The Temptation of Jesus in the Desert 1–2 Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and walked in the desert for forty days, led by the Spirit and tempted by the devil. All these days Jesus did not eat anything, so that at the end of them he was exhausted with hunger. 3 And the devil said to Him: “If You -

Temptation in the desert (Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)1 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert in order for Him to undergo temptation from the devil. 2 After forty days and forty nights spent in fasting, Isa felt very hungry. 3 Then the tempter came and said to Him: “If you are the Son of the Most High

Temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13)12 Immediately the Spirit prompted Jesus to go into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan. Jesus was there alone, surrounded by wild animals, and angels served

Temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12–13)1 Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and the Spirit led Him into the desert. 2 There He was tempted by the devil for forty days. All this time Isa did not eat anything and in the end he felt very hungry. 3 Then the devil said to Him: “If You are the Son

IV Sermon of John the Baptist in the desert. Baptism of Jesus Christ. His removal to the desert and temptation from the devil When in distant Nazareth the Savior’s divine-human maturity came to an end, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, in the same solitude, that “angel” had already matured,

Temptation of Jesus Christ in the desert. Bible Commentary

QUESTION FROM NATALIA
Matthew 4:1. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” I can’t understand what kind of Spirit this is? Do you mean the Holy Spirit? What for?? No, I understand why, for temptation, but why? Was there no trust in Jesus, or was this an indication for people to strengthen their faith? Or for what else?

Hello, Natalia! Based on the context, we can see that it was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus Christ into the wilderness. In the book of the prophet Isaiah there is a message about how Jesus Christ is sent to the messianic ministry by the Spirit of God.

“Listen to Me, Jacob and Israel, My called: I am the same, I am the first and I am the last. My hand founded the earth, and My right hand stretched out the heavens; I will call them, and they will appear together... Come to Me, listen to this: I did not speak in secret at first; from the time this happens, I have been there; and now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent me.”(Isa. 48:12-16).

Jesus Christ went into the desert to meditate alone on His mission. Through fasting and prayer, He wanted to prepare Himself for the sacrificial path that lay ahead of Him.

Satan came for temptation later, after forty days of fasting. The word temptation used in this place is also translated as test. Therefore God tests as He “is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone”(James 1.13), and the devil tempts. God allows the devil to tempt us, this is a kind of test of our faith and strength, a test of our character.

It was the Spirit of God that led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. It is interesting that Jesus Himself did not bring temptation upon Himself. We often, on the contrary, go where we shouldn’t, and then we say the devil has misled us. Most often, you don’t even have to blame the devil, since the Bible tells us: “Everyone is tempted, being drawn away and enticed by his own lust.”(James 1:14)

Christ had to atone for the fall of Adam by taking on human flesh. But when the tempter tempted Adam, the nature of the first man was not weakened by sin. He was in the prime of his life, in the fullness of his mind and physical development. He was surrounded by the glory of Eden and interacted daily with the heavenly inhabitants. When Jesus went into the desert to fight Satan, everything was different.

For four thousand years, the human race has weakened physically, morally, and mentally. Our Savior accepted human nature in all its physical imperfections. He put on human nature, which tends to succumb to temptation, so that later, having withstood all temptations, He could understand each of us. We cannot understand the pain of another until we experience the same ourselves. Likewise, Christ had to go through all temptations in order to understand and help each of us.

“Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who CANNOT sympathize with our weaknesses, but who, like us, is TEMPTED in all things, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”(Heb. 4:14-16).

At the heart of the first great temptation of Christ (as well as the first couple in Eden) was lust and gluttony. Where the fall began, our redemption should have begun. Where Adam fell by indulging his lusts, Christ had to overcome. From the time of Adam to the days of Christ, self-indulgence constantly increased the power of carnal desires until they acquired almost unlimited power over man. People have become so degraded that they are unable to overcome their passions on their own. For man's sake, Christ stood victorious in an extremely severe trial. For our sake He showed self-control that overcame hunger and fear of death. This first victory meant that he would gain the upper hand in other battles with the forces of darkness. This is an assurance to everyone struggling with sin that victory will certainly be won.

Sergey Larionov

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This passage is said to prove the existence of such a being as the “devil,” who tempted Jesus into sin by offering Him and leading Him into temptation.

Comments

1. Jesus was “in every way tempted like [us]” (Heb. 4:15), moreover, “everyone is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own lust” (James 1:14). We are all tempted by the “devil” of our own and all too often evil lusts. Jesus was tempted in the same way. Our temptations do not come from the evil one, who suddenly appears next to us and begins to push us towards sin, for sin and temptation come “from within, from the heart of man” (Mk 7:21), for it, the human heart, is the source of all wickedness. Jesus was tempted in all points just as we are (Hebrews 4:15,16), and in this He became a very real example for us. Paul, borrowing the language of the “tempter” who tempted Jesus, speaks of temptation, but of Christians (1 Thess. 3:5). Only in Matthew is it written that Jesus fasted throughout the temptation, and only from Matthew can we learn how and when to fast (cf. Matthew 16:8-16 with Matthew 9:14,15). Knowing that we are not tempted by a literal being called “Satan,” the conclusion naturally arises that Jesus, who became an example for us in everything, was not tempted by such a being.

2. It is obvious that the temptations of Jesus cannot be considered to have actually happened.

From Matthew 4:8 it follows that Jesus was taken up to a very high mountain, where all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory were shown to Him “in a moment of time.” There is no mountain on earth so high that one can see “all the kingdoms of the world” from it. And how, even from a very high mountain, could one see all their glory? In any case, planet Earth is a ball, and from one point it is impossible to survey its entirety.

From the comparison of Matthew 4 with Luke 4 it is clear that temptations occurred in in different order. Mark 1:13 says that Jesus “was... in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan,” while Matthew 4:2-3 says: “And having fasted forty days and forty nights, he was finally hungry. And the tempter (Satan) came to Him.” The Scriptures cannot contradict themselves, which means that the same temptations of Jesus in the desert were repeated. And an obvious example of this is turning stones into bread. It would not be an exaggeration to assume that all these temptations took place within Jesus. After all He had exactly the same nature as we do, not only spiritually, but also physically, and therefore His spiritual imagination worked just as brightly as ours. In some people, several days spent without food causes a semi-fainting state (cf. 1 Samuel 30, 12: “and his spirit was strengthened in him” - Hebrew, Church Slavonic). The visible similarity between the loaves of bread with stones, which is also spoken of in Matthew 7:9, undoubtedly aroused in His hunger-weary consciousness the temptation to create bread, but it was immediately extinguished remembrance of the word of God.

