As I’ve been looking back through some of my older posts, I’ve come across some stuff that has reminded me of many things that I’d forgotten or hadn’t thought of in the last several months, so I’ve decided to occasionally re-post an older article or two that are particularly worth returning to. Hence, Fallout Revisited. Here’s the first edition;
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Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.'”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”
Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.-Luke 4:1-13
A few quick observations on this text that I read this morning before I head off to sleep. Gotta get up early tomorrow, pack for a missions trip, and roll on out. Nothing like last minute preparation, eh? Anyways, as so often happens with the Word, I’ve read this story numerous times and heard it preached on or touched upon by various Christian leaders equally as many, and yet still there is much to gain from it.
This morning as I was mulling over this section of scripture it struck me that I have, without even realizing it, had the idea in my head that to fight temptation we quote scripture and perhaps pray, and that takes care of it. That’s the general idea I’ve heard drawn from this text many times, and it is the obvious conclusion when we see how Christ rebuffs Satan’s attacks consistently quoting from scripture. However, though that is true, my mind stopped short of this realization; when Christ quotes scripture and fights against Satan’s temptation, the temptation doesn’t disappear. In fact, in continues on for what may have been hours more as Satan took Christ around the world, offering him one thing after another.
Somewhere along the line I got this silly idea that when we resist Satan and temptation, they will immediately cease to fight. Oh how wrong that is! Time and time again we must cast ourselves upon the Word, trusting in it over and above our own desires. Our flesh and the devil are no weak foes; they conspire together in unwavering war, always waiting for a moment to pounce and make their entrance into the fortress of the heart. Which leads me to my second observation.
Somehow I’d ended up with only a partial truth, and a partial truth is no better than a partial leg or hand; it will not do nearly as much as the whole can do. What is an arm without a hand or a leg without a foot? So is a piece of what is true without the whole. It may allow you to hobble or grope for the thing which you seek, but progress will be slow and painful. In these verses, Luke makes the massively important note that Jesus was in the desert, “where for forty days and forty nights he was tempted”. Why is it that I’d always thought that he was just out in the desert fasting for all those days until the end where Satan appears, and then the temptation began? Ah, the foolishness of the human mind! How easily we ignore what is there for all to see. But, thanks be to God, He has revealed to me at least a small piece more of His truth! And this is what I see; Firstly, the intensity and forwardness of temptation varies from time to time. Perhaps one day it will be something subtle that slips in without notice.. Other times it is a hundred small pin pricks that lead to a large fall. At still others it is a temptation like Christ’s final day in the wilderness, where it is a cunning frontal attack by the enemy, obvious but nonetheless devastating for those who are not prepared. 
The story finishes with Luke stating that Satan left “until an opportune time.” It is when we are at our weakest that those brutal frontal attacks are most likely to come, if I understand this verse and my own experience right. Are you tired at the end of a long, wearisome week? Has there been many points where you have nearly fallen this day? Do not lower your guard. Just like the drowsy driver will turn up music or stop and splash water upon his face before driving further lest he sleep behind the wheel and destroy himself, so we must take action in order to keep ourselves alert when we are weak.
My second and final observation on Christ being tempted for forty days and forty nights is a call to rejoicing. Do not despair, weary saint! Christ has undergone forty days without food and under siege by the devil himself and withstood temptation of a magnitude that I do not think we are likely to face. Yet in the face of such great peril, Christ has overcome! Truly, God chose the weakest things in the world to make into not those which are. Why else would He ordain that His son be so tempted at the end of such an arduous fast?
Have courage on two fronts because of this, Christian. Firstly, Christ has overcome temptations far greater than you will ever endure. He is the sure winner of every contest, and He is your shield and salvation; a strong fortress in times of trouble and a captain who shall guide you through every perilous channel. Secondly, the Savior – God Himself – knows what it is to undergo every earthy tug towards sin, and He prays that you might overcome them all. We have a high priest who sympathizes with us because He has felt the sting of the whip. Do not think yourself beyond redemption or rescue, for as Satan said in an attempt to use a partial truth, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; the will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Though the deceiver misused those words, they are a glorious comfort to those who are called of God. Surely, you will be lifted in His hands so that you will not fall.
Temptation will come, it is sure, but be not overly afraid of those moments. Instead, keep guard, seek the whole truth, and rejoice that Christ has overcome and now guards and intercedes upon our behalf.
Now that is good news.
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