So in the last post we see how Jesus was able to resist His flesh, how He was able to say no to the devil. I mentioned yesterday that the next temptation brings me to tears. But before we get into that, I wanted to pause shortly and focus on what comes between these temptations.

One of my former preacher’s used to give the illustration of an elderly woman in a congregation. She could never say anything bad about anyone. It didn’t matter what the situation, she’d find the good. One day the preacher asked her what she thought about the devil. After a moment’s pause, she answered, “He sure is persistent. He never gives up. ” And that’s true.

Right before the second temptation we see the perfect example. Jesus is tired, weak, and now has been tempted to eat. And what does the devil do? He takes him up into a mountain. Now, I don’t know about you, but hiking up a mountain in full strength would be a challenge. After forty days without food? Impossible. Yet Jesus does it. In the gospel of Matthew, these temptations are switched around. The mountain hike and viewing the kingdoms comes third. That doesn’t impact the lesson here. What is important is that we see only three temptations. But the devil continues to keep the first one before Jesus: Command this stone, that it be made bread.

How do I come to that conclusion? What do mountains consist of? Stone. Rock. It’s like the devil is taunting Jesus the whole ascent. Hungry, Jesus? We can stop anytime and you have a whole mountainside of bread just waiting on you. The devil will not stop coming after us, just because we say no. We might argue, but Jesus was God, so He had the power to say no. Ok. But that’s also the point. He is God. The God who could say no lives within us. If that’s what enabled Him, that same godly ability inhabits us if we know Him as our Savior so we have the exact same power He was given to resist the devil. We lose sight of that. We can say no over and over again. It isn’t easy. I don’t think it was easy for Jesus. If it was, we wouldn’t need His example. But it is possible. And He shows us that.