And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.Luke 4:1-7

When you think about Jesus’s forty days in the wilderness, you can’t help but see the parallel or comparison to the Exodus of the Israelites. Here we see Jesus led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, in the Exodus the Israelites were led into the wilderness by Moses. We also see the symbolic number of 40, the number 40 in the Bible typically means a time of testing or trial. We see this with Jesus 40 days in the wilderness and the Israelites 40 years in the wilderness.

Here we see 3 main temptations by Satan, as you read through these are broken down into 3 categories , temptation of the flesh, temptation of pride, and the temptation of lust. What is amazing to remember is that even though Jesus is fully God , he was also fully human (Philippians 2) therefore Jesus overcame these temptations while in the human flesh. This is something that is impossible for all of us to do, as we have all fallen short of the glory of God. 

The first temptation , Satan tempts Jesus with food, the temptation of the flesh. Remember Jesus was fasting 40 days and nights, he was extremely hungry. Satan challenged him,  “if you’re really the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread” As tempting as that sounded , Jesus knew he must resist Satan and do the will of God instead. Jesus put our Heavenly Fathers purpose ahead of his own, this is total obedience to God

Secondly Satan, deceivingly says “He will give Jesus all the power in the world, if he worships him” Now lets fact check, can Satan really give Jesus all the power and kingdoms in the world? I doubt it, also did Satan forget Jesus is the Son of God? Alot of times I think we give Satan more credit than he deserves! 

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Luke 4:8-12

Now this second temptation was of pride, but notice Jesus always answers Satan with the Word of God, remember the Word of God is called a sword (Hebrews 4) use it to rebuke the devil. Again Satan doesn’t realize Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, all nations, kingdoms, and people belong to Him! 

The third temptation, Satan actually tried to quote scripture but twists it to fit his agenda, does that sound familiar? We still see alot of “devils” doing this today! Again Jesus rebukes Satan with the Word of God, You should not tempt the Lord your God! On that day, Satan probably knew he was already defeated and Jesus is the Son of God! Amen!