“Use the Sword of the Spirit against Satan’s Temptations”
(Luke 4:1-13 – Lent 1 – March 9, 2025)
Luke 4:1-13 – 1Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” 5Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” 8And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” 9Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,’ 11and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” 12And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” 13Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Dear Redeemed in Christ, who has won the victory for us over Satan:
In the beginning, the devil used temptation to lead Adam and Eve into sin. Through Adam’s fall, we all have inherited the sinful nature; and therefore, all die (Romans 5:12). But the reason the Son of God came into our human flesh was to destroy the devil’s works (1 John 3:8). The devil began his evil work through temptation. But Jesus began His holy work, as the Savior of sinners, by overcoming the temptations of the devil.
Soon after Jesus was baptized and began His public ministry, He “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil” (vs. 1-2). His whole life, He stood in our place battling Satan’s temptations. He obeyed God’s will perfectly for us, so He could count His perfect life to us as if we had never fallen into temptation. Finally, Jesus defeated the devil’s work by His death on the cross to take away our sin; followed by His resurrection, having conquered death for us. That is how He crushed Satan’s head with a decisive blow. So through faith in Jesus, we are set free from Satan’s grip and restored to eternal life.
Here we see how Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations by the same weapon we can use: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Let us learn from Jesus to “Use the Sword of the Spirit against Satan’s Temptations.”
1) When Satan tempts us to doubt God’s care
First, let us use the sword of the Spirit when Satan tempts us to doubt God’s care. For forty days Jesus “ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (vs. 2-3). Satan began his temptation by casting doubt. If Jesus really was the Son of God in human flesh, why should He suffer hunger? He did not have to wait for His heavenly Father to provide food. He had it in His power to turn this stone into bread and eat.
It is similar to Satan’s first temptation of Eve: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan cast doubt on God’s love and care for her in withholding something that looked so good; and he played on her appetite. If she was loved by God, why wait? It was in her power to take the fruit and eat.
As children of Adam and Eve, Satan tempts us to disregard God’s Word and satisfy our appetites with what is in our power to take. He tempts us to doubt that God will satisfy us in His holy ways and to partake of forbidden lusts and pleasures. He tempts us to doubt that God will give contentment in what we really need and to indulge in greed, overeating, overdrinking. He tempts us to doubt that God will provide daily bread by honest means and to get what we want by laziness in work or cheating in school. Satan leads us to justify sin with the thought: “If God loves me as His child, doesn’t He want me to be happy?”
If Jesus followed Satan’s temptation, He would have shown Himself to be a false son. Turning the stone into bread would have shown lack of trust in His heavenly Father to provide in the right way. It would have meant He wanted to avoid the suffering His Father sent Him into the world to bear for us. Jesus’ purpose, as our Substitute and Savior, hung in the balance – would He obey Satan or trust His Father?
Jesus showed perfect trust as the true Son of God. He answered with the sword of the Spirit, from Deuteronomy 8:3: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’” (vs. 4). He trusted His Father’s Word and will to provide his needs the right way. He would suffer as our perfect Substitute to fulfill all righteousness for us. He would go to the cross to suffer and die for all our sinful lack of trust in God. He would commit His life into His Father’s hands to the end, to win our forgiveness and eternal life. It is Jesus’ perfect trust and obedience which the Father now counts to us.
When Satan tempts us doubt God’s care, let us use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Here we know that God loved us so much that He gave His Son to save us. He has made us His true children through Baptism and faith in Jesus, cleansed of sin and clothed in His righteousness (Acts 2:38-39; Galatians 3:26-27). He has sealed us by His Holy Spirit for eternal life. Therefore, we need not use sinful means to be satisfied; God gives us abundant life in His Son (John 10:10). His Word and promises empower us to do as Scripture says: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). For we live by every Word that comes from the mouth of God, and Satan cannot bear to hear that Word.
2) When Satan tries to enslave us by his lies
Next, let us use the sword of the Spirit when Satan tries to enslave us by his lies. “Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours’” (vs. 5-7).
