On Sundays we celebrate V-W Day — Victory Wilderness Day. Just as the Allied Forces celebrated first V-E Day, Victory Europe, then V-J Day, Victory Japan, so the church celebrates V-W Day whenever it meets to worship the living God. Jesus’ victory over the devil in the wilderness set the stage for his ultimate victory over sin and death, a condition that the devil fostered when he persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
One chapter of that redemptive plan was God’s choosing of Israel, as a son, to be a “light to the nations.” He entered into covenant with them and gave them laws that, in the words of Moses, would be their “wisdom and . . . understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’” (Deuteronomy 4:6). God had purposed to use Israel to carry out his promise to Abraham that in him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:4). But Israel failed its duties. How would this be rectified? God himself would provide his only-begotten Son who would accomplish what his rebellious chosen son had not.
That Jesus fulfilled this role is evident in the struggle in the wilderness. His answers to the devil’s temptations designate him as the representative Israel, the true Israel. His being tempted over the course of 40 days is surely an allusion to the 40 years that Israel wandered in the wilderness. Yet, where they doubted, rebelled, complained, and died, Jesus would trust, obey, be content, and live. He is fully aware of the task he has been given and he remains obedient, at peace, and confident of his Father’s love.
The devil was defeated and “departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). Yet, even that opportune time, when “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot” (Luke 22:3) and led him to betray Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders and the Roman magistrate, was something that happened “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:13).
Poor devil. He thinks he’s clever, that he still has a chance. But, in the words of Martin Luther, “Lo! his doom is sure. One little Word shall fell him!”
