The Temptation
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the templeand said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.” (Matthew 4:1–11 ESV)
The purpose of the temptation in the wilderness is for Jesus to be faithful in his temptation whereas Israel was unfaithful. There are a couple of apologetic issues in this passage. It has been noticed that Matthew and Luke disagree on the order of the temptations. Is this a contradiction or an error? Not at all. That kind of diversity in chronological order is very much within first century standards. These are not errors but opportunities for Matthew and Luke to focus on their particular interest. People also point out that there is no mountain on which one can see all the kingdoms of the world. There is no reason to suppose that this was anything but a vision. In the end, Jesus is victorious over Satan and faithful to his Father.
