The devil, Part Three: how to beat him

Let us return one final time to the Gospel reading from this past Sunday, and this time, we will examine how Our Lord responded to the devil.  We read Luke 4 1:13

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
He ate nothing during those days,
and when they were over he was hungry.
The devil said to him,
"If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread."

Jesus answered him,
"It is written, One does not live on bread alone."

Then he took him up and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
The devil said to him,
"I shall give to you all this power and glory;
for it has been handed over to me,
and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me."

Jesus said to him in reply,
"It is written:
You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve."

Then he led him to Jerusalem,
made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him,
"If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down from here, for it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,
and:
With their hands they will support you,

lest you dash your foot against a stone."

Jesus said to him in reply,
"It also says,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test."
When the devil had finished every temptation,
he departed from him for a time.

I think we can learn a lesson from each of Jesus’ replies in how to fight the devil.

1)      We do not live on bread alone; in other words, we should not depend on earthly realities.  We cannot fight the devil with “things of the world.”  Food, money, power, and even the love of family and friends are not enough.  Nor is our own will power.  Rather, we need heavenly realities to fight the devil. We need to utilize the Sacraments, above all the Holy Eucharist, the bread from heaven, to fight the devil.   

2)      And him alone shall you serve; in other words, we need to be single-minded to fight the devil.  We must seek to serve God alone.  If we try to serve different masters, we will not be able to fight the devil.  There must be simplicity of focus in our fight against the devil.  We cannot allow ourselves to complicate our lives to the point where we lose track of what is important.  Be simple.  Live simply.   That way, we can be at peace, and be able to commune regularly with God, and be better able to indeed serve Him alone, and be able to defeat the devil.

3)      You shall not put (him) to the test ; in other words, we should not test how much we can get away with.  We should make no room for sin in our lives.  It must be rooted out if we are to defeat the devil.   We need to examine our conscience every day, go to Confession regularly, and have a desire to be holy.  We must despise sin.  This is valid and legitimate hate, and only this can counteract the diabolical hate of the devil for us.

Finally, I have spoken before in this blog often about Saint Joseph.   He can help us fight the devil.  Think of some of his titles:

Light of patriarchs (his light, joined with that of Christ, can cast out the darkness of the devil)

Diligent protector of Christ  (he can protect us from the devil who wishes to harm us)

Joseph most prudent  (the devil definitely does not want us to act prudently, he rather wants us to act rashly and impulsively; Saint Joseph can help us not give in to his temptations)

Joseph most strong (we need to be strong in faith to fight the devil)

Mirror of patience (when times are tough, we need to be patient, and not just give up on things as the devil tries to tempt us to do)

Pillar of families (family life is a big target of the devil, as is the Church and our nation; Joseph can help us remain rock firm)

Terror of demons  the devil has his army of demons; if we cling to Saint Joseph and Christ, we can scare them away from us

If we turn to God with all our hearts, ask for the assistance of Joseph and all the saints, are humble, pray often, and are resolute to live lives of heroic virtue, we will defeat the devil and will forever be separated from him and the awful effects his influence can have in our lives, and on our eternal destinies.

Good Saint Joseph, pray for us.