Devotion for February 17, 2016

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time (Luke 4:13; NIV).

            Satan wasn’t done with Jesus. At critical moments, Satan would return to test Jesus’ resolve to do things the Father’s way, to pursue the lonely road to the cross. In Gethsemane, Jesus declared, “This is the hour of darkness,” recognizing Satan’s assault. And on the cross, we find a threefold repetition of Satan’s initial test, “If you are the Son of God, save yourself.” But, of course, Jesus would not save Himself. He was there to save us.

            Satan’s not done with us, either. He doesn’t give us respite. He waits until we’re stressed, distracted, at our worst, and attacks again and again, urging us to take matters into our own hands, to trust our own strength. And so often, we fall for it, acting as if we have to muscle through on our own, stand on our own power.

            Here’s the secret of the Gospel. It was exactly at that moment when Jesus was most fully stripped of His own power that He earned our salvation. “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians12:9). The Gospel is clearest exactly at that moment when our strength fails, when all that is left is the grace of God, who understands how we are tested, has faced the test Himself, and defeated our ancient foe by refusing to trust His own understanding.