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Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
When Adam was tempted by the devil he failed and caused sickness, suffering, and death to enter the world. When Moses led the people through the desert they also failed. They forgot that, "One does not live on bread alone", they worshiped idols, and they put the Lord to the test. Jesus went in the desert to heal the affliction Adam had brought upon the human race. He went in order enact the obedience Israel had failed to demonstrate. But he did not go only for them, but also for us. He wanted to become a high priest who was able "to sympathize with our weakness" because he was "one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (see Hebrews 4:15).
“If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread.”
The devil first tempted Jesus to deviate from God's plan in order to satisfy the very human desire of his body for food. Obviously at other times Jesus did make miraculous food abound. But such was not the case here at the end of his own long fast. The devil tried to persuade him to use his power for entirely selfish reasons rather than for the sake of others. He insinuated that the reason Jesus was hungry was because the Father did not love him and that he should take matters into his own hand. But Jesus remembered what the Israelites in the desert forgot. He replied by quoting scripture, saying, "One does not live on bread alone". The devil subtly tried to shift the priority to bread. But Jesus insisted on the greater importance of the word of God.
“I shall give to you all this power and glory;
for it has been handed over to me,
and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me.”
The devil tried to tempt Jesus with an easier way to accomplish his mission, the catch being, that he would have to worship the devil himself to receive it. Jesus would not have turned aside from his mission for any reason, even though it necessarily involved the cross. He wasn't looking for an easy way out. He was rather looking to show the maximum possible love to humanity. The people of Israel hadn't set themselves in agreement with the will of God and see they were easy pray to apparent alternatives like the golden calf when there was any kind of setback or challenge. Jesus would never have worshiped anyone other than the one God. But he demonstrated that avoiding idolatry is easier for us when we set ourselves in advance to do God's will God's way. When we aren't looking for easier alternatives idols have less to offer us.
If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down from here, for it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,
and:
With their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
The devil noticed that Jesus responded by quoting scripture so he demonstrated that he could do that too. But this didn't mean that scripture was to be ignored because it could support any argument. Rather, properly understood, the word of God was definitive. The devil wanted Jesus to throw himself down from the temple probably both for vanity, and like the other temptations, and to force the Father to reveal him in a way other than through the cross. But unlike the Israelites in the desert Jesus would not try to force the hand of God. It wasn't that he was being tempted ask God for a sign. It was a temptation to try to assert himself over and against the plan of God. But Jesus knew better than to put God to the test. He knew that the best plan was always that of his Father, even if it wasn't the easiest. He would always choose his Father's will.
Since we are united to Jesus his victory in temptation is a source of strength for us. If we turn to him and remember our union with him in our own temptations his power can flow into us and give us victory. What we are asked is not difficult, as Paul reminded the Romans:
if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
If we lose focus and come to believe it is all about us we become easy pray for the enemy. But when our life is defined by our confession of Jesus as Lord and our belief in his resurrection the devil will find no way to deceive us.
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