Good morning. Today is Monday, September 21st!

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📖 Verse Of The Day

— Luke 4:13

🧠 Devotional

There’s something we learn about the devil at the end of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness: he is opportunistic.

After Jesus resists him in the wilderness, Luke writes:

“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” — Luke 4:13

That last phrase matters. Satan leaves, but Luke tells us his departure is temporary: “until an opportune time.”

You’ve probably heard, “You may have won the battle, but you haven’t won the war.” Jesus had won this battle. But in the devil’s mind, the war wasn’t over.

Luke doesn’t immediately tell us what that next “opportune time” is. Satan continues to appear in the spiritual conflict throughout the Gospel, but as Jesus approaches the cross, Satan himself suddenly comes explicitly back into focus.

“Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot.” — Luke 22:3

And just three verses later:

“He watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.” — Luke 22:6

That’s an interesting callback.

Luke 4: “an opportune time.”

Luke 22: Satan enters Judas, and Judas looks for “an opportunity.”

They aren’t the exact same Greek word, so we shouldn’t claim Luke is repeating the identical phrase. But the connection fits remarkably well.

And Satan’s activity doesn’t stop with Judas. That same night Jesus tells Peter:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.” — Luke 22:31

Then Jesus reaches the cross, and the wilderness starts echoing again.

Satan had challenged Him, “If you are the Son of God…” Now Jesus hears, “Let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah,” followed by, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

Different speakers, but a familiar temptation: Prove who You are. Save Yourself.

So Luke 4:13 isn’t just a throwaway ending to the wilderness story. It prepares us to keep watching.

Satan left.

But he would look for another opportunity.

And that gives us the lesson.

Jesus didn’t respond to temptation by trying to outsmart Satan. In the wilderness, He answered with God’s Word and remained obedient to His Father. Later, when the circumstances became far worse, His obedience remained.

That’s what we learn from His example.

Winning one battle with temptation doesn’t mean there won’t be another. Don’t confuse “he left” with “he’ll never come back.”

Instead, be ready to answer the way Jesus did: know God’s Word, trust God’s Word, and obey God’s Word.

Because the “opportune time” works both ways.

What becomes an opportunity for temptation can also become an opportunity for obedience.