4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
11 and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Section Overview
Jesus has been anointed and empowered by the Spirit for ministry, and he is identified as the Son of God, the one who brings salvation for all human beings. Before his ministry commences, he is tempted in the desert for forty days, just as Israel was tempted in the wilderness for forty years. Jesus is led into the wilderness as one full of the Spirit, ready for battle with the Devil. During these forty days Jesus goes without food, and the Devil tempts him to rely on himself for physical provision, to claim authority and rule apart from God, and to test God to see if he would be faithful. Jesus passes every test, showing that he is ready for his ministry.
Section Outline
Response
We see from this account that Jesus is the true human being, succeeding where Adam and Israel failed. As the one who triumphs over the Devil, he is the Son of God, the King, the Messiah. We put our trust in him as the only one who has triumphed over the Devil. We also learn that the greatest antidote to pride is worship. When we are proud, we exalt ourselves as great, but when we worship, we exalt God as great. When we are proud, we say “Look at me”; when we worship, we say, “Look at God.” When we are proud, we want people to serve us. When we worship, we want people to serve God. We are also sometimes tempted to think we must do something radical and risky if we are truly following God. We might be tempted to think, “I am hardly doing God’s will if I am simply working in business.” Or, “I cannot please God simply by being a homemaker. I am going to show God how much I trust him by doing something really surprising and unusual.” But we are called upon to trust the Lord in the routine of life. We are reminded of Paul’s advice that we should not think of changing our vocation, as if changing what we do would make us more pleasing to the Lord (1 Cor. 7:17–24).