My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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JESUS' TRIUMPH OVER SATAN (St. Matthew 4:1-11)
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.' 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.' Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 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.' Jesus said to him, 'It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' 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.' Then the devil left Him, and behold, Angels came and ministered to Him" (St. Matthew 4:1-11).
When one reads the above passage from the gospel one cannot but be convinced of Satan's existence. There are those, unfortunately, that deny the existence of the Evil One and/or evil all around us. It is a great mistake to believe that there is no evil and that all of it is just a myth. Thinking in this unrealistic way we mistakenly are convinced also that one cannot be influenced by evil and/or become a willing instrument of evil ourselves.
Our Merciful God has given us a free will and, therefore, we are free to either do good or to do evil, the choice is up the individual to make. It is true that along with that awesome responsibility comes accountability. There is definitely, however, Divine Justice and Judgment Day for everyone when everything will be revealed before God all that we have done: thoughts, feelings, and actions. It is the Almighty God Who will then decide where we are to spend eternity, heaven or hell. No one can escape God's Divine judgment.
"The devil challenges Jesus' relationship to the Father. If You are the Son of God calls into question the Father's declaration of Jesus' sonship at His baptism (3:17). The devil wants Jesus to abuse His Divine powers, to act independently, detaching His will from the will of the Father. In His Divine Nature, the Son shares one will with the Father and the Spirit. He can do nothing of Himself (St. John 5:30). He has no operation that is distinct from His Father's. But in His humanity He possesses "free will" and at times must choose to remain in communion with His Father, to be obedient to the divine will.
By rejecting the first temptation, Jesus rejects a kingdom based on materialism, earthly well-being, the "bread which perishes" (see John 6:1-40). He teaches us not to love ease and comfort, to accept willingly the struggle necessary to purify us from evil. While Adam and Eve disregarded the Divine word given them, subordinating their souls to the passions of the body (Genesis 3), the New Adam conquers all temptations, that He might give our nature power to conquer the Adversary (Satan).
Satan puts God's power of protection to the test. Will Jesus depend on spectacular signs and self-aggrandizement, or will He humbly submit to persecution, humiliations, and death according to the Father's will?
God's Kingdom is not one of earthly power and possessions. In the devil's offering of "the kingdoms of the world", Jesus was being asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God. The devil is "the ruler of this world" (St. John 12:31; 16:11), "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).
Jesus refuses to take a road that would lead Him away from the path of suffering and death for the redemption of the world, Jesus says simply, "away with you, Satan"--a command rather than a rebuke.
So all of us, without any exception, should be constantly vigilant so that we do not fall into temptation and become his victim and lose our soul and salvation. By turning to the Divinely inspired Holy Scripture we learn how to confront Evil One and his demons. The attention of the Christian should be given to our Redeemer Christ and to follow willingly and obediently the path to the Kingdom that He has shown us. We must not ever lose sight of Him Who saved us from evil and death. Instead, glorify Him and imitate Him in everything.
"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George