| “But He (the Lord Jesus) answered and said, It is written (Matthew 4:4). |
| “Jesus said unto him, It is written again” (Matthew 4:7). |
| “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written” (Matthew 4:10). |
| Yesterday we were speaking about how the Lord Jesus was tempted of the devil, and that this proved that the Lord Jesus was truly the Son of God, and did not have a sinful nature. But there is more in this story of the temptation of the Lord Jesus, and you and I can learn a valuable lesson from how the Lord Jesus answered Satan. |
| As the Son of God, the Lord Jesus has power over Satan, and could easily have told Satan to go away, and not to bother Him. Or, when Satan tempted Him, He could simply have said to Satan, “No, I will not do that.” If He had told Satan to go away, this would not have proved that He did not have a sinful nature; it would only have proved that He had power over Satan. If the Lord Jesus had simply said to Satan, “No, I will not do that,” it would have proved that He could not be tempted with sin, but it would not have helped you and me when we are tempted. |
| Instead, the Lord Jesus did something else; He quoted the Bible to Satan. He gave Satan just the right verse for each of the temptations, and Satan had no more to say. This is what we need to do too. Unlike the Lord Jesus, you and I have sinful natures, and can be tempted to sin. But if we simply remember what the Word of God says, we can use it to combat Satan. The Word of God will protect us from every temptation if we use it. |
| This is another good reason to read the Bible every day, and to memorize verses from it. Then the Lord can bring them to our remembrance when we need them. |
| See if you can find the three verses that the Lord Jesus used to reply to Satan. (Hint — they are all in the same book of the Bible.) |