It may very well be that the description of the temptations of Jesus was recorded by the Evangelists from the words of Jesus Himself, told by Him in figurative language, where He especially emphasized what seemed important to Him, as can be seen from Matthew 4 and Luke 4.

It does not seem plausible that the devil moved Jesus several times through the desert and the streets of Jerusalem, placing him on the wing of the temple - all this in front of the curious Jews. Josephus says nothing about incidents of this kind, but if they had actually happened, they certainly would not have gone unnoticed. The same is true if these temptations occurred several times over the course of forty days, or, according to at least twice, if they happened at the end of this period (judging by their different order in Matthew and Luke), Jesus simply would not have had enough time for this, for the devil erected It's on a high mountain, and the closest one high mountain, most likely was Mount Hermon, far in the north of Israel. In order to climb it, descend and return to the desert, in order to then do the same thing again, it is simply impossible. All His temptations took place in the desert, where He remained all these forty days, constantly tempted by the devil, who left Him only at the very end (Matthew 4:11). If Jesus was tempted every day, and the temptations occurred only in the desert, then He could not possibly have visited Jerusalem and traveled to a very high mountain. This means that all this could not have happened literally.

If the devil is a literal being with no respect for the word of God, main goal which is to make people sin, then why did Jesus quote the Scriptures in order to defeat him? According to popular belief, there was no way this could remove it away. Please note that every time When tempted, Jesus Christ mentioned words from the Bible. If this devil was the evil lusts in the heart of Jesus Himself, then it is understandable how the word of God, which also dwelt in His heart, reminded Him of how He could overcome His evil lusts. And Ps 119:11 is especially suitable here, in which it predicts what Jesus Christ experienced in the wilderness: “I hid in my heart Your word so as not to sin against You.”

The fact that the temptations of Jesus took place within Him is also evident from their descriptions in Matthew, for Matthew first writes about the temptation on the wing of the temple, and then on high mountain, writes as if it were some kind of ascent to heaven. It is quite possible that Paul was thinking exactly about this when he wrote that Jesus did not consider it robbery to be equal with God in what He should have achieved, but on the contrary, step by step He humbled Himself, humbling Himself even to death, and death on the cross (Phil 2:6-8).

3. “And having finished all the temptation, the devil departed from Him until time " However, nothing further is said about how this creature later tempted the Lord during His ministry. And yet, all these three temptations were experienced again and again later by Jesus, and all three found their last and most powerful reflection, of course, on the cross. So, for example, the words “throw yourself down” can be compared with the words of the Jews (again the association of the Jews with the devil) who tempted Jesus to come down from the cross. The similarity between “Satan” and Judaism simply hurts the eyes. The entire narrative of temptation sounded to first-century listeners like a discussion between Jewish rabbis and their disciples. “The stories written by Matthew and Luke are composed of three parts and are not like the disputes of the scribes, who supported their arguments here and there with words from the Scriptures.” (1) . The Gospel of John omits much that was written in the Synoptic Gospels, but it mentions the main thing, although in a slightly different form (2) . It seems that John had a similar description of temptations in John 6:1-14, which tells how the Jews tempted Jesus to give them a sign that He was the Messiah so that He would give them bread, as was once given to Israel manna in the desert. In this case, John equates the Jews and their way of thinking with “Satan” who tempted Him in the wilderness. The following parallels between the temptation in the wilderness and what was later experienced by the Lord, if To believe John 6, they say that the “devil” who tempted the Lord Jesus returned to Him (at the same time, pay attention to how the Jews play the role of “Satan”).

Temptations in the Wilderness in John

The crowd of Jews wanted to make Jesus king (John 6:15).

Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the (Jewish?) world.

The Jews asked for a miracle with bread (John 6:31).

Satan suggested that He also create bread miraculously.

The disciples (from the Jews) wanted Jesus to go to Jerusalem and show His power (John 7:3).

Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem, tempting Him to show His power.

A more detailed account of the birth of Jesus

John 1:1-14.

The Great Commandment of Preaching

John 14:12; 15,8,16; 17,18,23; 20.21.

In all the synoptic Gospels, immediately before the description of the breaking of bread and the crucifixion, the Olivet prophecy of the Lord is recorded.

In the Gospel of John this prophecy is omitted, but instead the conversation of the Lord with His disciples in the upper room is recorded. For John, the “day” of the Son of Man becomes the “hour” of His glorification (John 12:23). “Coming”, “in that day”, “conviction (condemnation) of the world” - all these phrases used by John give us the opportunity to feel the presence of the Lord already now. The Judgment of Christ, although, of course, will take place in the future, is already underway, has already begun and is happening today.

In all three Synoptic Gospels, immediately before the transfiguration of Jesus Christ on the mountain, Peter's “confession” is mentioned. The Gospel of John says nothing about the transfiguration. Perhaps the confession of Thomas was recorded in chapter 20 instead?

The need for water baptism.

Description of the breaking of bread.

It is said that many passages of the Old Testament were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus.

The Synoptic Gospels trace the literal genealogy of Jesus' origins, or at least part of it.

John 3:3-5.

In the Gospel of John (John 6:48-58), John emphasizes that in order to truly have eternal life, it is necessary to absorb Jesus Christ, whose images are the bread and blood. It seems that John speaks about this exactly this way, and not otherwise, so that believers, by performing the rite of breaking bread, could have eternal life.

John also emphasizes the same thing in figurative language: “And the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).

The Gospel of John speaks of Jesus as if He somehow existed in God's purposes from the beginning, but “became flesh” by being born of Mary.

-The Lord saw and understood the similarity of His situation in the desert with the situation in which Israel found itself at one time, and therefore applied what was written in Deuteronomy about Israel to Himself. A similar example is also in the way He quoted Mal 3, 1(“I am sending My angel, and he will prepare the way before Me”): “I am sending My angel before You, who will prepare Your way before You” (Matthew 11:10).

The personification of the sinful inclinations of the Lord’s heart in the form of a creature called “the devil” speaks of what a deep division took place in Him between His flesh and spirit - not like with us, when one is mixed with the other so that it is impossible to distinguish where one is. , and where is the other in our semi-spirituality. It may very well be that with this in mind, He broke the bread (the image of His body, the image of those who believe in one faith) in half, in order to thereby show the existing division in Himself (Matthew 26:26). 1 Corinthians 1:13 emphasizes the division between the flesh and the spirit, which is so clearly revealed in the thoughts of separation and crucifixion: “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you?”

