Jesus' Temptation in the Wilderness

Shortly after Jesus was baptized something unusual happened. The gospel tells us that immediately after his baptism, Jesus was led into the wilderness and tempted for 40 days. You're probably familiar with the basic story. Jesus was hungry after having not eaten for 40 days and a figure called Satan appeared to tempt him three different times. But when you read the account carefully a number of questions begin to arise. Who was Jesus really being tempted by? Why did this event happen right after his baptism? And what can these temptations teach us about the way in which Jesus overcame sin? In this video we're going to look closely at the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. What happened, what it means, and why it's so important for us today.

To understand the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, we first need to understand what had just happened in Jesus' life. In Matthew chapter 3 Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan river and as he came out of the water, Matthew says:

"The heavens were opened to him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him… and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased."

John's gospel later explains that Jesus received the spirit without measure. In other words, unlike the prophets before him, who were given portions of God's spirit for specific tasks, Jesus was given the spirit fully. But then something surprising happened. Immediately we're told, the spirit led Jesus into the wilderness and for 40 days he remained there fasting and confronting a series of temptations that would shape the way he carried out his ministry.

But before we look at those temptations themselves, it's important to remember something that the Bible says about Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. In other words, the temptations that Jesus experienced, were not completely different from ours. They were part of the same human struggle that every person faces. The difference is that Jesus never gave in to them. So, this period in the wilderness was a time for Jesus to confront his own human desires and learn perfect obedience to his Father's will. As we look at the three temptations recorded in the gospels, we see that they all revolve around a similar theme. And that's how Jesus would use the power that he had just received from God. Would he use it for personal comfort? Would he use it for fame and recognition? Or to prove himself to others? Well let's look at each temptation in turn.

The first temptation took place after Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. Naturally he was extremely hungry and in that moment a thought presented itself. The stones scattered across the wilderness looked very similar to small loaves of bread. And now that Jesus possessed the power of the spirit, he had the ability to perform miracles. So, the temptation was very simple. Why not turn the stones into bread? It would immediately solve his hunger, but Jesus refused. Instead, he responded by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy. He said:

"Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God."

Jesus understood that the physical needs were not the most important thing. His life and his mission were to be guided by the will of God not by the desires of the flesh and so he resisted the temptation, by grounding his thinking in scripture.

The next temptation is described as Jesus seeing all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time from a very high mountain, and of course there is no mountain on earth high enough to literally see every kingdom of the world at once. What this tells us is that the temptation is better understood as something happening within Jesus' mind. A vision of the future possibilities before him. Jesus knew that he had been chosen to become king in God's Kingdom. The temptation was to take that authority immediately. He could accept glory, power, and recognition right away. He could be the king that all the people were expecting. Yet Jesus knew this was not the path that God had chosen. Once again, he responded by quoting from the law of Moses:

"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

So, he refused the temptation of being the king before it was the proper time.

The final temptation was set in the temple ledges and the idea presented to Jesus was dramatic. What if he threw himself down from the highest point of the temple. After all Psalm 91 said:

"That he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."

This temptation even involved a quotation from the scriptures itself, but Jesus immediately recognized the flaw in the reasoning. To use God's power in that way would not be an act of faith. It would be testing God. So, Jesus once again turned to Deuteronomy and replied:

"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

In other words, Jesus refused to misuse the power of God simply to prove himself to others.

At this point many people take the text at face value and assume that these temptations must have come from a supernatural being called Satan. But when you actually look at the Greek word behind Satan in the Bible, it simply means an adversary or an opponent. Throughout the Bible, Satan is used as a symbol for any force that opposes God's will and that includes the sinful desires within human nature. The Bible actually explains where temptation comes from very clearly. In the book of James it says:

"Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."

What that means is that the temptations Jesus experienced were part of the same human struggle that we all experience. The difference is that Jesus always chose obedience to God.

So why was Jesus tempted immediately after being baptized and receiving the spirit? Well, they prepared Jesus for the challenges he would face throughout his ministry. There would be moments when he could use miraculous power to serve himself. There would be moments when crowds would try to make him king. And there would be times when people demanded that he prove who he was with dramatic miracles. But Jesus had already prepared for those moments in his mind. He knew that his mission was not about personal comfort, not about fame, or proving himself. It was about faithfully carrying out the will of God. This same commitment was ultimately tested again in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed in deep anguish before his crucifixion. Yet even then, he chose to say:

"Not my will, but yours be done."

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness teaches an important lesson about where temptation comes from and how it can be overcome. Like Jesus, we all face desires that pull us away from the will of God. And like Jesus, we have a choice in how we respond. Throughout these temptations Jesus consistently turned to the word of God to guide his thinking. Scripture shaped the way that he responded to every challenge and in the same way when we allow the teaching of the Bible to shape our thinking, we're far better equipped to resist the impulses that lead to sin.

So, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was far more than a strange story at the beginning of the gospels. It was a crucial moment in the preparation of Jesus' ministry. During those 40 days, Jesus confronted the same kind of desires that every human being experiences, the desire for comfort, power, and recognition. But instead of giving in to those impulses, he chose obedience to God and by doing so, he set the perfect example of how a life devoted to God should be lived.