After his baptism, Jesus goes into the wilderness or desert region around the Jordan river. He spends forty days there, fasting and experiencing temptation from Satan. Mark sums this up in a few lines:
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted[g] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.[1]
Both Matthew and Luke flesh things out in a bit more detail by describing three specific temptations Jesus faced towards the end. This may suggest that whilst the whole experience was intended to test or prove Jesus, that Jesus was not in continuous dialogue with Satan throughout.
7.1 Read Luke 4:1-13.
Jesus leaves the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit. Prior to Pentecost, the term “full of the Spirit” or “filled with the Spirit” tends to be used to describe someone set apart and anointed for God’s service at a specific time. Jesus of course fits the bill as the anointed one but also there is an added dynamic here, first in that there has been a description of the specific event where the Holy Spirit fills him at his baptism. Secondly, theologically, this is about more than a human anointing but a union of the persons of the Trinity.
Doctrinally, this is described as “perichoresis” meaning that each of the persons of the Trinity, mutually indwell one another. This means that wherever one person of the Trinity is present, all are present. This links to the Doctrine of Inseparable Operation. This means that the persons are united in doing everything together. It is not that the Father does one thing and the Son another.
Jesus goes into the wilderness or desert where he spends 40 days experiencing testing and temptation. During that time, he chooses to fast, to go without food, being fully human, this causes him to experience serious hunger (v2). So, unsurprisingly, the devil’s first temptation is to call on Jesus to use his power to turn stones into bread. We might see nothing wrong of this in itself but Jesus recognises it as temptation. Some have suggested that the temptation was to get Jesus to use his power selfishly for himself and there is perhaps some truth in this.
However, the text itself is best placed to explain what the temptation was and this can be seen from Jesus’ response. Jesus says that humans weren’t meant to just depend on bread or food to live but on God’s Word. In other words, the temptation was to do with who, or what did Jesus rely on. By choosing to fast, he was indicating that he was dependent solely on God for the resources he needed for the period of testing. Of course he needed food to live, physically but he needed more than food and his fasting symbolically reflected that (v3-4).
The second and third temptations are reversed in Matthew’s Gospel. Here, the second temptation is to worship Satan in order to receive authority over the surrounding nations. On one we might argue that this wasn’t in Satan’s gift anyway and of course, Jesus had true authority over those kingdoms. However, Satan does have a level of authority and control over people and places, so this was what he was offering. Alert readers may also observe that Jesus’ refusal to bow to Satan in order to receive kingdoms compares unfavourably with the Herodian dynasty who were willing to bow to the Emperor in Rome in order to receive their kingdoms. Jesus rebukes Satan with the reminder that we should only worship the Lord (v5-8).
In the third temptation, Satah urges Jesus to throw himself from a high tower in the temple, promising angelic protect. Jesus rebukes him, insisting that Scripture tells us not to test God. In other words, we are not meant to demand proof from God of his love and care for us, putting his love and his sovereignty to the test (v9-12).
The devil realises he has failed on this occasion and leaves Jesus alone for the time being (v13).
7.2 Recapitulation
One word used to describe what Jesus does in his earthly ministry is “recapitulation”. When you recapitulate, you restate it in summary. Jesus’ life can be said to “sum” up the history of God’s people. Jesus becomes the true and better Israel, God’s Son. Where Israel had been the disobedient son, failing God by rebelling in the wilderness, putting YHWH to the test, whilst failing their own test, Jesus is the obedient Son, his baptism recapitulates the Red Sea crossing and so his 40 days in the wilderness echo the 40 years that the people spent there, Unlike the Hebrews of the Exodus, though, Jesus, even though he experiences severe hunger doesn’t put God to the test. He knows that God can provide food like the manna his forefathers ate but he does not need to force the Father’s hand, trusting him to provide what is needed. He knows the Father will protect him and so doesn’t need that proven and he knows that he will receive his inheritance so does not need to use underhanded means to gain false authority and power.
7.3 Joshua
The location of these events at the Jordan river also points us to Jesus as the true and better Joshua. Later we will see him as the true and better Moses when he delivers the Sermon on the Mount. At this point in the story, it is John who represents Moses as the one who calls the people out from their spiritual Egypt and urges repentance in relationship to the Law. It is Jesus (an anglicised version of the Greek form of Joshua or Yeshua) who will lead God’s people into their promised rest as the come to enjoy the inheritance of God’s kingdom.
[1] Mark 1: 12-13.
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