It may very well be that the aloud quotation of Deut 6:13, “Fear the Lord thy God,” was accompanied by the mental continuation of Deut 6:14, “Do not follow other gods,” thereby equating the pagan idols with the evil desires of your heart. A little earlier, in Deut 6:6,7, a warning was recorded that neglecting the repetition of the law would entail idolatry, so that Christ knew that if He neglected the word of God, He would become a slave to His evil lusts. Thus, it turns out that the purpose of the temptation of Jesus Christ was to find out whether He could keep the words of God in His heart (Deut 8:2), or whether He could not, as Israel could not do in the desert.

The Lord God alone has the authority to give the kingdom (Dan 4:29). That Jesus was tempted to take this power (Mt 4:9) speaks of His temptation to be equal with God. And Phil 2:6 says just this, that despite the fact that Christ had the same perfect spirit as God the Father, He still did not dared to think of being equal to Him in at least something. And this once again tells us about His consciousness, about His sinless soul, about the temptation of its exaltation, to be equal to God. It is quite possible that this was what He was thinking about when He discussed John 10:34-3 6that people in the Old Testament were called gods, and He, although He had every right to do so, still did not call Himself that, calling Himself only the Son of God. The fact that in many Old Testament places He was called Yahweh was a temptation for Him to be called by the same name, for, after all, He still revealed Himself as the Lord God Himself. Jesus Christ knew that He could give power over kingdoms to whomever He wanted (Luke 4:6), thinking about giving it to Himself. And yet, later He promised to give us power over the cities of the Kingdom, from which it can be understood that He, being perfect and righteous, also went through the temptation not to share His power with us sinners.

The same temptation, which revealed His carnal thoughts, was taken from Ps 90:11,12 (Matt 4:6): “He will command His angels concerning You.” This psalm primarily referred to Joshua, who was guarded by an Angel on his journey through the desert when the apostate Israelites were destroyed by the destroying Angel. A special reason for his protection lies in Psalm 90:1, for he still continued to remain in the tabernacle, no doubt in order to hear the word of God spoken by the Angel to his master Moses as often and as often as possible (Exodus 33:11). Our Lord was in exactly the same position, for He, in contrast to all Israel, alone devoted Himself entirely to the word of God. Therefore, it was a strong temptation for Him to abuse the power of the Angel, thanks to which He achieved His high spirituality.

There are hints that for the devil to depart from the Lord, it took Him 40 days. And this is more suitable if such a confrontation took place in the soul inside, rather than an external struggle with some evil person. And the fact that this battle lasted 40 days shows how difficult it was for our Lord to win.

Standing on a very high mountain, the Lord saw the coming Kingdom of God (1) , which was a type of Rev. 21:10. But there are other parallels with Revelation, when “the kingdoms of the world” = Rev 11:15; Matthew 4,9,10 = Rev 22,8,9; Matthew 4:5 = Rev 21:1,10. It is as if our Lord, in giving the Revelation, was remembering His temptations in the wilderness, rejoicing that because He had overcome them then, He now possesses all these things, and therefore can give them all to us. The temptation in the wilderness was to take power over the Kingdom and reign in Himself, without God, in the sense of not showing and not giving glory to Him as it should, even if the reign itself would differ little from the reign according to the laws and spirit of God. Judging by the reality and strength of such a temptation, it is quite possible to assume that if Jesus had succumbed to it, the Lord God would have given Him authority over the Kingdom, just as He could have allowed Him to attract angels to His aid in Gethsemane. For Jesus Christ, the fact that His Father could change His intentions for the salvation of mankind, depending on the desire and possibility of Himself, must have been not only a very strong temptation, but also a strong incentive to fulfill not His will, but the Father. It is for this reason that the Lord God experienced great joy from the fact that Jesus Christ made all His inner efforts to achieve His great victory how about Tom is written, for example, in Isaiah 49.5-9.

There is no doubt that, standing on the mountain and looking at the kingdom of God, Jesus Christ remembered Moses on Mount Nebo, who because of his sin could not enter it. And this memory must have had a strong effect on Him (Deut 34:1). Remembering the words from Deut 8:3 about the living bread (word) of God, He had to also remember Deut 8:9, where it was promised to eat this bread without restrictions in the kingdom of God.

“Experienced in everything”

If this is true, if this actually applies to our Lord, then it means that He was tempted in everything just as we are tempted, and therefore each of us, looking at our own temptations, can imagine how we were tempted our Lord and draw from this not only consolation, but also inspiration. Moreover, this means that He had to experience many and very different temptations. Good one an example can be found in Ps 70:9,18, where the description of the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross is compared with the description of the weakness and impotence of old age. Such words should be a great comfort to the lonely aged brother, for the Lord Jesus also knew his feelings, even though He died at the age of only 33 years. We have already discussed the suggestion that Jesus Christ was tempted to have an illicit relationship with Mary Magdalene. But this temptation becomes quite probable if you know that Jesus Christ Himself, like all His brothers, had to have weakness for women.

Attitude to the people

The incessant pressure of the crowd must have been another temptation to irritation, especially when all the thoughts of the crowd revolved around the loaves and fishes, around their own grievances, around their material and spiritual needs - and all this, despite the harmonious teaching He carefully set forth. And yet above all irritation was His love for mankind. Despite the very small number of His converts, so much so that He felt He had failed (Isa. 49.4), He still constantly felt compassion for people, even despite their obviously pitiful nature. And this is so different from our modern feeling of despair, which arises despite the fact that many people listen to us, respond to newspaper advertisements and distributed leaflets, because we really want to quickly and find out better what motivates them. Our Lord did not do this, for He devoted all His strength to preaching, for it is written: “Seeing the crowds of people, He had compassion on them” (Matthew 9:36). Nothing in the text gives any reason to feel “pity” for these crowds - the reader is left to imagine for himself both the great weariness of our Lord, and the temptation arising in the depths of his soul to turn away from these crowds, from these exhausted and scattered sheep without a shepherd. How many times must He have been tempted to turn away from them, from His duty to preach and sympathize with them. And yet, at the end of His life, He could say with triumph in his voice: “The Lord God (Angels? Yahweh Elohim) opened My ear, and I did not resist, I did not turn back” (Isaiah 50:5), - from which it is clear that He still really wanted to do this.

