Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying 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 protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. Luke 4:1-13
The devil attacks and tempts us when we are the weakest. When we are tired from a long day of work, and our patience is thin, when we are rejected, when we are hungry, when we are at our lowest the devil attacks us with his empty promises. What is interesting about the temptation of Jesus in the desert by the fallen angel, is that he tempts the God of the universe with things the devil does not even posses or have power over. The devil tries to get our Lord to turn stones into bread, because the devil cannot do this. He knows only God can perform this type of miracle. The second temptation is with the kingdoms of the world, which again, the devil himself does not posses.
The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. Psalm 89:11
Finally the devil tempts the Lord to Worship him, which again, alone belongs to God himself. This again illustrates how the devil has no power other than that given to him by humanity when it sins or chooses to serve him instead of God. Like a parasite, the devil co-opts the power of others to achieve his will. His only tool is deception, because he is the opposite of God, the opposite of the Truth which is our Lord, he is the absence of Truth, and only obtains power to destroy through co-opting the power of humanity bending it to his diabolical will. This Lent, as we journey through the desert with our Lord and to our Lord, let us keep in mind that the devil tempts you with things he does not have and will never give you even if he did.