After spending forty days and nights fasting in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted to cave to common and powerful desires. First, he was tempted to eat before his period of fasting was over. Then, he was tempted to prove his divinity by forcing God to send angels to rescue him from a deadly fall. After that, he was tempted to win the loyalty of all people outside of God’s plan. These were all tests for Jesus, but in overcoming them, he taught us how to approach similar situations.
The first test appealed to Jesus’s physical needs. After forty days of fasting, Jesus would have been extremely hungry. Personally, I can’t seem to go more than a few hours without griping and complaining about not having eaten another meal yet. Jesus, by the grace of God, managed to not eat for over a month. By the time the devil tempted Jesus to create food, he would have been hungry enough to be tempted.
This would have been wrong because Jesus was undergoing a waiting process for his next meal. By miraculously creating food before God allowed him to eat, Jesus would have violated his order to wait and caved to the urge to make God’s promises happen early.
Next, the devil took Jesus to the top of the temple in Jerusalem and told him to jump off. According to the Scriptures, God’s angels would have rescued him. In doing this, Jesus would have proved to the world that he was God’s son, and his ministry would have been much easier. However, he would have betrayed God and forced his hand. Through this trial, Jesus overcame the temptation to avoid pain and taking the easy route.
Lastly, the devil showed Jesus all the nations of the world and told him that he would give them all to Jesus if Jesus chose to worship the devil. This was another severe temptation, as Jesus could have taken control of the entire world without the need to atone for everyone’s sins. By refusing the devil, Jesus proved to us that we can also overcome the impulse to defy the Lord by taking shortcuts instead of his chosen route.