Relations with the Jews must have been our Lord's greatest stumbling block. His love for all things Jewish must have tempted Him to immediately establish the Kingdom by delivering His people from Roman rule. However, His own perfection and excellent knowledge of the Law of Moses also tempted Him to despise the very letter of the law. So Isaiah 56.2 motivates by speaking about the blessedness of the man and son of man (Jesus Christ) ... “who keeps the Sabbath,” although He was its Lord. The real temptation for Him was to come down from the cross in order to prove that He was in fact their King (Matthew 27:42). The temptation was for Him to perform amazing miracles in Nazareth and before His own brothers, so that they would believe in Him (John 7:5), especially if we imagine that by doing so He would truly convert a lot of people. His attitude towards the Jews is quite clearly expressed in Ps 109:4: “for my love they are hostile to me, but I pray” (for their repentance?) However, even His great zeal for God was also tempted, so that it, this zeal, turned into bitterness and righteous anger towards the Jews. Its completely complete and the thorough rebuke of the Pharisees in Luke 11:42-52 must have greatly increased the adrenaline in His blood. When “the scribes and Pharisees began to come hard at Him, forcing answers from Him to many things, looking for Him and trying to catch something from His mouth in order to accuse Him” (Luke 11:53,54), then He, thanks to His exceptional restraint, I was able not to fall for their bait. His recent irritated exclamation: “How long will I be with you and bear with you?” (Luke 9:31), could well mean: “How much longer will I be upset because of your spiritual slowness?”

One of our Lord's greatest temptations must have been the realization that His own spiritual salvation was at risk for the salvation of those around him. He must have been almost sure that He needed to stay in Nazareth for some more time, for His own perfection, and then go and die in Jerusalem, which could save Him from unnecessary temptations during the 3-year ministry. And yet He took a calculated risk, because His I was constantly filled with strong love for my neighbor. Reflection on some of the unspoken details of the Lord’s parables sometimes reveals some other meaning that the Lord probably also wanted to convey to us. So, for example, the Good Samaritan took much more risk by walking rather than driving along a dangerous road (cf. modern translation), and it was much easier for him to be attacked when his donkey was carrying the victim. The good Samaritan, but despised by everyone, who did for the victim what the law could not do (priest, Levite, etc.), was the image of Jesus Christ Himself. Or think of the shepherd who goes out alone at night in search of his lost sheep, who, in the dark, in the cold rain and in the mud, risks climbing steep cliffs, instead of sitting by a warm fire that night, along with obedient sheep.

The same thing is said in John 10:12: “But the hireling (because he is not a good shepherd) ... sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees.” In this parable, as in many, there is a share of unreality that emphasizes and highlights the essence of this parable. The shepherd would not have run at the sight of a simple wolf (and why didn’t Christ use a more suitable image of a lion here?) It’s just that the innate cunning and cunning of the wolf itself suggests comparison with the devil of human nature, from whom the Lord, for the sake of His own safety, was tempted to flee , leaving us to the mercy of fate.

Finally, we should not forget the purpose of our Lord’s testing of temptations. Hebrews 2:17 says that it was through temptation that the Lord became like us. From this verse it is clear that He was not at first like this (which, of course, does not concern His nature), but nevertheless became like us. From Hebrews 2:18 it follows that He became our high priest not only because He shared our nature with you, but also because He shared our temptations. And this improvement of His in becoming like His brethren through temptation began at the very beginning of His ministry.

Note

(1) The fact that Christ saw “all the kingdoms of the universe in a moment of time” (Luke 4:5) suggests that He did see the Kingdom, “all the kingdoms of the universe” as they would be in the future (cf. from Rev 11:15).

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”. ()

Exposition 4:1–11. Why did Christ endure temptations in the desert? - The benefits of temptation. – You shouldn’t look for temptations yourself. – Fasting is a weapon against the devil. – Why Christ fasted for 40 days. – The meaning and significance of the three temptations. – By His example, Christ teaches how to defeat the devil. – A variety of means used for seduction. – You shouldn’t search hard for a quiet life. – Prosperous sinners will be subjected to the most severe punishment. – Certainty of future judgment and retribution; evidence of this.

1. “Then”: when is this? After the descent of the Holy Spirit, after a voice came from above and announced: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”! And here’s what’s amazing: Jesus, as the evangelist says, was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. Since Christ did and endured everything for our teaching, even now He allows Himself to be taken into the wilderness and put into battle with the devil so that none of those who were baptized, if after baptism he happened to endure even more previous temptations, would not be embarrassed by them, as something unexpected, but would courageously endure every temptation, as if it were an ordinary matter. You did not receive weapons to be idle, but to fight. That is why God does not prevent temptations from visiting you. Firstly, He allows them so that you will know that you have become much stronger; secondly, so that you remain humble and do not exalt yourself with the greatness of the gifts, seeing that temptations can humble you; thirdly, so that the evil spirit, still doubting your departure from him, seeing your patience in temptations, will be convinced that you have completely abandoned him and retreated from him; fourthly, so that through this you become harder and stronger than any iron; fifthly, so that you receive clear evidence of the treasures entrusted to you. In fact, the devil would not have approached you if he had not seen you on highest degree honor. That is why he himself and at the beginning rebelled against Adam, because he saw him adorned with high dignity. That is why he armed himself against Job when he saw him crowned and glorified by the Lord of all. Why, you will object, is it said: “Pray not to fall into temptation”()? But this is why the evangelist tells you that Jesus did not come on his own, but was led into the wilderness by divine providence, which shows that we ourselves should not fall into temptation, but when we are involved in them, we must stand courageously. And look where the Spirit led Him; not to the city, not to the square, but to the desert. It was as if he wanted to attract the devil, giving him the opportunity to tempt him not only with hunger, but also with the solitary place itself, because the devil then especially attacks us when he sees that we are in solitude - only with ourselves. So at the beginning he approached his wife, finding her alone, without a husband. When he sees us in community with others, he is not so bold and does not dare to attack. And for this reason, therefore, we all need to gather together more often, so that the devil cannot conveniently ensnare us. So, the devil found Christ in the desert, and in the impassable desert (that such was the desert, Mark testifies to this, saying: "I was with the animals"– (). Look with what cunning, with what slyness he approaches, and what time he waits. He begins not when Jesus was fasting, but when he was hungry. From here know how great a blessing and how powerful a weapon against the devil is fasting; know and learn that, having washed yourself in the waters of baptism, you should not indulge in pleasures, drunkenness and rich foods, but observe fasting. That is why Christ himself fasted - not because He needed fasting, but for our teaching. Serving the womb was the guilt of sins that existed before baptism. Therefore, just as a doctor, having cured a sick person, forbids him to do what caused the disease, so here Christ established fasting after baptism. And gluttony was driven out of paradise; it was also the cause of the flood in the time of Noah; it also brought down fire on the Sodomites. Although their crime was voluptuousness, the root of both executions came from gluttony, as Ezekiel points out when he says: “that was the iniquity” Sodomites, that they are proud and "satiety and idleness"(). So the Jews, having begun to drink and overeat, gave themselves over to lawlessness and committed the greatest crimes.

