Life of Christ part 25

 Matthew 4.1-11, Mark 1.12-13, Luke 4.1-13

Before Jesus could begin His powerful ministry among the people, it seems that He first had to display His power in the spiritual realm. Therefore, as Mark’s Gospel tells us, the Holy Spirit sent Jesus out into the desert where the incarnate Son of God would face unparalleled temptation. Jesus fasted for forty days and, according to Luke’s Gospel, Satan tempted Him throughout that entire forty day period. We read of only three specific temptations, but these may have been the final salvos launched by a desperate devil anxious to destroy the possibility of Jesus’ redeeming work. Those three final temptations were, indeed, powerful enticements. But Jesus never flinched. Satan tempted Jesus to satisfy His human hunger by making bread out of stones. He tempted Jesus to test the Father’s love by throwing Himself from a high point of the Temple. He tempted Jesus to avoid the cross and still rescue the kingdoms of the earth by bowing in worship to him. Jesus rejected each and every temptation, citing various scriptures as His weapon against Satan’s enticements. Each time Jesus was tempted He said, “It is written.” It is written that we cannot live on bread alone, that we must not test God’s love, and that we dare not worship anyone or anything but God alone. Jesus proved Himself to be the holy Son of God by defeating Satan in the desert. Later, Jesus would defeat Satan on the cross. When this period of intense persecution came to an end, angels came to Jesus to attend to His needs. Now that Jesus had proven His power in the spiritual realm, He could freely minister to the physical and spiritual needs of God’s people.