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When and How Did Jesus fight?

First read Matthew 4:1-10.

The temptation in the wilderness is at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, immediately after his baptism and after he received the Holy Spirit. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For 40 days and 40 nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil appeared and told Jesus to make bread from stones... he challenged Jesus to make bread out of stones. In doing so, he specifically attacked through the weakness of hunger to bring Jesus down. Jesus proved that the source of life is not in bread, but in obedience to God and his word: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (vv. 4-5; Deuteronomy 8:3) Jesus knows exactly the Word of God and how to apply it effectively!

Next, the devil told Jesus to throw himself from the roof of the temple in Jerusalem, about a height of 50 meters. Now the enemy quotes a passage from the Word of God: "He will command his angels because of you; and they will carry you on their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (v. 6; Psalm 91:11-12) Again, Jesus answers from the Word of God and is obedient to God’s will and does not demand divine salvation until God’s command is fulfilled. 

The enemy is not afraid to misuse the Word of God for his own purposes, and he specifically attacks our weaknesses. Do you know your weaknesses? Everybody has them and they are usually very persistent (that's why they are called weaknesses), such as the "obvious" ones like eating too much, smoking, compulsive consumerism, or the "secret" ones like pornography in men and even "hidden" weaknesses like envy and resentment. This list contains only a few examples, there are many more. But if your particular weakness is not included, don’t start pointing fingers and moralising. Just know that the enemy will attack your weaknesses with lies about your identity and about your Heavenly Father. Some of the enemy’s favourite lies are “You are not worthy of God's love”, and “God cannot forgive you for what you did”- lies!

Finally, the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of this world and says that he will give them to him if he, Jesus, would fall down before him and worship him. Jesus reacts by first commanding the enemy, "Away with you Satan!" And again, Jesus quotes from Scripture: "You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone." (Deuteronomy 6:13) Jesus shows us then and now His authority over the enemy!

We also learn a lot about the enemy here: His name is Satan, whom Jesus calls the "prince of this world" in John 12:31-33. But the king is God, who is the sole ruler and he is granting all authority to Jesus (Matthew 28:18). Satan is only part of creation, he has no legal claim to rule, he is a liar. He is the tempter and wants to thwart God's redemption plan by all possible means! This was true then with Jesus and it is true today with your redemption plan. This is the entire "power" of Satan: lies, confusion, deceit, manipulation, doubt, etc. If we look at the world around us, these delusions and lies work very well. This is the "reign" of Satan. But it is up to us whether we believe these lies and behave in accordance with them, or whether we choose to rely on God and his truths and live in freedom.

Prayer, Get Free & Next Step:

Familiarise yourself with the Word of God, it is your most important weapon, a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) in the offensive battle against all temptations. Be vigilant and pray daily! Prayer is also a very effective offensive practice.