2. That is why Christ fasted for forty days, showing us saving medicine. He does not extend beyond this, so as not to make the very truth of the Incarnation doubtful by the excessive greatness of the miracle. Now this cannot be, because even before Him, Moses and Elijah, strengthened by divine power, were able to endure the same long fast. And if Christ had fasted longer, then this could have served as a reason for many to doubt the truth of the Incarnation. So, having fasted forty days and nights, "finally hungry"(), thus giving the devil an opportunity to approach Him in order to show by His struggle with him how he must overcome and win. This is what wrestlers do, wanting to teach their students to overcome and defeat those who fight them; They deliberately grapple with others in the palaestra, so that the students notice the body movements of the fighters and learn the art of victory. The same was done there. Desiring to attract him to the fight, Christ discovered His hunger in front of him, and when he approached, He took him, and then once, twice, and a third time he overthrew him with His characteristic ease. But, so that a too cursory glance at these victories does not reduce your benefit, we will consider each struggle in detail, starting with the first. When, they say, Jesus was hungry, “The tempter came to Him and said: If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread”(). After I heard a voice come from heaven and testify: "This is My beloved Son"(), having heard John’s equally glorious testimony about Him, the tempter suddenly sees Him hungry. This perplexes him: remembering what was said about Jesus, he cannot believe that this was a simple man; on the other hand, seeing Him hungry, he cannot admit that it was the Son of God. Being in such perplexity, he approaches Him with words of doubt. And just as once upon a time, having approached Adam, he invented something that did not exist at all in order to find out the truth, so now, not knowing clearly the ineffable mystery of the incarnation, and the one who is in front of him, insidiously weaves new nets in order to thus find out secret and remaining in the unknown. What is he saying? “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”. He did not say: if you are hungry; But: "if you are the Son of God", thinking to seduce Him with praises. He keeps silent about hunger so that it does not seem that he is putting it on display for Him and wants to humiliate Him. Not comprehending the greatness of the actions related to the economy of salvation, he considered this to be shameful for Jesus. Therefore, he flatters Him and insidiously reminds only of His dignity. What about Christ? Putting down arrogance and showing that what happened was not at all shameful and not unworthy of His wisdom, He Himself expresses and reveals what the tempter kept silent about out of flattery, and says: . So the tempter begins with the needs of the womb. Look at the trick evil spirit, with which he begins the struggle, and how he remains true to his cunning: by which he cast out the first man from paradise and subjected him to countless disasters, this is where his seduction begins, that is, by incontinence of the womb. And now you will hear from many madmen that the womb for them was the cause of countless evils. But Christ, wanting to show that even the most cruel violence cannot force a virtuous person to do anything inappropriate, he hungers, and, however, does not obey the suggestion of the devil, teaching us not to obey him in anything. Since the first person, having listened to the devil, angered God and broke the law, the Lord in every possible way inspires you not to listen to the devil, even when what he demands is not a violation of the law. But what am I saying – a crime? At least the demons suggested something useful, and then the Lord forbids listening to them. So he commanded the demons to be silent even when they proclaimed that He was the Son of God. So Paul forbade them to shout, although what they said was useful; but in order to completely disgrace them and block all their malicious intent against us, despite the fact that they preached saving truths, he drove them away, blocked their lips and commanded them to remain silent (). That is why Christ did not agree to the words of the devil even now, but what did he say? He answered him with words old testament: “Man cannot live by bread alone”. These words mean that God can feed the hungry with his words. By this Christ teaches us, despite hunger or any other suffering, never to depart from the Lord.

3. If someone says that the Savior should have shown His power, then I will ask him: for what and why? The devil said this not in order to believe himself, but in order, as he thought, to convict Christ of unbelief, since he deceived his first parents in the same way, and discovered that they had little faith in God. Having promised them something completely contrary to what God said, and having puffed them up with empty hopes, he plunged them into unbelief, and through this deprived them of the benefits that they possessed. But Christ does not express His consent to him, just as he later did to the Jews, who, led by his spirit, asked for signs, in both cases teaching us that if we can do anything, we should not do anything in vain and without reason, and even in cases of extreme need did not listen to the devil. What is this vile seducer starting to do now? Defeated by Jesus and finding himself unable to persuade Him, despite His intense hunger, to agree to his demand, the devil proceeds to another means and says; “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and in their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”(). Why does he add to every temptation: "if you are the Son of God"? As he did with his ancestors, so he does now. Just as then with the words: “In the day that you eat of them, your eyes will be opened.”() he slandered God, wanting to show by this that they were deceived, deceived and not benefited in the least, and now he is trying to instill the same thing, and as if he is saying: in vain God called You His Son, He led You into deception with this gift, if this is not so, then show us Your divine power. And since the Lord spoke to him in the words of Holy Scripture, he also cites the testimony of the prophet.

What about Christ? He was not indignant at this and did not become angry, but with great meekness he answers him again with the words of Holy Scripture: (). By this, Christ teaches us that we must defeat the devil not with signs, but with gentleness and long-suffering, and that we should not do anything just out of ambition, in order to show ourselves. Further: look how the madness of the tempter is visible in the very presentation of evidence. Both testimonies given by the Lord were given at the most opportune time, but those offered by him were taken indiscriminately, at random, and were not at all relevant to the matter, because in the words: “He will command His angels concerning You” We are not ordered to throw ourselves into the abyss; Moreover, this is not said about the Lord. But the Lord did not denounce his madness, although the devil cited the words of Scripture with offense to Him, and in a completely wrong sense. No one will demand such a thing from the Son of God; It is only the devil and demons who tend to throw themselves down, but God also has the ability to restore those who are lying down. If the Son of God needed to show His power, then, of course, it would not be by recklessly throwing himself from a height, but by saving others. And it is common for the devilish horde to rush into abysses and rapids; This is what the seducer who controls them always does. However, Christ does not reveal Himself even after these words, but still speaks to him as a man; words: “Man cannot live by bread alone”, And: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” they had not yet clearly discovered who He was, but they showed in Him common man. Do not be surprised that, speaking with Christ, he rushes in one direction or the other. Just as fighters, having received a mortal wound, and bleeding, rush unconscious in all directions, so he, struck by the first and second blows, begins to speak indiscriminately, whatever comes to mind, and thus proceeds to the third time for the fight. And erecting “He goes up to a very high mountain, shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and says to Him: I will give all this to You if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, “Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve.”(). Since the devil had now sinned against God the Father, calling the universe, which belonged to Him, his own, and dared to pretend to be God, as if he were the creator of the world, Christ finally forbade him, but not with anger, but Just: "go away Satan". Yes, and this was more of a command than a prohibition, because as soon as Christ said to him: “go away,” he immediately ran away and did not dare to tempt Him anymore.

4. How does Luke say that the devil has finished “all” temptation ()? It seems to me that, having mentioned the main temptations, he said: “everything,” because these temptations contain all the others. In fact, the sources of all countless evils are the following three vices: serving the belly, vanity, and excessive passion for wealth. Knowing this, the vile tempter saved the strongest temptation, that is, the desire for more, towards the end. He had a painful desire to express this temptation from the very beginning; but, like the strongest of the others, he saved it for the end. This is the law of his struggle: after all, to use what, in his opinion, can most conveniently overthrow the enemy. This is what he did with Job; so here too. Starting with what he considered to be the least important and weakest, he reaches the strongest. How should you defeat him? Just as Christ taught: to run to God, not to lose heart even in hunger, believing in Him who can feed us with words; and if we receive any blessings, do not tempt the Giver with them, but, being content with the glory of heaven, do not worry in the least about human things, and avoid excesses in everything. Truly, nothing exposes us to the power of the devil so much as the desire for more and covetousness. This can be seen even from what is happening now. And now there are those who say: “We will give all this to you if, when you fall, you worship us”; Although they are human by nature, they became instruments of the devil. So even then he not only attacked Christ himself, but also used others to help him, as the Evangelist Luke also shows, saying: "departed from Him for a time"(); With these words he makes it clear that the devil continued to attack Christ with his weapons. "And behold, the angels came and ministered to Him"(). While the battle was taking place, Christ did not allow the angels to appear, so as not to drive away the one who was to be caught. But when He exposed the devil in everything and forced him to flee, then the angels also appear. Know from here that after your victories over the devil, the angels will receive you with applause and will protect you in all cases. So they accepted and carried into Abraham's bosom Lazarus, who was tempted in the furnace of poverty, hunger and all kinds of sorrows. Christ, as I said before, revealed many things here that should happen to us too. So, since all this has happened for you, be jealous and imitate the victory of the Savior. If one of the demon’s servants or one of his like-minded people comes to you and, mocking you, says: “Move the mountain if you are a miracle worker and a great man!” - do not be indignant at this, do not express indignation, but answer with meekness, as your Master answered: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” . If he offers you glory, power and countless treasures, and demands worship for it, again stand courageously. He did this not only with the Lord of us all, but also against each of His servants every day he builds the same feats, not only in the mountains and deserts, but also in cities, in squares and in courts - not only by himself, but also through people, our brothers and sisters. So what should we do? Do not believe him at all, block your ears, hate him when he flatters, and the more he promises, the more you turn away from him. After all, he cast down Eve and subjected her to the greatest disasters by inflating her spirit with too high hopes. He is our implacable enemy, and wages an irreconcilable war with us. We are not trying so much for our salvation as he is for our destruction. So, let us turn away from him not only in words, but also in reality, not only in thought, but also in deeds, and we will not do anything pleasing to him. By doing this, we will fulfill everything that God wants. The devil promises us a lot, but not in order to give, but in order to take from us. He promises to deliver wealth through theft, in order to take away the kingdom and righteousness from us; spreads treasures on the earth, like a snare and a net, in order to deprive both these treasures and the heavenly ones; wants to enrich us here so that we will not have wealth there. When he cannot deprive us of the heavenly inheritance through wealth, he chooses another path - the path of poverty, as he did with Job. When he saw that wealth did not harm Job in any way, he tied a net of poverty, thus hoping to gain victory over him. What could be crazier than this? He who knew how to use wealth wisely will be all the more courageous in enduring poverty. He who was not addicted to wealth when he possessed it will not seek it when it is no longer there, just as blessed Job indeed did not seek it; on the contrary, in poverty he became even more glorious. Although the evil demon could have deprived him of his wealth, he not only did not deprive him of his love for God, but even strengthened it even more and, having taken everything from him, made Job enriched with even greater blessings, so that the devil did not even know what else and take action. The more he amazed him, the more he saw strength in him. And when, having tried all means, he did not receive any success, he finally resorted to an ancient weapon - to his wife, and, putting on the mask of compassion, very vividly and touchingly depicts his misfortunes and, as if wishing for his deliverance from disasters, gives disastrous advice. But with this he did not defeat Job; this amazing husband noticed his cunning, and with great prudence blocked the lips of his wife, who, at the suggestion of the devil, offered advice.

5. This is what we must do. Even if in the person of a brother, or a sincere friend, or a wife, or one of the people closest to us, the devil inspired us with something inappropriate, we should not judge words by face and take advice, but also by disastrous advice we should to draw conclusions about someone offering advice and to turn away from it. The devil even now often acts In a similar way: takes on the guise of compassion, and, pretending to be benevolent, gives us advice more harmful and harmful than any poison. His business is to flatter us, to our detriment; and God’s business is to punish us, for our good. So, let us not be deceived, let us not strive intensely for a quiet life: “Whom the Lord loves, he punishes” (), says Scripture. If we enjoy prosperity while living viciously, then all the more should we lament. When serving sin, we should always be afraid, but especially when we do not suffer any misfortune. When God sends us punishments, so to speak, in parts, he thereby facilitates the execution for sins; on the contrary, when he is patient about all our sins, he thereby preserves us for greater punishment if we remain in sins. If suffering is necessary for the righteous, then much more so for sinners. Look how great the long-suffering of God Pharaoh experienced and, finally, how cruelly he was executed for all his atrocities! How many crimes did Nebuchadnezzar commit until he finally suffered execution for everything! In the same way, the rich man of the Gospel, for the very fact that he did not suffer any disaster here, later became the most unfortunate. Having enjoyed the pleasures of this life, he passed into the next world to suffer execution for everything, and there he could no longer find any consolation in his suffering. Despite this, there are such cold and crazy people who always seek only the present and say such laughable words: “I will now enjoy all the real blessings, and then I will think about what is unknown; I will please the belly, I will be a slave of pleasures, I will not value real life much: give me today, and take tomorrow for yourself! What incredible madness! How do such people differ from goats and pigs ()? If the prophet does not want to consider as people those who rage against their neighbor’s wife, then who will condemn you when we say that those people are crazier than goats, pigs, and donkeys - people who consider unknown what is clearer than the obvious? If you no longer believe in anything else, then look at the torment of the demons, who try to harm us in everything, both in words and in deeds. You will not contradict the fact that they use all means to increase our carelessness, destroy the fear of Gehenna in us and make sure that we do not believe in the future judgment; but despite all this, they often shout and scream about the torments of hell. Why do they say the opposite of what they want? Of course, the cruelty of the torment they endure forces them to do this. They would never voluntarily admit that they were being tormented by dead people, or that they were suffering any kind of torment in general. Why did I say this? In order to show that demons also testify to Gehenna, although they do not want people to believe Gehenna; and you, having been awarded such a high honor, and having partaken of the ineffable mysteries, do not imitate the demons, but even they have become crazier. You will say: who came from hell and announced the torment there? But I ask: who came from heaven and announced that there is a God who created everything? Likewise, how do we know that we have a soul? If you want to believe only what you see, then you will doubt God, and the angels, and the mind, and the soul, and thus all the teachings of truth will disappear for you. However, if you want to believe only what is clear, then you should believe the invisible more than the visible. Although this is strange, it is nevertheless true and is recognized as undeniable by all people who have intelligence. And indeed, the eyes are often deceived not only in the invisible (they do not know it at all), but even in those things that we seem to see, because distance, and air, and the direction of thought on another object, and anger, and care and thousands of other reasons prevent them from seeing correctly. But the reflection of the soul, enlightened by the light of divine Scripture, represents the most accurate and not deceptive judgment about things. So, let us not vainly deceive ourselves, lest, with the carelessness of life that comes from such a teaching, we gather for ourselves the fiercest fire for the teaching itself. If there is no judgment, if we do not give an account of our deeds and do not receive a reward for our labors, then look where your blasphemy is taking you when you say that a righteous, man-loving and merciful God will despise such labors and exploits. And is this possible?

If nothing else enlightens you, then just look at your home life, and you will see all the absurdity of your thoughts. In fact, suppose that you were immeasurably cruel and inhuman, surpassing even the animals in your ferocity; but, being on the verge of death, you, of course, would not want to leave your zealous servant without a reward, but would set him free and reward him with money; and if you yourself, dying, can no longer do anything in his favor, then at least bequeath it to your heirs, ask them, convince them, try in every possible way so that he does not remain without a reward. If, being evil, you turn out to be so kind and philanthropic towards your servant, then God, infinite goodness, inexpressible philanthropy and kindness, will really despise and leave His servants uncrowned - Peter and Paul, James and John, who daily languished with hunger for His sake, were they imprisoned, tortured, drowned, given over to beasts, died every day and endured countless sufferings? Chairman at Olympic Games proclaims the name of the winner and crowns him; the master rewards the slave, the king the warrior; and in general, everyone pays his good servant as much as he can: is God alone, after how many labors and exploits, will he not give them either a small or a great reward? Will these righteous and pious men, who labored in every virtue, be in the same place as the adulterers, parricides, murderers and grave robbers? Is this conceivable? If there is nothing beyond the grave, if our existence is limited only to this life, then, indeed, the fate of both is the same. However, even in this case it is not the same. Suppose, as you think, that after death they will be in the same state, but here some of them spent all their time in peace, while others suffered. But what kind of tyrant, what kind of cruel and ferocious person would want to do this to slaves obedient to him? Do you see what excessive absurdity, and what is the end of such speculation? So, if you do not want to believe anything else, then come to your senses at least with this reasoning, leave your wicked thoughts, flee from vice, begin to work for virtue - and then you will clearly see that our fate is not limited to the boundaries of this life. And if someone asks you: who came from the other world and announced what was happening there? - answer him this way: none of the people (and even if someone came from there, most of the people would not believe him, thinking that he was bragging and exaggerating what he was talking about); but the Lord of the angels announced all this to us with full certification. So, what need do we have for human testimony, when He Himself, who will demand an answer from us, preaches daily that He has prepared both Gehenna and the kingdom, and provides us with clear evidence of all this? In fact, if He did not have to judge us, He would not send punishment here either. Further, how to explain the fact that some of evil people are punished here, but others are not? If God is impartial—which He really is—then why does He punish one and allow another to die without punishment? This is even more incomprehensible than what was said before. But if you kindly wish to listen to me, then I will resolve this bewilderment. How? God does not punish everyone here so that you do not despair of the resurrection, and do not stop expecting judgment, in view of the fact that everyone has already received reward here; Nor does he leave everyone unpunished, lest you again think that the universe is not governed by providence. He both punishes and does not punish. When He punishes, He makes it clear that from those who were not punished here, He will demand an account there; when he doesn’t punish, he makes you believe that after leaving this life there will be a terrible judgment. If He did not want to give everyone their due, then here too he would neither punish nor reward anyone. And now you see. that He stretched out the sky for you, and set on fire the sun, and founded the earth, poured out the sea and the air, established the course of the moon, assigned unchangeable laws to the seasons, and everything else makes His wave steadily complete its course. And our nature, and the nature of unreasonable creatures, reptiles, walking, flying, swimming, located in lakes, springs, rivers, mountains, forests, houses, in the air, in fields - plants, seeds, forest trees and growing in gardens, fruitful and not fruitful, in a word, everything, being moved by His never-tiring hand, contributes to the preservation of our life, and serves not only to satisfy our needs, but also to abundance. So, seeing such a beautiful order in the world - although we have not shown even the slightest part of it - do you dare to say that the One who arranged so many good things for you will despise you at the end of his life, and at death will leave you defeated along with the donkeys? and pigs? Having honored you with the priceless gift of piety, and through it making you equal to the angels, will He really despise you after your countless labors and exploits? Is it possible? Obviously not. It is clearer than the very rays of the sun; and if we remain silent, the stones will cry out about it. So, having realized all this, we will believe that after leaving this life we ​​will appear at the Last Judgment, we will give an account of all our deeds and, if we continue in sins, we will be subjected to torture and execution, and if we decide to pay even a little attention to ourselves, then let us be rewarded with crowns and unspeakable blessings; Having established ourselves in this faith, we will silence those who dissent, and we ourselves will enter the path of virtue, so that with appropriate boldness we may stand before that judgment and receive the blessings promised to us, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Each of us has heard the word “ temptation" Temptation means the occurrence of circumstances in a person’s life that force him to make a choice between righteousness and sin. This choice is accompanied by suffering to one degree or another and requires volitional effort. Volitional effort in in this case What is required is not the ordinary, but combined with faith in the Holy God. The power of temptation lies in its ability to influence the most vulnerable places of human nature. At the moment of temptation, a person may feel desire commit a sinful act, and no person can overcome the temptation without supernatural help from God. Why does temptation have such a strong influence? The answer lies in its origin: temptation does not arise on its own, but is the creation of Satan, who first tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. One of the main “tools” of temptation is lies (it is no coincidence that the Lord Jesus Christ called Satan the father of lies). Lies always accompany temptation, penetrating the human mind in one form or another. With the help of lies, a distorted picture of reality is created, describing the imaginary benefits of committing a sin. In Eve's case, the temptation was the promise of supernatural knowledge, as well as the assurance that no death would occur: “And the serpent said to the woman, No, you will not die, but God knows that on the day that you eat of them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, those who know good and evil (Gen.3:4,5)”. As we know, Adam and Eve received something completely different from what the tempter promised them. The result of this choice was grief, suffering, illness and death. Sin does not carry anything else within itself, no matter how beautiful it looks, and no matter what pleasures and benefits it offers a person. The impact of temptation is selective; it is different for each person depending on his inclinations towards one or another sin. Holy Bible describes very clearly which sinful aspects of man serve as the object of temptation: “ For whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of this world (1 John 2:16)" The lust of the flesh consists in the desire to satisfy the distorted or unnatural needs of the body (drunkenness, gluttony, fornication, etc.). The lust of the eyes corresponds to the desire to get rich, to have power. Worldly pride is expressed in a person’s vanity, lack of humility and exaltation over others. Every person experiences temptations; it is impossible to avoid them. But it is necessary to fight them, since it is in this struggle that a mature Christian is formed, strengthened in truth and righteousness. Without this struggle it is impossible to inherit eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ himself endured temptations that would be insurmountable for us.