It is like Satan’s temptation of Eve. After sowing seeds of doubt, he follows with an outright lie. He told Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, saying: “you will not surely die… you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). You will be wise. You will have so much more. That was a lie. So was Satan’s claim that he owned and ruled the world and could give all its power and glory to Jesus. The temptation is clear: If Jesus just did a little act of worship to Satan, He could at once become the great Messiah-King He wanted to be. Why go down the long and difficult path of the cross and suffering, if He could rule the world in glory right now?
We know the consequences of obeying Satan’s lies. Instead of getting the glorious life he promises, we become his slaves. How many bow to the worldly riches and pleasures he promises, instead of serving God alone? They think they are finding life to the full, but Jesus warns: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Satan wants to enslave us in idolatry, to get us to put anything before God, so that we really serve him instead. If it takes certain pleasures, riches, or fame to seduce us – if it takes the whole world to lure us into hell, he offers it with a smile. So to whom do we bow? Do we listen to Jesus’ Word of life. Or do we listen to the calls of the world Satan employs to lure us away from our Savior into his service?
Again, when Satan tries to enslave us by his lies let us use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Here we know that we have a far better life than Satan could ever offer. Jesus has given His life in love to redeem us from sin, death, and Satan! He has won for us eternal life and riches beyond compare in His heavenly Kingdom! It moves us to say: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Jesus’ truth sets us free from Satan’s lies and empowers us to say: “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (vs. 8).
3) When Satan twists Scripture to make us act recklessly
Finally, let us use the sword of the Spirit when Satan twists Scripture to make us act recklessly. “Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,” and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone”’” (vs. 9-11).
Satan referred to God’s promise in Psalm 91. He suggested that if Jesus trusted God’s Word so much, He should show it by jumping from the top of the temple. After all, if He were a true Son wouldn’t God protect Him? But Satan misused Scripture. There God encourages humble trust in His protection as we go about our godly callings and duties. But Satan tempts Jesus to act in reckless pride, outside of the calling His Father gave Him.
There are times we may need to risk our life, if our God-given calling and duty requires defending our country, saving others from danger, defending the truth of the Gospel, etc. Experiencing life-threatening danger in such times is in love for God and man, and we can do it in faith that He is keeping us in His care. But if we bring unnecessary evil and danger on ourselves to test how God will save us, this is sinful pride, not humble faith. We cannot expect God’s protection in the path of reckless and faithless pride.
As the father of lies tempted Jesus there at the temple, so he tempts many today in the church. Satan has false teachers twisting God’s Word to suit evil desires. They lead people to disregard the danger of sin and throw themselves into lifestyles God’s Word condemns. By his lies, Satan deludes many into thinking they are safe in their way.
Satan tempts us to excuse sin by saying, “God promises to forgive me, so I’m safe. I’m baptized, so I can live as I want.” Satan would have us throw ourselves recklessly into a path of sin, forgetting that it is possible to fall away from true faith and perish eternally. God does not promise to reward misuse of His Word and testing of His grace.
Again, Jesus answered temptation with the sword of the Spirit. He used Scripture to interpret Scripture correctly. As we take His Word of forgiveness and salvation to heart, we do not want to use it to test His grace. We want to use the sword of the Spirit as we say with Jesus in Deuteronomy 6:16: “You shall not tempt the LORD your God” (vs. 12).
It concludes: “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time” (vs. 13). Satan had met his Conqueror. As our Savior, Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). In every way we have fallen, He has stood firmly against temptation. He has taken all our sins away to the cross. He has crushed Satan’s head and freed us from his tyranny. In Christ, God forgives us. God no longer counts our sins against us, but only the perfect life His Son lived for us.
Now we have our Savior’s promise. Since “He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). So let us call on Jesus, who is our Righteousness and Redemption. Let us pray for His help against temptation; and let us use the same weapon He used – the sword of the Spirit, His powerful Word.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.