Know Your Enemy

Matthew 4: The Temptation of Jesus
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'[a]" 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'[b]"
7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[c]" 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'[d]" 11Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Footnotes:
Matthew 4:4 Deut. 8:3
Matthew 4:6 Psalm 91:11,12
Matthew 4:7 Deut. 6:16
Matthew 4:10 Deut. 6:13
Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%204:1-11&version=31>

Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his followers pretend to be servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11;14-15). Satan offers sugar-coated temptations, but we can see through and resist this enemy's clever strategy.

Why do you think you find defeat when you expect a victory because you are feeling spiritually strong and elated?
Pride can give you a false sense of security. When we come to know defeat we have not carefully prepared ourselves for the battle. We have open doors. We have to examine ourselves, ask the Holy Spirit to examine us to reveal open doors that we may have that is allowing the enemy the right to enter us.

Satan used Jesus' title as the Son of God (Matthew 3:17) as a way of attacking him through an open door, questioning his power and authority, trying to raise doubts and fears and apprehensions. This is representative of the fact that God's calling must be tested. The Spirit empowers us for our mission by leading us into a place that is dangerous and inhospitable (the wilderness) where we are tested (4:1, 3, 6). Restrained by God's favor, Jesus provides the perfect model for triumph during testing.

When God calls and empowers us to do something for him, we can expect to be tested commensurate with the seriousness of your call. Satan may not show up in person but you will be tested at a supernatural level and your hardships may seem unbearable apart form the grace of God.

Testing is good: it matures us that we know the depth of God's grace that sustains us. Truly triumphant and humble servants, boast not in success but in God's empowerment without which we cannot overcome. Jesus proceeded into the dessert only after the Father had empowered him in the Spirit.

Satan used three distinct attack tactics to tempt Jesus:
Hunger vs Authority: Jesus was not to demonstrate his power over nature to turn stones into bread. Jesus did not use his spiritual power as a formula for personal pleasure or gain. He acted from an intimate, obedient personal relationship with his Father. Humbled, Jesus knew that God provides bread in the wilderness and he accepted his Father's call in the wilderness and waited for his Father to act for him.

Authority vs Faith, Trust and Obedience; Satan wants Jesus to presume on his relationship with God, to act as if God were there to serve his Son rather than the reverse. This is also echoed later in the Bible of the Pharisee theology "if Jesus is God's Son, let God rescue him from the cross." When people become so arrogant as to think we have God figured out, we can easily miss God's true purposes and become Satan's mouthpieces. "Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?" (Lam 3:37)

Power vs Authority: abuse of his power and calling for selfish ends. God identifies Jesus as his Son and now the devil tries to redefine the nature of Jesus' sonship "(…) if you are the Son of God (…). Satan invites Jesus not to deny his sonship but to act according to worldly expectations for that role. This is a warning to all of us from God who has called not to let the world define the content of our call. We must acknowledge God's right not only to determine what to label our calling but also to define what that label means. We can begin our mission only once we have demonstrated that our commitment is to God who called us and that we will let him righter than human honor define the nature of our call.