Satan takes center stage

DevilJesusLuke 4:1-13SatanTemptation
Written By Jason Valendy
Recently I had the honor of preaching on the gospel text of Luke 4:1-13 which is Luke's version of Jesus' temptation. As I shared this text with several people throughout the week I would ask, as I commonly tend to do, "what do you hear in this text?"

Of the many times I asked the question I heard these various responses:
"How does the devil know scripture?"
"How does the devil know about angles if he was not a fallen angel himself?"
"The devil is very persistent."
"The devil temps us even with things that seem good."

Of all the responses I heard, the vast majority of them focused on the devil character. I could not help but wonder that in a story about Jesus, in a Gospel about Jesus showing humanity about God, why is the devil taking center stage when we read this story?

Perhaps, we are focusing on the wrong thing...
Jason Valendy

Husband, father of two boys, pastor in the United Methodist Church, and guy who is interested in the desert mothers and fathers. The idea of Orthocardia is the pursuit of having a “right heart” over the pursuit of having a “right belief” (orthodoxy) or a “right action” (orthopraxy).

www.jasonvalendy.net
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