Satan attacks us at our weakest moments. He finds us when we are drained, exhausted, and alone. His temptations often come in the form of a remedy to satisfy our immediate needs. That’s where Satan began his temptations with Jesus in the desert.

Luke 4:3-4
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

Jesus was famished after forty days of fasting when Satan showed up. His statement, “If you are the Son of God,” is not an effort to cause Jesus to doubt his divine sonship. Days earlier, Jesus had the Spirit descend on him in the form of a dove, and the Father announced his pleasure regarding his beloved Son (Luke 3:22). Satan is acknowledging that, indeed, Jesus is the Son of God. And there is the genesis of the temptation.

Satan argued that since Jesus is the Son of God, he should have the authority to do whatever he wanted. Jesus was more than capable of meeting his own needs. Why did he need to rely on the Father? And furthermore, why wasn’t the Father meeting Jesus’ needs? Why had God led him to this barren wilderness in the first place? It was time, Satan was inferring, to act independently of God and turn stones into bread. Just think how tempting it would have been for Jesus, famished from the fast, to simply speak the word, turn the stones into bread, and satisfy his acute hunger. But Jesus answered with God’s Word, quoting a passage from Deuteronomy 8, “…man does not live by bread alone…”.

This passage served as a reminder to the Israelites of a time when they were complaining about not having enough food to eat following their deliverance from Egypt. In the wilderness, God tested them “to know what was in [their hearts], whether [they] would keep his commandments or not” (Deuteronomy 8:2). God provided daily manna to keep them humble and to let them know that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

Jesus’ response is instructive in many ways. Let me just mention two. First, he responded to Satan with the Word of God. We will talk more about that in future devos. Second, Jesus did not allow his physical desire to take priority over his relationship with God. In our lives, many physical desires will come, and Satan will be right there, tempting us to go rogue, independent of God. But we must go back to God’s Word and find his great promises to give us all we need. In doing so, we learn that he was what we wanted and needed all along.

Father,
Fleshly desires in weak moments deliver strong temptations to give up and give in. In those times, remind me of your Word, instructions, and promises. Help me find my strength and satisfaction in you alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.