It was right after the Lord’s baptism that he was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  We read about this Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13.  Matthew 4:1 says that Jesus was, “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”  Mark 1:12 says that, “the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.”  Luke 4:1 says that Jesus, “…being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”  We see that it was no coincidence that the Lord Jesus found Himself in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  The Lord’s baptism was the beginning of His public ministry, and this temptation occurred immediately after that.  Luke 3:23 tells us that, “Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age…” when this took place.  It is proper that the Lord Jesus should begin His ministry by manifesting His sinlessness to us all.

Most of us are familiar with this event.  In the wilderness, the Lord fasted for 40 days and nights.  Luke 4:2 tells us that the Lord Jesus was, “forty days tempted of the devil”, which means He was tempted for the entire time He was in the wilderness.  We are told of three different temptations the Lord received from Satan, each time using the Word of God to overcome the temptations.  It’s important for us to realize that Christ was not tempted to see if He WOULD SIN; He was tempted to prove that He COULD NOT SIN.  Hebrews 7:26 assures us that the Lord Jesus, “…is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”  If there was a possibility for Christ to sin, then He Himself would have needed a savior, and we would be without a savior.  It was the perfect, sinless, un-defilable nature of the Lord that made Him qualified to be the perfect sacrifice for taking away our sins.

Since Matthew, Mark, and Luke were not in the wilderness with the Lord, how do we know what happened there?  It is very possible, and even probable, that the Lord told His disciples about His time of fasting and temptation in the wilderness.  He spent much time teaching them concerning Himself, so it seems likely He would have spoken to them about this incident in His life.  We also are assured in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  That simply means that what was written in the Bible, was written under the direct inspiration of God.  Even if the Lord Jesus did not mention this event to His disciples, God still inspired them to relate the story for us.  In penning the scriptures, 2 Peter 1:21 tells us that, “…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

So, we can rest assured that the Lord Jesus did endure the 40 days of fasting, and He did defeat Satan by resisting His temptations.  And just as He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit, Luke 4:14 tells us that, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit…”, and thus began His public ministry.  Of all that we know about the life of the Lord on earth, the Apostle John tells us in John 21:25, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”  (178.7)