Satan knows the word of God, and he will use it against you.
The Holy Spirit had led Jesus into the wilderness, specifically with the intent that he would be tempted by Satan. Jesus’s identity had just been confirmed in his baptism, but now it was time to prove it. It was time to show Satan that he no longer ruled over the earth. A new authority, the rightful authority, had arrived, and he would be the one to rule and reign from this point on.
Satan tries to lure Jesus into his trap. Twice he attempts to test Jesus’s identity. “If you are the Son of God…”, he said.
Then he offers Jesus everything, but only if he will bow down to Satan and worship him. He will give him fame, fortune, and power. Jesus will rule over the earth, and everyone will know.
Except Jesus already knows that he will rule over the earth. He understands who he is. He understands what God has said about him. And so he continues to put his relationship with his father, the Father, in the first place. To this last temptation, he says:
“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Matthew 4:10
What is the difference between how Jesus responded to Satan versus how we respond when we are tempted, we listen, and then we fail, falling into sin? The difference is that Jesus not only knew the word of God. He did it. He lived it. He went on to put action to the words and live by them.
As Satan put Jesus to the test, asking him about his identity, Jesus responded:
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus was in fact living at that very moment without bread. He wasn’t eating. He was fasting, and he was content. If he had the word of God, he had what he needed. He was living what he quoted.
Then as Satan told him to throw himself down so that the angels would catch him, Jesus responded by saying:
“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
How many times do we try to bargain with God? How many times do we say, if you do this, then I will do that? Or if you will save me, or save someone else from this suffering, then I will believe. But if you won’t…
Jesus didn’t go there. He didn’t do this. He was already in the test. He would suffer and he knew it. He would be tested greatly, and he knew it. But he wouldn’t make try to make deals. Jesus would say, “Thy will be done”, trusting that God’s will is correct and best because he is the one who would truly know what is right.
And finally, as Satan offered him everything, if only Jesus would bow down and worship him.
But Jesus correctly pointed out that the only one that we must worship is the Lord our God.
So it is not enough to know the word of God. We must do it. We must obey it. We must live it. Only in this way will we, like Jesus, be able to stand when the whispers of temptation come.