And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Immediately after His baptism in Jordan, with the opened heavens and the Father's voice declaring Him the beloved Son, the Holy Spirit led and drove Jesus into the desolate wilderness to be tempted by the devil as a necessary part of God's plan to save sinners. He did not seek temptation but withdrew to be alone to contemplate His mission, brace Himself by fasting and prayer for the suffering before Him, and bear the test on behalf of those He came to redeem. There for forty days and nights He ate nothing, enduring weakness, emaciation and the agonies of hunger greater than any man will be called to endure, while Satan pressed Him with fierce temptations disguised as an angel of light. He repulsed every attack and won an infinite victory by divine power joined with humanity, standing at humanity's head and passing over the ground where Adam fell through indulgence of appetite. That victory broke the controlling power of depraved appetite and gives fallen people the way, courage and strength to overcome in His name, as an example of self-denial, temperance and bringing appetite under God's control.
Setting After Baptism
Immediately after coming from Nazareth of Galilee to be baptized by John in Jordan, seeing the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him, and hearing the voice from heaven declaring Him the beloved Son, Jesus was driven into the wilderness. That movement stands immediately before His forty days in the wilderness tempted by Satan, among the wild beasts while the angels ministered to Him. There for forty days He ate nothing. It is the same temptation recorded by Matthew and Luke, taking place in a rocky desert where He confronted the tempter.
The baptism had been witnessed by people looking for and expecting Him, and the going into the wilderness came before His calling of the disciples to follow Him. After fasting those forty days and winning the victory over the devil, He returned to the Jordan and mingled with John's disciples without outwardly revealing His special work or seeking attention.
Spirit Leading Into Wilderness
Immediately after His baptism the Holy Spirit led and drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This going was under the Spirit's leading and at God's direction, and the temptation was a necessary part of God's plan to save sinners, not an accidental encounter. He did not invite or seek temptation, but went to be alone to contemplate His mission and work. By fasting and prayer He braced Himself for the blood-stained path and suffering before Him, and planned how to begin freeing captives held by the destroyer, meeting at God's direction the one once an honored angel in heaven.
During that fast the whole plan of His work as man's deliverer and God's medical missionary was laid out before Him. He withdrew from the busy scenes of life to a desolate wilderness for the express purpose of bearing the threefold test of temptation on behalf of those He had come to redeem. This threefold temptation was an important part of His work as Redeemer in carrying out the plan of salvation. After coming up out of the water He had prayed on Jordan's banks to the Eternal for strength to endure the conflict with the fallen foe.
The opening of the heavens and descent of glory with the Father's voice attested His divine character and close relation to the Infinite Majesty, and came before His mission soon began. The Spirit had fitted and prepared Him for this fierce, special testing.
Suffering and Temptation There
The wilderness into which the Spirit drove Him was desolate, lonely, barren and dreary, a place of wild beasts whose hardships were conditions from which human nature would shrink. It was there for forty days that He fasted and faced the devil, fitted and prepared by the Spirit for this fierce and special testing, yet holding to the course set before Him to fulfill the work He came to do.
On entering He was shut in by the Father's glory and absorbed in communion with God, lifted above human weakness. Then the glory departed from His countenance and face, and He was left to battle temptation pressing upon Him every moment while His human nature shrank from the coming conflict. The burden of the world's sins rested upon Him and brought deep sorrow to His face.
He fasted forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing, enduring hunger and the agonies of hunger for nearly six weeks with suffering greater than any man will ever be called to endure. He became weak and emaciated from hunger, pale through suffering, worn with mental agony, fainting and apparently dying. That extremity gave Satan his supposed opportunity, and Satan began tempting Him as soon as that suffering began and as His long fast was nearly over.
Satan tempted and buffeted Him through the forty days, assailing Him with fierce and subtle temptations and with every force and strategy, because he feared Christ would overthrow his power. He came not as a hideous fiend but disguised as a beautiful angel from heaven, hoping by that disguise to overcome Him. He solicited Him to sin but could not compel Him, since Christ could be overcome only if He consented, and Christ in suffering human nature answered Satan's use of Scripture with Scripture.
It was the same Satan with whom there was war in heaven and whom Christ overcame when he was expelled from heaven. Christ appeared to be alone with him but was not alone, for angels were round Him, as they are commissioned to those under fearful assaults of the enemy. After Satan failed and withdrew, he planned to oppose Jesus' ministry through human agents.
Victory Won for Humanity
The wilderness trial was a conflict over Satan's claim to rule the world and over loyalty to God, in which Jesus remained loyal, disproving that Satan had gained complete control of humanity and opening deliverance from his power. If Satan overcame Christ his power would stand, but if Christ prevailed Satan's kingdom and glory would end. Satan regarded victory over Christ as victory over the entire race, believing it would secure his life and kingdom. Christ's kingdom was foretold to be established on earth, but not through earthly triumph, worldly honor, or display.
