In certain circumstances, the genius of one man is more effective than any numbers whatever. (Polybius, Histories 8.5, quoted* https://historyhustle.com/iron-claw-of-archimedes/*)
That’s a quote from the Greek historian Polybius, who lived around 150 BC. The genius he was referring to was Archimedes, the mathematician, scientist, and inventor who lived in Syracuse, Sicily, and whose clever inventions defended that city from Roman conquest in the siege of Syracuse in 213 BC. As the Roman ships approached the shore they were hit with all kinds of “secret weapons.” Legend has it that he used a heat ray made from mirrors to focus the sun’s light to light ships on fire. Some people doubt that one, but there was also Archimedes’ claw – basically a crane powered hook, that could lift ships out of the water and drop them back in, capsizing them. The assault was a disaster for the Romans, who would have to find a different way to take the city.
The right weapon, or the right tool, can make all the difference in the world. That’s true in the military, both in ancient history as well as today. It’s also true around the house, where the right tool and a little knowledge of how to use it can solve a lot of problems. And it’s the case in our spiritual lives as well. Sometimes in our lives we’re faced with a spiritual challenge that might seem to be a bit like how we’d image a soldier of Syracuse felt, standing on the wall and watching those Roman ships sailing in. What can you do? But don’t despair. On your side you have a genius, who wields the perfect secret weapon. Jesus overcomes Satan by the power of God’s word.
Right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, just after his baptism, Jesus went out into the wilderness. Matthew says that he was led there by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the Devil. Isn’t this a strange thing! Didn’t Jesus have work to do and people to minister to? And why would God want him to be tempted by the Devil?
And doesn’t that, perhaps, make us reflect on our own lives and the temptations we face? Why doesn’t God remove every temptation from our lives? Why does he allow us to struggle the way that Paul describes when he says, “The good that I want to do—that I don’t do, and the evil that I don’t want to do—that I keep on doing!” Could this also be a part of God’s good and gracious will for us? An uncharitable and blasphemous lout might say that God has no love for his Son to send him out into the wilderness to face temptation. But no, this is the good will of the Father who only just declared at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son, whom I love.”
For forty days and forty nights Jesus fasted. This is what inspired the forty days of the season of Lent. Fasting can be a good thing when it’s used to discipline our bodies and remind ourselves that we depend on God to sustain our lives. But no Christian fasts the way that Jesus did. He went forty days and forty nights with no food, and Matthew simply describes this saying, “He was hungry.”
**And it’s here in this weak state, this very weak state, that the Devil came with his temptation. Satan is not an honorable foe. He doesn’t wait for us to be at our strongest. He doesn’t pause so that we can catch our breath. No, his goal is destruction. He throws dirt in our eyes. He kicks us when we’re down. And he doesn’t hold back when we hesitate. He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.”**
Oh, this temptation is a wily one. He plays to Jesus’ hunger, but more than that, in his serpent-like way he slyly tries to undermine Jesus’ trust. “Look at you. Is this where the Son of God should be—starving to death in the desert? Why would the Father send you here? Why would he want this for you? Don’t you hear your stomach rumbling? Use your power, and prove who you are. Command these stones to become bread.”
**But, hungry as he was, Jesus did not give in. “It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”**
So the Devil tempted him again. This time he brought him to the pinnacle of the temple. Here the Devil changed his tactics. He said,
“If you are the Son of God, 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.”
This temptation began with the same question, “If you are the Son of God,” but then set up a choice. “You say you trust your heavenly Father. Prove it. Throw yourself down. Show that you trust his word, his promise, as it is written. Or maybe you won’t do it. Maybe you don’t really trust him so much as you say you do.”
Satan loves to set such traps. He’s a chessmaster, who sets out the pieces such that it seems we have no moves left. There’s no way out, no way to go that doesn’t lead to our defeat.
But Jesus said, “Again, it is written: You shall not test the Lord your God.”
And Satan tempted Jesus a third time. Matthew says that he took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Of course there is no physical mountain from which all the kingdoms of the earth are visible, and so we can’t say where this place actually was and what exactly they were seeing. But the temptation was this: “I will give you all of these things, if you will bow down and worship me.”
“Who would bow down to Satan?,” You might ask. And yet, we do it all the time. Not in a Satanist shrine or at a pagan altar. But every time we look for the easy way out, every time we seek our will instead of God’s will, every time we love this world, in fact every temptation we surrender to, is a turning away from God and a bowing down to Satan. He doesn’t have to offer us the kingdoms of the world. We bow down to him for so much less than that.
Jesus could continue on his road to the cross. He could face the mockery and ridicule and hatred of his own people. He could bear the agony of hell for all mankind. Or, he could have all the kingdoms of the earth, all their glory, right now.
But Jesus said, “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
And with that, Satan left, and angels came and served Jesus.
What Jesus did here is really more than just overcome three great temptations from the Devil. These were very real temptations, but at the same time they represent something bigger. Satan brought his best temptations. He was at his strongest, and our Lord Jesus was at his weakest. How many countless times had Satan used these very same tricks to deceive people and bring them to ruin? Adam and Eve weren’t in a desert wilderness. They were in Paradise, where they had everything they could possibly want. But they listened to the Devil and they took the one thing they couldn’t have.
And in your own life, could you even begin to list all the times you have given in to the Devil’s lies? “Do you really think God loves you?” he says. “Do you really think he wants what is best? Why then does he keep things from you? Why let you suffer? Why let you struggle? Why let you face temptations? Don’t you see? He doesn’t care.” And we know it’s wrong, just like Adam and Eve knew it was wrong to eat that fruit, but still we justify it to ourselves. Still we listen. And so no matter how we’ve fortified ourselves against the devil’s assaults, we cannot hold him off.
Jesus did something we simply can’t do. He faced the Devil and won. But understand this rightly. Jesus didn’t face the Devil for himself. He faced him for you. He had to make himself so weak, so that no matter how weak you’ve been, Jesus can say, “I was weaker.” No matter how great the promises are that Satan makes to you with his lying temptations, Jesus can say, “He tempted me with more.”
And all of this Jesus did by wielding the perfect weapon, the holy Word of God. With every temptation the Devil brought, it was that Word of God that turned him away. Even when he tried to twist God’s Word, Jesus came back with the Word again, used rightly, like a sword in the hands of a master swordsman.
Jesus also did this for your sake, so that you can understand what a powerful weapon the Word of God is. No genius inventor’s weapon of war can compare to the holy Word of our all-powerful God. It was according to this word that Jesus came into the world. It was according to this word that he faced Satan’s vile temptations and overcame. It was according to this word that Jesus conquered him forever on the cross.
Jesus himself is the one who wields the word of God for you even today. It is he who proclaims it by his ministers and who sends the Holy Spirit to work it powerfully in your heart. That word promises you the forgiveness of sins. It gives you eternal life. And it is your secret weapon against the Devil in every temptation.
Learn from Jesus. Listen to his Word. Grab hold of it when Satan tempts you to sin. Tell him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written! Whoever is baptized into Christ is clothed with Christ. The blood of Jesus purifies me from all sin. Because Jesus lives I will live, and I’ll live with him in the mansions of heaven that he is preparing for me.” At this Word, what can Satan do? He flees; routed, powerless, his mighty warships capsized.
Jesus overcame the Devil’s temptations, and still for you he overcomes Satan by the power of God’s Word. May he work in you such faith that you always gladly hear and learn it. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson