8. Jesus Breaks Satan's Spear
Chapter 8 Jesus Breaks Satan’s Spear “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8) God Sends A Baby To Defeat Satan
After hundreds of years, God finally did send the Promised One to defeat Satan—to ‘crush the head of the snake’ just like he had promised. But this man didn’t come the way people thought he would. God didn’t send a popular politician or scholar, or a wealthy businessman, or a famous high priest. He didn’t even send a powerful army general. God sent a tiny little baby! But could a weak, vulnerable little human baby possibly defeat a powerful angel like Satan? Yes, absolutely! Because God delights to use things that seem to be weak to defeat the strong and powerful.
“...God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27 NET)
God chose to send a baby to defeat his greatest enemy! The baby’s name that was sent to defeat Satan was Jesus. But this baby was different than all other babies. Jesus did not have a human father, but only a human mother, because God had chosen to send his very own son to be born of a woman. The woman’s name was Mary and she was a virgin. God placed his very own son inside of this virgin woman’s womb so that Jesus would be born as a true human being—from a human mother—but he was also God. Mary was engaged to be married to a godly man named Joseph who would raise Jesus as his own son. Joseph and Mary were not rich or influential people in Israel. Joseph was just a regular guy—a carpenter.
God Sent An Angel To Protect The Baby Jesus From Satan
After Mary gave birth to Jesus, King Herod heard that a baby king had been born in the town of Bethlehem in Israel, just like the prophets had foretold. Herod was afraid that this baby might grow up and take his place as king of Israel. Satan also must have heard about this baby and wanted to make sure Herod destroyed the baby quickly. Satan is a Terrorist—he’s called The Destroyer and a Murderer. Herod sent soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the little baby boys there. But Satan could never defeat God’s plan. God knew ahead of time what they planned to do, so he sent an angel to warn Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-20). Here again we see another example of how God can use angels to protect his people on the earth from Satan.
Satan’s power and Herod’s army couldn’t kill the baby Jesus because God had set him apart for a very special task. God planned to use this little baby to defeat Satan, so he was watching over Jesus from the time he was a baby. Perhaps Satan realized that this new baby might be the one who was prophesied to ‘crush the head of the snake,’ so he was determined to find and kill him. But his plans were foiled this time, so he would try again later. In the meantime, angels watched over Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus and they fled to Egypt. Later they returned to Israel when it was safe, and the baby Jesus grew up into a grown man. Once he was grown, it was time for him to face Satan in several spiritual battles—battles over the kingdom of the earth, and over mankind. In these next few chapters we will look at some of those battles.
Satan Is The Prince Or Ruler Over All Of Adam’s Descendants
First, we need to remember that when God created the earth, he assigned Adam as the ruler of this earth. But we also know that when Adam submitted to Satan and obeyed him, he became Satan’s slave. And so Satan became the ruler and king and ruler over all Adam’s descendants, who had become sinners with him.
Romans 5:12; Romans 5:17; Romans 5:21 says: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…death reigned...sin reigned in death…”
Sin and Death therefore ruled over all mankind so all of Adam’s descendants were under Satan their king. That’s why the Bible calls Satan the “Prince” or “Ruler” of this world (John 12:31; John 14:30). This kind of prince has more authority than even a president or prime minister of a country because they only rule over one country. But Satan rules over the whole world, so he is more powerful than all the kings and prime ministers and rulers of all countries put together.
1 John 5:19 says: “…the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”
Every person in the whole world is born into Adam’s family, so all are born into Satan’s kingdom--a kingdom of disobedient people.
Ephesians 2:2 says: Satan is “…the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work inthose who aredisobedient.”
If Any Human Wanted To Defeat Satan, He Would Have To Resist His Temptations First
Those who submit to Satan’s rule are “disobedient” to God. From Adam to the time of Jesus, there was not anyone who had defeated Satan. Satan has tempted people everywhere, and everyone has submitted to him in sin and became part of Satan’s kingdom. So, then, in God’s eyes, if any human wanted to defeat Satan and take over his position as ruler over the earth, then he would have to overcome Satan’s temptations first. It would be a crucial test.
Jesus Had To Overcome Satan’s Temptations
Adam had failed the test. He had submitted to Satan and lost control of the kingdom of the earth to Satan. So Jesus had to become human like Adam, and he needed to pass the test in order to be qualified as a proper ruler of this earth and thereby save mankind. He had to take the place of the former head (Adam), and overcome Satan’s temptations, and in this way he could take both Adam’s place and Satan’s place as the ruler of mankind. So let’s look at the story of Jesus’ temptations. The Holy Spirit Led Jesus Into The Desert So Satan Could Tempt Him
Matthew chapter 4 says specifically that the Holy Spirit himself led Jesus into the desert so Satan could tempt him. This shows us that God had planned and allowed for Jesus to be tempted. God himself doesn’t tempt people, so he didn’t tempt Jesus (James 1:13). But God did use Satan as his servant and allowed him to test Jesus. God wanted to show Satan that a man could overcome Satan’s powerful temptations. The Powerful Temptations Of Satan Three Pathways To Temptations 1 John 2:16 talks about three pathways to temptations which Satan uses in this world:
1. Lust of the flesh – desires from within the body, like hunger and thirst and other needs
2. Lust of the eyes – desires that come from seeing things, (possessions, money, houses, etc.)
3. Pride of life – the uncontrolled desire for approval from others and honor or glory for ourselves.
Satan Used These Three Pathways To Tempt Adam And Eve Too Long ago Satan used these three pathways to temptations in order to tempt Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:6 says that: “...the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was:
good for food and
pleasing to the eye, and also
desirable for gaining wisdom
In this way, Satan tempted Eve with something that appealed to her stomach (the flesh), her eyes, and her ego (pride—the desire for fame and glory). When Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation and ate the fruit that God had forbidden, they became Satan’s children and slaves of sin. Satan is an expert at using all these pathways to temptations to seduce people into sin.
Satan Also Used Those Three Pathways To Temptations In Order To Tempt Jesus
Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13 show us how Satan used these same three areas of temptations—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life—to tempt Jesus also. But the temptations of Jesus were much harder than the ones Satan used against Adam and Eve.
Temptation Involving The Lust Of The Flesh: When Satan tempted Adam and Eve, they didn’t lack food. They had plenty of wonderful food in the garden, and they were well fed. But they still gave in to the cravings for the food offered by Satan. On the other hand, when Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus hadn’t eaten any food for 40 days in the desert (Matthew 4:1-4, Luke 4:1-4). He was very hungry when Satan suggested he turn the stones into bread.
Jesus must have been starving and very weak, perhaps close to death. So his temptation was much more difficult than Adam and Eve’s. But even so, Jesus didn’t give in to the temptation or follow Satan’s suggestions. Even though he was very hungry, he didn’t give in to his body’s cravings. He wanted to totally follow God alone. We know that being hungry is not sinful—nor is eating. But God had not told Jesus to eat yet, so Jesus didn’t obey Satan. He resistedSatan and waited for God, his Father, to tell him when to eat.
Temptation Involving The Lust Of The Eyes: When Adam and Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was “pleasing to the eye,” Satan used a single fruit tree to tempt them. But when Satan tempted Jesus, he didn’t just show him a little fruit. From the top of a mountain (perhaps in a vision), Satan somehow showed Jesus all the countries and governments and kingdoms of the world and said that he would give them all to Jesus if he worshiped Satan. Imagine what that was like. He was offering Jesus all thepower and wealth ofall countries everywhere, including all the people and all their lands. This was a huge offer! God had prophesied that Jesus would someday rule over all the countries of the world, but Satan was offering to give them to Jesus before God did—right then and there. But Jesus didn’t fall for that temptation either. He resisted Satan and didn’t allow his eyes to lead him into sin. He would not submit to Satan like Adam did and be Satan’s servant. He would serve God his Father alone, and he would wait until God gave him everything in his own time.
Temptation Involving The Pride Of Life: In the Garden of Eden, Satan had tempted Adam and Eve with a new kind of knowledge. He said, “When you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4). Satan used this new kind of knowledge as a lure to tempt them into being like God himself—gaining glory and self-importance through this new kind of knowledge. Satan was tempting them to be great and glorious like God was, so they gave into that temptation of pride in themselves. But what about Jesus? Did Satan tempt Jesus in the same way too?
Satan took Jesus to the very top of the temple, which was the most important place of worship in the whole country of Israel. It was a very tall and prominent building. From where he stood on top of the temple, Jesus could probably see hundreds of people down below him who came to the temple every day to worship. Then Satan told him to jump down and perform a miracle. He said that God would look out for him so that he would not get hurt. He said that the angels would guard Jesus so he wouldn’t be harmed in any way. So what kind of temptation was that? If Satan had tempted us like that, we probably wouldn’t be tempted at all because we’d be afraid of falling and dying. But this temptation was perfectly suited for Jesus because he wasn’t afraid. He was God’s Son, so he knew the angels would actually come to help him, just like the Bible said. If God wanted to, he could help him to just float or glide down to the ground without being hurt—and what an amazing miracle that would be! The hundreds of people standing there would be very amazed and impressed by this kind of miraculous power. So this was a real temptation for Jesus, because he actually could do this miracle and just float down and be fine. But God hadn’t told Jesus to perform this miracle. Satan just wanted Jesus to be independent of God and proud and show off his own power. Satan tempted Jesus with acting in pride by trying to become famous through performing such a big miracle in front of so many people. Also, it seems that Satan might have been wanting Jesus to fulfill a prophecy ahead of time. Malachi 3:1 says “suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple.” Satan probably reasoned that if Jesus would listen to him and hurry and make this prophecy come true ahead of time, then he would actually be submitting to the rule of Satan and become his servant—just like Adam and Eve submitted to Satan’s temptations and became his servants. Satan always wants people to submit to him and obey him. But Jesus resisted the desire to be proud and seek honor and glory for himself in this way. He didn’t follow Satan’s temptation, but instead, he waited for God’s timing. So Jesus defeated Satan again. He followed his Father’s will and glorified him alone.
Jesus As A Human Was Tempted In Every Way—But Defeated Satan By Resisting The trials of Jesus were much harder than any trials any other human had ever faced, but Jesus didn’t give in to sin. He defeated all the temptations. Jesus became a human being, and then as a flesh and blood human being, he defeated all of Satan’s temptations that normally come to all humans. In this way he showed Satan and everyone else that he was far superior to Adam who had failed the test. Jesus showed that he alone was qualified to defeat Satan.
There’s no other man like Jesus. Satan tempted him with everything he had, but in spite of his strongest temptations, Jesus didn’t fall for them. He remained totally perfect and without sin, so he defeated Satan’s temptations.
Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus is, “...one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
Word Picture: Jesus Broke The Spear Of Satan In the old days, people didn’t have guns for hunting. They used arrows or spears, and some men were experts in making special kinds of spears. They would make different types of spears for different jobs—smaller spears and arrows for hunting small game, and larger, stronger spears for the larger animals, etc. But when they went into battle with their enemies, they used their very best arrows or strongest spears so they could win the battle and not be killed themselves. They would often dip them in oil and light them on fire just before they would shoot them. In a similar way, when Satan went into spiritual battle with Jesus, he tried to defeat Jesus by using his very best ‘spears’ or temptations. Ephesians 6:16 refers to his temptations as “...the flaming arrows of the evil one.” But even the strongest, most difficult temptations Satan used were no match for Jesus. Jesus was like a mighty warrior who deflected the flaming arrow or spear that was thrown at him and it fell harmlessly to the ground. Then he picked it up and broke it in half, right there in front of his enemy.
Summary:
Jesus showed Satan and the world that he was totally qualified to defeat Satan! In fact Jesus was the only one who qualified, since he had resisted every temptation Satan threw at him.
“...He broke the flaming arrows, The shield and the sword and the weapons of war. …none of the warriors could use his hands.” (NASB)