He entered bearing the guilt of the transgressor and meeting the closest possible test on appetite, because Satan had gained the victory over man on that point in almost every temptation and the fall of the first parents was caused by indulgence of appetite. He came to stand at humanity's head and pass over the ground where Adam fell, leaving the royal courts of Heaven and clothing divinity with humanity to unite divine power with human effort, and He began the work of redemption just where the ruin began. He was to conquer appetite alone on behalf of the race, meeting its strongest test without help or comfort after its power had grown through successive generations since Adam. His fast showed how sinful and powerful debased appetite had become.
Here He gained a victory over the controlling power of depraved appetite to break its power, withstanding Satan's leading temptation that imperils souls, so that if man overcomes there he can conquer on every other point. He repulsed every attack, resisted every temptation, defeated Satan, and won victories and an infinite victory on behalf of humanity by divine power joined with humanity. That victory raised humanity's moral value before God and showed by His spotless life how to walk and overcome and that man might become reconciled to God, reversing Adam's failure. Humanity's salvation was at stake, ending with either Satan or the world's Redeemer victorious while angels watched with intense concern.
Had Satan prevailed people would have remained bound by appetite, but Christ's victory showed people could overcome and revealed the power of appetite over human nature. This trial was foundational to the plan of salvation: Christ's victory gives fallen people the way and key to overcome in His name and gives them courage to fight sin and Satan, making it possible for His followers to conquer so that in His strength people can resist assaults without being overcome. But His victory does not benefit a person unless that person also gains victory over temptation, with strength provided in His name.
He conquered there the same Satanic enemy whose spirit later acted through different people and forms, including the demon and the man in the synagogue at Capernaum and people who rejected Christ while appearing pious and learned. Satan tempted Jesus openly in the wilderness but worked through an appearance of piety and learning in the Jews, and the wilderness victory came before and stands behind the later meeting at Capernaum. Satan failed to use the temptation to draw people away from Jesus. The battle left Him fainting and apparently dying, and angels came to minister to Him, strengthen Him with food, lift Him, feed Him, and care for Him, followed by a season of relief.
Example for Overcoming Appetite
His first great trial in the wilderness tested physical appetite, and the length of His fast there shows how strong the pull to indulge appetite is. His victory shows that appetite and passion must be brought under God's control and overcome, for indulgence weakens body, mind, and morals, dulls the power to discern sacred and eternal things, and mars the likeness of God in the soul. Humanity's salvation hung on that single-handed contest, with angels watching in intense concern as the issue stood between Satan and the world's Redeemer.
He entered that barren, desolate place among wild beasts with the glory reflected on His face at baptism gone and deep sorrow upon Him under the weight of the world's sins, then fasted forty days and nights until weakened by hunger and struggle. Appetite had grown powerful through generations of indulgence, yet He met its strongest test on humanity's behalf and did not yield, reversing Adam's failure. His triumph is the example of self-denial, perseverance, firm principle, and temperance for His followers, teaching that controlling appetite is among the highest attainments of Christian life and that overcoming as He overcame is the condition for reigning with Him. That way to overcome is opened through His grace and strength, and after the conflict angels lifted Him, fed Him, and cared for Him.
He endured the long fast to teach self-denial and temperance beginning at the table and reaching into eating and every part of living. He came to help men in their weakness and to strengthen them, so that by the power He brings they can overcome appetite and passion. His victory by denying appetite shows that divine power enables victory over temptation and evil through self-control with divine help.
He met Satan in severe conflict in the desolate wilderness rather than seeking victory amid feasting or worldly pleasure, and that course teaches His followers how to resist and overcome temptation. He truly suffered hunger through forty days and nights without food, and Satan began to tempt Him as soon as that suffering began, offering an apparent good fitted to His circumstances. His temptations and victories lay bare both the struggle involved and the greatness of the work of overcoming. Satan counted victory over Christ as victory over the whole human race that would secure his own life and kingdom. That wilderness victory became the foundation of the plan of salvation and the key to overcoming in Christ's name over the same temptations Satan brings to men, with strength provided in His name, yet it benefits a person only as that person also overcomes.
His followers too will face seasons of attack from Satan in the wilderness of temptation, followed afterward by relief. When they resist him, God gives grace and strength, with angels ministering to them as they ministered to Christ. He appeared to be alone with Satan, the same foe with whom there was war in heaven and whom He overcame at his expulsion, but He was not alone, for angels were round Him. So angels of God are commissioned to those under the fearful assaults of the enemy, where Satan was defeated.
