THE IDENTITY ATTACK
Luke 4:1-4 NKJV
1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "
This is part of the account of Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. There are important things we can learn from these four verses.
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus did not walk in complete knowledge. He was dependent on the Holy Spirit's power to lead Him and enable Him to do the miracles He did. We do not see Jesus perform any miracles until after He was baptized in the river Jordan and the Holy Spirit came upon HIm.
Jesus was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was not hurt; he was tempted. So, the Holy Spirit did not lead Jesus into the wilderness to be hurt. But Jesus evidently needed to defeat Satan in some key areas before starting His earthly ministry. One of those areas was the temptation to misuse His power to feed His flesh.
Jesus had fasted for forty days. He ate nothing during that time. A side note is to not try to copy Jesus on the duration of a food fast. It's good to fast. In this case, a no food fast. But I do not suggest going for forty days. Start with a few days without food. Also, you can fast internet, social media, sports, dessert. There are many areas where we can tell our flesh no. Forty is going to be too long for most folks. I have also heard a minister I respect say that people who fast for forty days can become susceptible to error. Jesus was much stronger spiritually and still had to deal with the devil's schemes.
One of the main themes of Satan in his temptation of Jesus was to attack Jesus' identity as the Son of God. "If you are the Son of God." The devil was trying to raise doubts in Jesus' mind about being sent as the Son of God, the Savior of the world. In other words, prove it if you are really the Son of God. The attempt was to have Jesus misuse His power for His own benefit. Jesus was completely submitted to the will of His Father. He could only do what the Father instructed Him to do. And if God was not instructing Him to turn the stones to bread it was not going to happen.
Jesus did not need to prove anything to Satan. He did not need a miracle to confirm His identity as the Son of God. But Jesus did not argue His case with the devil. He simply stated what God's Word said. That was His defense. No explanations, just scripture. And Jesus would use scripture two more times to answer the temptations of the enemy. He never used I am the Son of God, get out of here, Satan. Rather, it was, it is written.
APPLICATION
Understand that the devil still uses the same tactics to tempt and harass believers today. He still works to undermine our identity in Christ. He still tries to get us to give in to our fleshly appetites. Arguing is not effective, and by arguing, I am talking about working the conflicting thoughts out in our minds. Instead, we do what Jesus did and respond back with Scripture. Because Satan does not show up with a red tail and pitchfork, the attacks are often in the mental realm. Answer back with God's Word. If you are by yourself, speak out loud the Scriptures that answer the temptations and lies. If you are in public, refrain from addressing Satan vocally around people who do not understand. But you can sure go there under your breath. 'It is written' worked for Jesus and it will also work for you.