The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]
Chapter 9. Jesus and the Devil
IF I CAN STOP YOU RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, but there was one more thing he needed to do before he could fully enter his public ministry. He had to prepare himself before God and to face the temptations of Satan, the original serpent who ruined humanity.
After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. For 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus stayed in the wilderness, and during that time, he did not eat anything. We assume that he was giving special attention to prayer, talking to God and thinking about his mission, and preparing himself for the work to come.
Notice that Jesus went into this special period of preparation and seeking God after he had received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lead you to seek God and help you to seek God. You should not seek God in your own strength in order to receive the Holy Spirit. You should receive the Holy Spirit by faith in God, so that you can seek God better.
After going without food for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was very hungry. And Satan came to him at this time. Remember Satan? He is the devil, the enemy of God and of humanity. He was that original serpent who appeared to Adam and Eve. He deceived them and convinced them to sin, and ruined their relationship with God.
Satan had been watching Jesus, waiting for an opportunity to ruin him with temptations, just like he ruined Adam and Eve. A temptation is when Satan or our own evil desires try to convince us to do something wrong. It is wrong when we do something that God has said we should not do. And it is also wrong when we refuse to do something that God has said we must do. This includes what we think, what we say, and what we do in our actions.
Satan knew that Jesus was hungry, and he thought that the hunger might have made him weak. He said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus could have done it. He was the Son of God, and even as a man, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He had divine power to perform miracles.
Jesus answered him by repeating something from the Bible. He said, “It is written, ‘People shall not live only on bread, but they need every word that comes from God.'” When someone tries to convince you to do something wrong, would you know how to answer? You would know if you will learn what the Bible says. You need to treasure every word that comes from God. Then you will stay close to God, and no one will be able to trick you.
Jesus had the ability to turn stones into bread, but since the Bible describes this as a temptation, it means that it would have been the wrong thing to do. But why? Why not make food if you could make food? After all, food is not evil, and eating is not wrong.
Let me remind you that even if we do not know why it was the wrong thing to do, we can still know that it was wrong because the Bible describes it as the wrong thing to do at the time. Once we accept this, we cannot go very wrong in what we think, and we are in a better position to receive even more understanding.
Even if we do not have a full understanding about all the reasons it was the wrong thing to do, we can think of several possible reasons.
Jesus was in a special situation, and in this situation, he had to endure hunger until the end of this period. He had come to be the hero of humanity, and not to live only for himself. He had to experience things, to suffer things, and to overcome things for our benefit.
Adam and Eve were tempted with food that God told them not to eat, even while they had plenty of other foods to eat. They did not overcome the temptation, and they disobeyed the word of God. Jesus was different. He showed that he could refuse food even when he was hungry, in order to focus on the word of God.
Israel was the nation that God had chosen to first receive his teachings and promises. God wanted to make a people and a place where Jesus could be born into the earth. But when God brought Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness, Israel did not treasure the word of God. The people did not love God first and then trust him to satisfy them, but they demanded their own satisfaction first.
When they were not immediately satisfied, instead of talking to God with faith and respect, they complained against God. They even threatened Moses, the leader that God had chosen for them, and they clamored to return to their former life, where they were bullied and oppressed. They never thought of God as the most important. The problem of food was something that sparked their rebellion, uncovering what was really in their hearts.
Jesus was different. By refusing Satan’s temptation and declaring that he would live by every word from God, he showed that he was different. Later, he would teach his followers to ask God to give them bread and other things that would satisfy them. Therefore, we know it is right to ask God for these things, but Jesus was able to show that he cared more about God than other things. The temptation uncovered what was really in his heart. It was a total love for God and his words.
Starting from himself, Jesus was changing the story of humanity. Adam drove humanity into the wrong direction, and Israel had also made many mistakes. But Jesus would take his followers toward the right direction, a direction that is in line with the will of God, in a direction of faith, love, and obedience. He would show his followers how to live a life that clings to every word that comes from God. And he would show them what can happen when we live such a life.
Satan was not finished. He wanted to tempt Jesus again. He took Jesus to the top of the temple in Jerusalem. And he said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. After all, the Bible says that God will command his angels to watch over you, so that you will not even hurt your foot on a stone.” Satan knew Jesus believed the Bible, so he took some words from the Bible and misused them as he tried to trick Jesus into doing something wrong.
