Who is this Man? – Day 12

Jesus only just started with his work when the devil came sauntering, hungrily on the lookout for a prey. That’s the way it is. When you are busy making a choice for God or you want to do something for God, the devil will do anything to prevent that. He is not interested in people who do not believe. The church is his working territory.

It is striking that Jesus, suddenly, at the beginning of his active career as Saviour is confronted by Satan. The Spirit brought Him to the desert. God wants Jesus, thus, to experience the confrontation with Satan first hand.

It is as though the Spirit wants to show Jesus that Satan is, and will be his greatest opponent. On earth, Jesus will not merely have to deal with difficult people, but especially with Satan too.

Our view of the world is limited. As if from a spaceship, the Bible book of Revelation lets us look at the small globe through the eyes of God. God lets us see what is really happening. In Revelation, we also read about Christmas. The dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child (Revelation 12:13). His purpose was to devour the Child.

Behind everything that we see, there exists a battle between Satan and his companions, and Jesus and his followers. The Bible itself says so. We do not fight against people. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We can also describe it as the evil that lingers in the air.

How does Jesus react against the attacks of Satan? He stays true to the Word of God.