nice and pious to trust in the Lord, to believe that He will command His angels concerning us and bear us up lest we strike our foot against a stone. So the devil tempts us to be presumptuous of God’s grace. We’re tempted to maintain a mentality that prefers to ask forgiveness than to ask permission, assuming that God will forgive me anyways, and that I can just do whatever I want. Instead of seeking God’s will, I presume that God will bless whatever foolishness I desire.
And Jesus says so clearly: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” God is gracious and merciful, indeed! But the heart which doesn’t seek the Lord’s will doesn’t have faith, and consequently doesn’t have God’s grace.
Or the devil really is so sly in offering us all the kingdoms and glories of this world. Afterall, if you have more power, if you have more authority, if you have more prestige, then certainly you could accomplish even more good for the sake of more people. At first receiving that power doesn’t look like falling down and worshipping Satan, but in time it sure does. Perhaps it starts out overlooking this or that evil, or silently affirming this or that sin. If you’re going to keep your position, you need to make certain people happy by doing or saying some less than wholesome things. You justify it by saying you’re just playing the game or playing the politics to win.
The Lord’s word is plain: “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” It doesn’t matter how much “good” you’re going to accomplish, because if you must sell your soul to Satan and to sin in order to do it, then you’ve not only lost the battle but you’ve lost your soul.
When you reflect on how sly and subtle all of Satan’s temptations are, it becomes quite painfully obvious all of the ways in which we have fallen. The more you study the scriptures, the more you realize your sins are even greater than you first imagined. Pretty soon you see that it’s not just you who have failed, but all around you the world has fallen for vices great and small. The battle against Satan appears to be a defeat, where he is strong and mighty, and we are weak and frail. Everywhere we turn the devil looks to be winning. Marriage is in shambles, chastity is lost, potshops are on every corner, the churches are crumbling, and maybe all is lost!
Though the battle appears to be lost, it’s only a ruse, for the truth of the situation is that Christ is victorious. Just as the evil giant Goliath falls to the small boy David, so does the evil giant Satan fall to the small looking Jesus. “For the battle is the Lord’s.” The Lord Jesus has already conquered the power of Satan, He underwent temptation for us, and in His crucifixion He overcame the devil completely. The war has already ended and the victor is Christ.
Nevertheless, like in many wars there are skirmishes which continue on, and the devil, though already defeated, continues to battle against us Christians. The temptations we face daily are a part of that continued fight against sin and hell. Though the battle is fully won, it’s not fully over, and unfortunately the temptations we face we often succumb to. The battle’s strain against temptation regularly leaves us crushed. But the Lord does not leave us crushed beneath our sins.
For us Jesus is the Scapegoat in the wilderness. Upon His baptism, the Heavenly Father declared: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And immediately afterwards He was led into the wilderness. Jesus is the fulfillment of the scapegoat on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On that day one of the goats had all of the sins of the people of Israel placed on it, and that goat bore all their iniquities on itself, and it was finally led into the wilderness to bear the burden of the sins alone.
Indeed, Jesus is that Scapegoat, He is the Lamb of God, who in baptism received all of our sins and was led into the wilderness to bear our iniquities for us. Through baptism all of your iniquities, all of the temptations you have given into, have been placed upon Jesus who bears them in your stead. Though you regularly struggle with temptation, though you fight against Satan every day, you do not fight alone, but with Christ beside you and for you.
In fact, because you have been baptized into Christ, the Lord has also led you into the wilderness of this world to fight against Satan’s temptations, with Jesus. So fight the good fight. Put on Christ’s armor and take up the sword of the Spirit of the Word of God. Look the devil right in the face, see through his bloody weapons of temptations, and face him “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.” Fight against temptation, because the Lord goes before you victorious. When you boldly confront Satan’s lies, he runs from you like a frightened dog. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Yes, you heard that right, when you resist the devil through faith in Christ, Satan, that coward, flees from you!
When the battle is long against temptation, and it feels as if you’re not going to make it, take comfort in the ministrations of the angels. “Then the devil left Jesus, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.” I don’t know what they concretely did for Jesus when they ministered to Him; maybe they brought Him food and water, and bound up His injuries. Nevertheless, God sent His holy angels to tend to Jesus’ needs in the midst of battle. From this we should find comfort, knowing that God will send His holy angels to minister to us in the midst of our battles against temptation. Just as Satan and his temptations are real, so are God’s angels and their ministrations. God sends them to fight for you, and only the Lord knows how many demonic assaults they have preserved us from without our knowledge. Do not fear the devil’s attacks dear Christians, not only has Christ already won the war, but His angels truly will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.