How did Jesus defeat the Devil in the wilderness? He spoke the word. You know, when Jesus was baptized in the wilderness, not at the Jordan River, right? The Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and the Father spoke over him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Then it says something interesting: the Holy Spirit drove him into the wilderness.
At first, when I was a young Christian, I would read that and think, “Man, that stinks!” You know, like, he had this amazing encounter, and now he’s driven into the wilderness. I almost read it like Jesus was baptized, having this amazing moment with the Father, and then he’s just like, “Alright, here we go, Holy Spirit, walking, walking. Whoa, what are we doing in the wilderness? How did we get here?”
But Jesus wasn’t surprised that he was led into the wilderness because Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, is in complete alignment with the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. They’re in complete alignment at all times and in complete agreement. So when the Holy Spirit says he’s leading into the wilderness, Jesus is like, “Let’s go!” Because the Holy Spirit, I’m sure, was so excited at that moment. He’s been waiting for a long time, saying, “The champion is finally here, the king is finally here, and it’s time to go into the wilderness to pick a fight. It’s time to go into the Octagon, so to speak, and show the devil who the real champion is, who the real king of the earth is.”
And so, the Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness, together, saying, “It’s time.” And so, he’s fasting for 40 days, physical body tired, but his spirit strong, sharp like a two-edged sword.
The Devil comes, “If you are the Son of God,” notice the Devil first challenges the word of God. Did you notice earlier, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”? The challenge, “If you are the Son of God,” the Devil will always try to challenge your identity in Christ, try to break down who you really are in Christ, make you feel like you’re nothing. That’s how he operates. He always tries to challenge also the word of God over your life, “This is my beloved Son and Daughter,” and if you are a son and daughter of God, that’s how he operates.
Jesus is unfazed. He’s got the sword of the Spirit ready to be taken out. He’s ready to take down that giant, so to speak. And so, Jesus is there, ready. You can feel the Holy Spirit ready, “Jesus, do it, do it! We’ve been waiting for this moment.” It is written. And you can tell the sword of the Spirit coming out. And I just imagine at that moment, Jesus quotes the word of God, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'” And I just picture Michael and his angels ready to heed the voice of the word of God being released and drive back demons, drive back principalities, bind them, cast them away by the power of the quoted word of God.
Beloved, there is power in the word of God. We need to learn how to use it and quote it. You know, the only weapon that we have that’s for offense is the sword. Everything else that God gives us is for defense: the helmet, breastplate. The only weapon you have for offense is the sword of the Spirit. If you don’t know how to use it, all you are is defending yourself all the time. But you need to learn how to use the sword and drive back principalities, demons away from you, away from your family, by quoting the word of God.
