Temptation of the Emotions
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Cor. 10:3-4.
The final test of Jesus Christ commitment to his fathers will took place on Calvary “come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40) was a challenge uttered by the chief priest, soldiers, and people; but behind it was a deceiver himself. Having failed to entice Jesus through His body, ego, and mind Satan tried to break His will by means of His emotions.
The emotional strain of the cross was staging. The chief ingredient was abandonment. The abandonment of Jesus was complete – people, disciples, and even (parentheses the only for a brief time) His Father. At the point when His emotions were at their strained peak, Satan whisper to Him, everyone is against you what’s the use you have taken enough, end all this business by a quick show of power and come down from that throne of pain. Why should you suffer anymore?
That was the most deceitful of all Satan tactics, for then he was in the role of sympathizer, reliever, and deliver. How often Satan temptations come in the guise of deliverance! How quickly he can break our will by leading us to self-pity. But Jesus saw through the trickery; He realized He could not spare Himself and still save others. He refused to abandon His commitment; He would not renege on His Father’s as will, and so He triumphed.
I must realize that I am always vulnerable emotionally to Satan. Yet my victory is not to shore up my emotions, but to shore up my will. Emotions will fluctuate; but if my commitment to God is firm, they will stay in balance. The battle of the flesh is always there, but we have confidence in God that through Jesus Christ our faith remains firm in Him.