Immediately after His baptism in Jordan, with the opened heavens and the Father's voice declaring Him the beloved Son, the Holy Spirit led and drove Jesus into the desolate wilderness to be tempted by the devil as a necessary part of God's plan to save sinners. He did not seek temptation but withdrew to be alone to contemplate His mission, brace Himself by fasting and prayer for the suffering before Him, and bear the test on behalf of those He came to redeem. There for forty days and nights He ate nothing, enduring weakness, emaciation and the agonies of hunger greater than any man will be called to endure, while Satan pressed Him with fierce temptations disguised as an angel of light. He repulsed every attack and won an infinite victory by divine power joined with humanity, standing at humanity's head and passing over the ground where Adam fell through indulgence of appetite. That victory broke the controlling power of depraved appetite and gives fallen people the way, courage and strength to overcome in His name, as an example of self-denial, temperance and bringing appetite under God's control.
Setting After Baptism
Immediately after coming from Nazareth of Galilee to be baptized by John in Jordan, seeing the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him, and hearing the voice from heaven declaring Him the beloved Son, Jesus was driven into the wilderness. That movement stands immediately before His forty days in the wilderness tempted by Satan, among the wild beasts while the angels ministered to Him. There for forty days He ate nothing. It is the same temptation recorded by Matthew and Luke, taking place in a rocky desert where He confronted the tempter.
The baptism had been witnessed by people looking for and expecting Him, and the going into the wilderness came before His calling of the disciples to follow Him. After fasting those forty days and winning the victory over the devil, He returned to the Jordan and mingled with John's disciples without outwardly revealing His special work or seeking attention.
Spirit Leading Into Wilderness
Immediately after His baptism the Holy Spirit led and drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This going was under the Spirit's leading and at God's direction, and the temptation was a necessary part of God's plan to save sinners, not an accidental encounter. He did not invite or seek temptation, but went to be alone to contemplate His mission and work. By fasting and prayer He braced Himself for the blood-stained path and suffering before Him, and planned how to begin freeing captives held by the destroyer, meeting at God's direction the one once an honored angel in heaven.
During that fast the whole plan of His work as man's deliverer and God's medical missionary was laid out before Him. He withdrew from the busy scenes of life to a desolate wilderness for the express purpose of bearing the threefold test of temptation on behalf of those He had come to redeem. This threefold temptation was an important part of His work as Redeemer in carrying out the plan of salvation. After coming up out of the water He had prayed on Jordan's banks to the Eternal for strength to endure the conflict with the fallen foe.
The opening of the heavens and descent of glory with the Father's voice attested His divine character and close relation to the Infinite Majesty, and came before His mission soon began. The Spirit had fitted and prepared Him for this fierce, special testing.
Suffering and Temptation There
The wilderness into which the Spirit drove Him was desolate, lonely, barren and dreary, a place of wild beasts whose hardships were conditions from which human nature would shrink. It was there for forty days that He fasted and faced the devil, fitted and prepared by the Spirit for this fierce and special testing, yet holding to the course set before Him to fulfill the work He came to do.
On entering He was shut in by the Father's glory and absorbed in communion with God, lifted above human weakness. Then the glory departed from His countenance and face, and He was left to battle temptation pressing upon Him every moment while His human nature shrank from the coming conflict. The burden of the world's sins rested upon Him and brought deep sorrow to His face.
He fasted forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing, enduring hunger and the agonies of hunger for nearly six weeks with suffering greater than any man will ever be called to endure. He became weak and emaciated from hunger, pale through suffering, worn with mental agony, fainting and apparently dying. That extremity gave Satan his supposed opportunity, and Satan began tempting Him as soon as that suffering began and as His long fast was nearly over.
Satan tempted and buffeted Him through the forty days, assailing Him with fierce and subtle temptations and with every force and strategy, because he feared Christ would overthrow his power. He came not as a hideous fiend but disguised as a beautiful angel from heaven, hoping by that disguise to overcome Him. He solicited Him to sin but could not compel Him, since Christ could be overcome only if He consented, and Christ in suffering human nature answered Satan's use of Scripture with Scripture.
It was the same Satan with whom there was war in heaven and whom Christ overcame when he was expelled from heaven. Christ appeared to be alone with him but was not alone, for angels were round Him, as they are commissioned to those under fearful assaults of the enemy. After Satan failed and withdrew, he planned to oppose Jesus' ministry through human agents.
Victory Won for Humanity
The wilderness trial was a conflict over Satan's claim to rule the world and over loyalty to God, in which Jesus remained loyal, disproving that Satan had gained complete control of humanity and opening deliverance from his power. If Satan overcame Christ his power would stand, but if Christ prevailed Satan's kingdom and glory would end. Satan regarded victory over Christ as victory over the entire race, believing it would secure his life and kingdom. Christ's kingdom was foretold to be established on earth, but not through earthly triumph, worldly honor, or display.
