Matthew recorded by THE SPIRIT in chapter 4:
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, it was necessary that He be tested by the devil when Jesus was in His weakest physical state. You can imagine how His mind and body were screaming for sustenance but instead, He was to trust FATHER’S Word and Spirit in directing Him to this point of utter physical weakness. Then came the devil:
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” (Psalm 91:11,12)
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:16)
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:13)
11 Then the devil left Him (until an opportune time), and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Three different disciples recorded the above event. How do you think they knew the details since He had not yet called them to be His disciples? Surely Jesus shared the details of the event with the disciples including the particular verses from the book of Deuteronomy and Psalms with them. Jesus shows us that the devil is no match against FATHER’S Word and the importance that Jesus placed on utilizing The Word even in our weakest state.
Jesus’ trust in FATHER’S Word and THE SPIRIT were at the center of His ministry at all times. The importance of this foundation cannot be stressed enough in our own walk. We must not allow ourselves to grow cold in our desire to study FATHER’S Word or we will subject ourselves to the chaos and confusion of the world’s ways. In order to be deemed an overcomer, we must overcome! Let us seize the opportunity to trust FATHER’S Word when adversity presents itself to us and let us faithfully take FATHER’S Word and overcome whatever is thrown at us trying to divert our path away from our calling.