Imagine if your dad said, “Son, I love you very much. If you ever need my help, call out to me, and I will save you from any trouble you face.” And then one of your friends say to you, “I heard what your dad said. You should jump into the river and cry out. After all, he said that he would save you.” You would think that is ridiculous. You trust that your dad would indeed save you, but you would be a bad son to jump into the river for no reason. You would be playing with your dad’s love. Instead of letting his love and your trust bring the two of you closer, you would be using his love against him.
Jesus could see the trick. And he answered, “The Bible also says, ‘Do you put the Lord your God to the test.'” He knew that God would save him if he fell off a building, because the Bible indeed said that God would protect him. But he also knew that another part of the Bible said that people should not play tricks on God.
All the parts of the Bible agree with one another, and we will understand the truth correctly when we take all these parts together, rather than taking only one sentence here and another sentence there.
Here is another simple illustration. Suppose Tom once said to everybody, “I like all kinds of cheesecakes. They are delicious. The only exception is pumpkin cheesecake.” Now Tom’s birthday is coming up, and Amy suggests, “Let us buy him a pumpkin cheesecake. He said, ‘I like all kinds of cheesecakes.'” You would answer, “But he also said, ‘The only exception is pumpkin cheesecake.'”
Tom said both of these things, but you will understand what Tom really said about cheesecakes only if you put together everything he said about cheesecakes. You can see that you cannot take only the first thing he said about cheesecakes, since he added that he did not like pumpkin cheesecakes. But can you see that you cannot only take the second thing he said either? I mean, you cannot assume that just because Tom said he did not like pumpkin cheesecakes, then he does not like all kinds of cheesecakes.
Why is this important? It is because some people would say, “Ah, Jesus said we should not put God to the test, so we should not expect God to give us what he promised.” This is just as wrong as how Satan misused the Bible. In fact, this is exactly what Satan often says to tempt people to doubt God’s promises. And many people still fall for this trick.
It is true that God promises to protect and to prosper his people, but it is also true that we should not play tricks on him. We should say it the other way too. It is true that we should not play tricks on God, but it is also true that God promises to protect and to prosper his people. Satan will try to trick you by reminding you of one thing that God said, but covering up two or three other things that God said. Sometimes he will even use Bible teachers to trick you! But if you will remember all the things God said, you will not be tricked.
Finally, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain. From there, he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And Satan said, “I will give you all of this, if you will bow down and worship me.” He wanted the chosen hero to betray God and worship the devil instead. It was Satan’s boldest temptation yet. But why was it a temptation? Who would do something so foolish and outrageous?
You see, Jesus was destined to become king. But God’s plan was that on the way to become king, Jesus would join with sinners and suffer in their place, so that they can join him when he wins his throne. Jesus would have had to fight through evil spirits and evil people to reach the place God planned for him. It would involve a lot of effort and pain.
Satan made it look like he was offering Jesus the chance to skip all of that. He suggested that if Jesus would only betray God and follow Satan, then he could reach his destiny without all the suffering.
But it was a lie. Jesus had been the Word since the beginning. He did not need to become a man and earn a kingdom in the first place. The reason he came as a man was to join with humanity and save people, not just to become king by himself. And anyone who betrays God to serve Satan would lose much more than what Satan promises to give him. It is never worth it. Adam and Eve learned this the hard way.
So Jesus answered, “Get away from me, Satan! For it is written, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Once again, Jesus defeated the temptation with the words of the Bible. After that, Satan left him. Jesus had won.
This is also how we can defeat any temptation. Learn what the Bible teaches. Then, when a temptation comes, you will know to say, “Get away from me, evil desires! The Bible says, ‘You should not covet other people’s things,'” and you will know to say, “Get away from me, sicknesses and demons! The Bible says, ‘He took our infirmities, and carried out sicknesses.'”
Jesus faced temptations for us. It was part of what he needed to do to save humanity. And after this, he would face many other difficult situations. But by now he had already succeeded where Adam and Eve failed, and where Israel failed. He proved that he was different. He was stronger and better. He was like no one else who came before him. He could not be deceived by tricks. He could not be convinced by evil. He could not be threatened by suffering. His wisdom and strength, and his love for God and for people, would lead all of us to victory and salvation.