The Devil Didn't Listen

1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted^a by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

4Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’^b ”

5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

8Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’^c ”

9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.10For it is written:

“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you

to guard you carefully;

11they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^d ”

12Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^e ”

13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Thoughts: It is interesting that Jesus' weapon against the devil was the Bible itself (from Deuteronomy).  The Living Word quoted the written word as a powerful weapon.  He did this as an example for us.  No doubt Jesus told this story to his disciples as no one else was around to witness it.  The devil did not argue with the quotations.  But stopped each temptation when confronted with the written word of God.
     The devil does not obey or heed the Word.  But the devil did listen, stop the temptation, and in effect flee from Jesus because of the written word quoted.
     The temptations here had to do with 1) Not believing God would provide physically; 2) Not trusting that God alone should be worshiped; 3) Trying to prove/test God.  

Prayer: Lord, give me grace to know your Word well enough to quote it and use it as Jesus did.
Help me to resist the devil that he may flee from me.  Help me to stand up against evil and temptation when I see it.