The Devil Suspected That Christ Was God

Finally, take the devil himself. When he was tempting him with every show of allurement and every art of his wickedness, what was it that he suspected in his ignorance, or wanted to find out by tempting him? What moved him so greatly that he looked for God under the humble form of a man? Had he learned it from earlier proofs? Had he known of anyone who came as God in a human body? Most certainly not. It was the mighty evidence of signs, the mighty results of his deeds, and the words of the Truth himself that drove him to suspect this and look into it. He had already heard John say once, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.” And again, from the same man: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” The dove, too, which came down from heaven and rested over the Lord’s head, had made itself a clear and open proof of a God who was declaring himself. And the voice sent from God, not in riddles or figures, had moved him when it said, “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” And though he saw a man outwardly in Jesus, he was still searching for the Son of God when he said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread.” Did the sight of the man drive away the devil’s suspicion of his divinity, so that because he saw a man he did not believe he could be God? Most certainly not. What does he say? “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread.” He certainly had no doubt that the very thing whose reality he was looking into was possible. His anxiety was about whether it was true. He felt no assurance that it was impossible. [a]