Arm-Wrestling The Devil

In the arm-wrestle for humanity, Jesus never wavered, says Norman H Young.

As he grappled with a giant swordfish, Santiago, the central character of Ernest Hemmingway’s classic novel The Old Man and the Sea, reminisced of a time in Casablanca “when he had played the hand game with the great negro from Cienfuegos.” The two powerful men, with their elbows anchored to a chalk line, struggled for a day and a night to force the other’s arm to the table.
At one point the “negro” had Santiago nearly three inches off balance. But the fisherman raised his arm to dead even again. He knew in that moment that he had him beaten. When the onlookers were ready to call it a draw, Santiago “unleashed his effort and forced the hand of the negro down and down until it rested on the wood. . . . For a long time after everyone had called him The Champion.”

We revere champions, it seems, and have for a long time. In the days of King Saul of ancient Israel, a giant Philistine warrior terrorised them. The biblical account introduces him as a “a champion” also, “named Goliath” (1 Samuel 17:4). Despite his three-metre stature and armour, this champion proved vulnerable to a well-aimed rock from the sling of a shepherd named David. Having stunned him with the rock, David then beheaded him with his own sword. Goliath was not our preferred champion type; we want champions who win.

As great as that victory was, an even greater contest and victory of biblical times was when Jesus locked arms with the devil in a deadly struggle for supremacy of this world. Their duel was the most momentous arm wrestle the world has known. It took place in the wilderness of Judea at the commencement of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, had just baptised Him in the Jordan River.

At His baptism Jesus had heard the voice of God declare: “This is my Son, whom I love” (Matthew 3:17). Immediately following His baptism, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. After 40 days in this barren environment, the devil came to Him intent on destroying Jesus’ confidence in the divine testimony He’d heard at His baptism.

If the devil succeeded in causing Him to doubt the reality of that voice, he would have demolished Jesus’ own apprehension of His person.

three tests of a Champion
In the first test the devil insinuates that Jesus wasn’t who He thought Himself to be. The tempter came to Him, saying, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:3). The “if” casts doubt on Jesus’ relationship with His Father.
If Jesus succumbed to this test and performed the demanded miracle, it would have conceded doubt about His own self-identity. He insisted that He lived by the word of God (see Matthew 4.4). That is, He confirmed His confidence in the divine declaration at His baptism that He was God’s beloved Son. The divine Word is to be trusted more than the turning of stones into bread.

The second test commenced with the same devious suggestion that Jesus needed to prove to Himself that He was the Son of God by performing some extraordinary feat. “If you are the Son of God,” the devil again intoned, prove it by casting yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple and trusting the Lord to save you (Matthew 4:5, 6).

The devil quoted the Bible to Jesus in delivering this challenge, but Jesus countered with another scripture that declared His trust in God—“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (verse 7). The voice of God had pronounced that Jesus was His Son. Jesus accepted that without question. To do otherwise was to doubt God, and to put Him to the test.

The devil’s final effort to force Jesus’ arm to the wood, was to offer Him the kingdoms of the world—on the condition that He worship His tempter. Such an act of course would have shattered the bond between Jesus and the Father. It would have compromised His own self to the point where He would have lost His identity as God’s Son.

In the Gospels, we frequently observe people divided over Jesus’ identity (see John 7:43; 9:16; 10:19): Some said He was a prophet or the Messiah, but others said that He was simply Joseph’s son, or a sinner, or mad. With the devil’s testing of Jesus the question was no longer “Who do people say I am?” (Matthew 16:13), or even, “Who do you say I am?” (verse 15), but, “Who do I say I am?”
Whereas before it was others who asked, “Who are you?” now He was obliged to ask it of Himself. God was the focus of Jesus’ self-understanding. He therefore dismissed the devil with the scriptural reminder that God is the only object of worship (see Matthew 4:10).

the source of true meaning
What was true for Jesus is true also for us. The American psychologist Martin Seligman noted that the self is a poor place from which to find life’s meaning. All of us need something, or rather someone, larger than ourselves in whom to discover the meaning of life—or, more importantly, the significance of our own lives.

Jesus grounded His wellbeing in the larger Being of God. I’m convinced that apart from the knowledge that we are the offspring of God, it is difficult to discern any relevance or significance in human existence.

In Hemmingway’s novel, the fisherman and the dockhand have a rematch the following spring. The same is true of the two biblical contestants: Three years after trying to shake Jesus’ confidence in God in the wilderness, the devil came at Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. One Bible commentator describes it in this way:

“In the wilderness of temptation the destiny of the human race had been at stake. Christ was then conqueror. Now the tempter had come for the last fearful struggle. For this he had been preparing during the three years of Christ’s ministry. Everything was at stake with him.

“If he failed here, his hope of mastery was lost; the kingdoms of the world would finally become Christ’s; he himself would be overthrown and cast out. But if Christ could overcome, the earth would become Satan’s kingdom, and the human race would be forever in his power (Ellen White, The Desire of the Ages).

In the garden, Jesus flinched at the prospect of His impending death. But His prayer remained constant: “Not what I will [Father], but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Jesus had come for this very hour to save others; He had no thought of saving Himself (John 12:27). On the cross the test of His Sonship continued: “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

In the same way the chief priests, the teachers and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him” (Matthew 27:40-42). Even in this dark hour, Jesus maintained His trust in God. So for the second time, Jesus faced the testing of the evil one and triumphed over him.
David Kosoff tells a charming story of a famous rabbinic scholar who, prior to visiting a local synagogue, swapped places and garb with his driver, Samuel. On their arrival, the members of the synagogue gathered around Samuel. During refreshments, the leaders of the synagogue flattered Samuel and hung on his every word.

Now whether due to the wine or his newly discovered fame, when it came time to adjourn to the study of the sacred writings, Samuel refused to abandon the charade. With a misplaced self-confidence, he sauntered into the synagogue to expound upon the Talmud, the holy Jewish writings.

The elders opened the book to a difficult passage and asked Samuel to explain. But Samuel couldn’t even read the Hebrew script let alone explain it! It looked like the ruse was up. Desperation sharpened Samuel’s wit, and after examining the text for a moment, he said, “I’m surprised you ask me to explain such a simple passage; even my uneducated driver could interpret this.” He thereupon invited his “driver” forward to explain the text, which, of course, he did with ease.

Most of us from time to time find ourselves in a fix that’s beyond our ability or strength to fix. It’s then that it’s good to have the Champion—the One who’s never lost an arm wrestle: “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,” says Isaiah (59:1); and, “Your arm is endued with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted” sang the psalmist (89:13).

Long ago in his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” the great Reformer Luther noted the unequal struggle against forces of evil, and our need of a Champion: “For still our ancient foe/ Doth seek to work us woe;/ His craft and power are great;/ And armed with cruel hate,/ On earth is not his equal.

“Did we in our own strength confide,/ Our striving would be losing./ Were not the right man on our side,/ The man of God’s own choosing./ Dost ask who that may be?/ Christ Jesus, it is He.”

Just so, we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6). And why? Because “he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrew 2:18).
In the ongoing battle with the devil, He’s just the best Arm Wrestler ever.

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