He entered bearing the guilt of the transgressor and meeting the closest possible test on appetite, because Satan had gained the victory over man on that point in almost every temptation and the fall of the first parents was caused by indulgence of appetite. He came to stand at humanity's head and pass over the ground where Adam fell, leaving the royal courts of Heaven and clothing divinity with humanity to unite divine power with human effort, and He began the work of redemption just where the ruin began. He was to conquer appetite alone on behalf of the race, meeting its strongest test without help or comfort after its power had grown through successive generations since Adam. His fast showed how sinful and powerful debased appetite had become.
Here He gained a victory over the controlling power of depraved appetite to break its power, withstanding Satan's leading temptation that imperils souls, so that if man overcomes there he can conquer on every other point. He repulsed every attack, resisted every temptation, defeated Satan, and won victories and an infinite victory on behalf of humanity by divine power joined with humanity. That victory raised humanity's moral value before God and showed by His spotless life how to walk and overcome and that man might become reconciled to God, reversing Adam's failure. Humanity's salvation was at stake, ending with either Satan or the world's Redeemer victorious while angels watched with intense concern.
Had Satan prevailed people would have remained bound by appetite, but Christ's victory showed people could overcome and revealed the power of appetite over human nature. This trial was foundational to the plan of salvation: Christ's victory gives fallen people the way and key to overcome in His name and gives them courage to fight sin and Satan, making it possible for His followers to conquer so that in His strength people can resist assaults without being overcome. But His victory does not benefit a person unless that person also gains victory over temptation, with strength provided in His name.
He conquered there the same Satanic enemy whose spirit later acted through different people and forms, including the demon and the man in the synagogue at Capernaum and people who rejected Christ while appearing pious and learned. Satan tempted Jesus openly in the wilderness but worked through an appearance of piety and learning in the Jews, and the wilderness victory came before and stands behind the later meeting at Capernaum. Satan failed to use the temptation to draw people away from Jesus. The battle left Him fainting and apparently dying, and angels came to minister to Him, strengthen Him with food, lift Him, feed Him, and care for Him, followed by a season of relief.
Example for Overcoming Appetite
His first great trial in the wilderness tested physical appetite, and the length of His fast there shows how strong the pull to indulge appetite is. His victory shows that appetite and passion must be brought under God's control and overcome, for indulgence weakens body, mind, and morals, dulls the power to discern sacred and eternal things, and mars the likeness of God in the soul. Humanity's salvation hung on that single-handed contest, with angels watching in intense concern as the issue stood between Satan and the world's Redeemer.
He entered that barren, desolate place among wild beasts with the glory reflected on His face at baptism gone and deep sorrow upon Him under the weight of the world's sins, then fasted forty days and nights until weakened by hunger and struggle. Appetite had grown powerful through generations of indulgence, yet He met its strongest test on humanity's behalf and did not yield, reversing Adam's failure. His triumph is the example of self-denial, perseverance, firm principle, and temperance for His followers, teaching that controlling appetite is among the highest attainments of Christian life and that overcoming as He overcame is the condition for reigning with Him. That way to overcome is opened through His grace and strength, and after the conflict angels lifted Him, fed Him, and cared for Him.
He endured the long fast to teach self-denial and temperance beginning at the table and reaching into eating and every part of living. He came to help men in their weakness and to strengthen them, so that by the power He brings they can overcome appetite and passion. His victory by denying appetite shows that divine power enables victory over temptation and evil through self-control with divine help.
He met Satan in severe conflict in the desolate wilderness rather than seeking victory amid feasting or worldly pleasure, and that course teaches His followers how to resist and overcome temptation. He truly suffered hunger through forty days and nights without food, and Satan began to tempt Him as soon as that suffering began, offering an apparent good fitted to His circumstances. His temptations and victories lay bare both the struggle involved and the greatness of the work of overcoming. Satan counted victory over Christ as victory over the whole human race that would secure his own life and kingdom. That wilderness victory became the foundation of the plan of salvation and the key to overcoming in Christ's name over the same temptations Satan brings to men, with strength provided in His name, yet it benefits a person only as that person also overcomes.
His followers too will face seasons of attack from Satan in the wilderness of temptation, followed afterward by relief. When they resist him, God gives grace and strength, with angels ministering to them as they ministered to Christ. He appeared to be alone with Satan, the same foe with whom there was war in heaven and whom He overcame at his expulsion, but He was not alone, for angels were round Him. So angels of God are commissioned to those under the fearful assaults of the enemy, where Satan was defeated.