"Then the devil left Him and behold, angels came and ministered to Him" V11
Matthew 4:1-11. NKJV
Jesus had won a battle; He had resisted the devil's temptations and the devil had run off. James tells us clearly, 'Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.' (James 4:7). And this is what had happened.
We can either surrender to Christ or we can surrender to chaos. As we surrender to Jesus and resist all of the evil one's schemings, he will turn away from us and run. Be careful to note though what Luke 4:13 says, 'Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him, until AN OPPORTUNE TIME!
We need to be aware that the devil will not give up; he will come back at an opportune time - a time when we're not expecting him to come; a time when everything seems to be going wrong and we are at our weakest. Be aware and ready (1 Peter 5:8). Learn from the meerkat's behaviour and be watchful and very alert.
As I mentioned earlier, Jesus had won this part of the battle but note how He had done this. He recognised Satan's mode of attack - lies and deception, and He counteracted all of his comments with, 'It is written.'. Jesus disarmed these tactics, triumphing over the situation (Colossians 2:15).
Let's not forget though, that Jesus was in the flesh, He was just like you and I. Let's face it, when we have had a bad time with attack after attack from the evil one using someone or something to wear us down, we feel shattered. How was Jesus feeling after this encounter? He had been face to face with Satan; He was tired, hungry and possibly cold. And then he had to undergo such an onslaught as this. It's no wonder that angels came and ministered to Him.
Note though, the angels didn't come until after the event. It was something that Jesus had to do - alone, the same as suffering the pain and humiliation of the cross. Let's be aware, on both of these occasions, He could have called for their help, they were there, ready.
Angels are invisibly present around Christians and are appointed by God to minister to believers (Psalm 91:11-12). As we call on God, He releases His angels to come to our aid.
However, the concluding factor here, is that Jesus used God's Word to combat all the devil threw at Him. I make no apology to say again that we have to read and know God's Word. We need to learn and study because you can't give out what you haven't put in. No deposit - No return. Rather like a bank account, if money is not deposited in, you can't make a withdrawal when you need it. Do you get the idea?
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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