Tempting Jesus

John the Baptist rose to prominence and did not resent the fact that his ministry was coming to an end. He rejoiced that the Messiah had arrived to begin the redemptive work for the human race.

After the water baptism, Jesus entered an uninhabited wilderness area without provisions and stayed there for 40 days. During this time He was tempted as a man. Satan approached the Son of God after nearly six weeks of fasting, questioning His divinity and appealing to His physical hunger.

Then Lucifer transported Jesus to a pinnacle of the temple and told the Son of God to jump down and the angels would surely catch Him. The third temptation was a subtle appeal to the flesh and a promise by the Devil not to oppose Jesus’ mission on earth if the Son of God would just bow to Lucifer.

The object was to see if the God-man would buckle and give in to sinful enticement. Satan snared Eve with the first temptation in the Garden of Eden but Jesus was able to achieve victory three times through the use of Scripture.