Temptation of Christ in the desert

The Gospel of Luke tells that immediately after baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus Christ into the desert, where He had to confront the tempter: “There for forty days He was tempted by the devil and did not eat anything during these days, and after they were over, He was finally hungry. And the devil said to Him: If You are the Son of God, then command this stone to become bread (Luke 4: 2-3).” Satan tried to tempt Christ with the same temptations that act through “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” described by the Apostle John. Knowing that the Savior had not eaten for a long time and was hungry, he invites Christ to use Divine power to turn stones into bread. Behind this proposal was an attempt to induce Christ to make a choice to please the body and, thereby, disrupt His great feat. However, the Lord immediately repels the enemy’s attack with the Word of God: “ Jesus answered and said to him, “It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4)”.

Seeing that the Son of God cannot be influenced through the “lust of the flesh” to which most people are so much subject, Satan chooses a more subtle method: “And, taking Him to a high mountain, the devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the universe in a moment of time, and the devil said to Him: I will give you power over all these [kingdoms] and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to whomever I want.” ; therefore, if You worship me, then everything will be Yours (Luke 4:5-7).”

Satan offered Christ nothing more than power over the world with all its riches, but in exchange for worship not of God the Father, but of him, Satan. He knew that many people are capable of committing sin for the sake of power and wealth, the reason for which is “the lust of the eyes.” In the same way he hoped to tempt Christ, but here too he was put to shame:

“Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan; It is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only” (Luke 4:8).”

The enemy of God and man realized that Christ would withstand any bodily tests, and He could not be bribed with wealth and power. Therefore, the last attempt to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ was especially sophisticated: “And he led Him to Jerusalem, and placed 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 will command His angels concerning You, to keep You; and they will bear You up in their hands, lest You dash Your foot against a stone (Luke 4:9?11).”

This time, Satan arrogantly expresses doubt about the Divinity of Christ, hoping in this way to provoke in the Savior a manifestation of pride and a desire to prove his true nature. An ordinary person is characterized by vanity, a desire to assert himself, called “worldly pride” in the Holy Scriptures, and therefore words that infringe on self-love cause a strong response. This is what the tempter hoped for. In addition, Satan quotes Holy Scripture, as if justifying the truth of what he said. In fact, he used the words of the Bible in isolation from the general text, which has a completely different meaning, that is, the enemy put into action his main weapon - lies. But this didn’t help him either: “Jesus answered and said to him, It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And having finished all the temptation, the devil departed from Him for the time being (Luke 4:12-13).”

Satan, tempting Christ in the desert, was defeated and, humiliated, had to leave, and the Lord, endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit, continued the feat of saving mankind. This confrontation in the wilderness actually showed us how to act when faced with temptation. It should be remembered that God never tempts a person and does not want anyone to suffer, but the reason for the power of temptation lies in the person himself: “When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone Himself, but everyone is tempted by being carried away and deceived by his own lust; But lust, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin once it has been committed gives birth to death (James 1:13-15).” Satan turned out to be powerless against Christ, since there was no basis for temptation in the Savior: neither the lust of the flesh, nor the lust of the eyes, nor the pride of life. The question may arise that an ordinary person cannot bear what God can bear. Let us note that the Lord resisted Satan as a man and therefore He empathizes with us and knows our difficulties. Temptations, despite their painfulness, are a necessary means for our correction and confirmation in faith. Sometimes a temptation may seem too heavy to a person, but the Lord limits the tempter, not allowing him to be tempted beyond his strength. The Apostle Paul in his instructions says: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:12,13).”. In other words, our temptation is designed specifically for our strengths, so that we can cope with them. And, most importantly, the Lord Himself will help us in this struggle. For this, a person is given mighty force: prayer, the Word of God, fasting, with the help of which the Savior Himself overcame all temptations, and ultimately conquered death itself. We are required to have faith and follow the example that the Lord Jesus Christ showed us.

Satan - translated means “enemy”, a creature whose whole meaning of existence is aimed at fighting God and his creation - man. At the initial stage of creation, he was a beautiful angel, having a very high position, but due to pride, he rebelled against his Creator. Not having the strength to harm God directly, he set his goal to destroy God’s beloved creation - man. Thus, he hoped to win victory on the “earthly battlefield.” The main weapon in the hands of Satan is sin.

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