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1 Then Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil. 2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and by the end he was hungry. 3 The Tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

5 Then the Devil took him to the Holy City and stood him on the roof of the Temple. 6 He said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will catch you in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said, “But it is also written: You will not put the Lord your God to the test.”

8 Finally the Devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their splendor. 9 He said to Jesus, “I will give you all this, if you fall down and do me honor.” 10 Jesus said, “Get away, Satan! For it is written: You will honor the Lord your God, and him alone will you worship.” 11 Then the Devil left, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Comments

Jesus must prepare for his ministry, and so the Spirit leads him into the wilderness for forty days of fasting and prayer. This passage helps the reader to understand who Jesus is and what his role as Messiah means. The Devil’s temptations begin with the phrase, “If you are the Son of God…” and suggest false understandings of what that role means.

Throughout the Gospel, Jesus recapitulates his people’s history. His forty days in the desert mirrors in miniature his ancestors’ forty years of wandering. The Devil’s three temptations mirror the Israelites’ three great wilderness sins. The temptation to turn stones to bread references the hostile demand for bread from Moses in Ex 16.1-3. The temptation to test God by leaping from the Temple roof references the Israelites putting God to the test at Meribah and Massah in Ex 17.1-7. The temptation to worship the Devil references the Golden Calf incident in Ex 32.

Jesus’ scripture quotations are, in sequence, Dt 8.3, Dt 6.16, and Dt 6.13. The Devil quotes Ps 91.11-12.