Know Thy Enemy - Week 2: Thursday

Luke 4:13

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Commentary

H.H. Pope Shenouda III
The Devil is insistent: A person may yield and submit due to the continuous pressure and insistence. It is stated in "The Paradise of the Fathers" that the devil fought one of the monks with one sin for 50 years without ceasing, getting desperate or getting weary. Even when he was fighting the Lord Jesus Christ, he did not cease after his failure in the first, second, and third temptation. Though the Lord rebuked him and he departed, it was not forever as St. Luke the Evangelist says, "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time." (Luke 4:13). The term "for a season" means that he returned to tempt him another time and many more times. The devil never gets desperate due to any failure, and never gets ashamed but always returns! When he failed in the first temptation of Job, he demanded again to tempt him harder; and when he failed in all his temptations to the Lord Jesus Christ, he came to Him when He was on the cross and said, " If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." (Matt. 27:40). The devil, insisting to overthrow people, does not acknowledge any obstacles. He does not care that Adam and Eve are created after the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1).

Questions

• Are you giving into one particular sin due to the devil’s continuous pressure and insistence?

• Are you tired of fighting the struggle? If so, what do you think you can do?

• Have you asked your Father of Confession for advice regarding the struggle?

• Have you lost hope thinking that your sins are too big for God to overlook?

• Do you give into sin easily?