Reminiscent of the desert wanderings of the ancient Israelites, the Spirit then led Jesus out into the wilderness for the test that the devil was about to give him. Or might we say -- THE TEMPTATION! 2 After Jesus was out there fasting from food for forty days and forty nights, he was quite famished. 3 That’s when the tempter showed up and started offering him advice, “If you are God’s Son, all you have to do is tell these rocks to morph into bread and it will happen.”
4 Jesus replied, “It’s written in Deuteronomy 8:3, It takes more than a loaf bread. To live we need to continually pay attention to what God is saying. Heed all his words.”
5 A second test followed; the devil led Jesus to the highest point of the temple in the holy city of Jerusalem. And he said to him, 6 “You could demonstrate to everyone that you are God’s Son if you’d jump from here; for it is written about you in Psalm 91:11-12, God will dispatch his angels to catch you. You’ll touchdown on pillows. Think about the impression it would make as you float to the ground.”
7 Jesus replied, “I can quote scripture, too. Deuteronomy 6:16 says Only an idiot would try to administer such a stupid test to the Lord.”
8 The devil then brought him to a very high mountain for a third test. He pointed out all the glorious kingdoms of the world. 9 Then he offered, “They’re all yours. All you have to do is kneel and worship me.”
10 Jesus responded, “Get outta’ here, Satan. As it is written in Deuteronomy 6:13, Worship and serve only the Lord your God. No one and nothing else -- period.” 11 The devil backed down and left. Then angels came and took care of Jesus.
