Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to protect you,’

and

‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. 

- Luke 4:1-13

Jesus was prepared for ministry by God’s anointing followed by a time in the wilderness where He fasted and where Satan tempted and tested Him. Are you in the wilderness? Do you find yourself wandering and waiting? Is Satan tempting and testing you? When we answer “yes,” we should pray for eyes to see the ministry God is preparing us to begin. Our time in the wilderness is an amazing opportunity through which we grow in faith and through which God prepares us to serve in new, unique and important ways.

As John baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River, a window to heaven suddenly opens, the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus, God the Father proclaims Jesus to be His Son, and immediately after this amazing event, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for a time of fasting and of being tempted and tested by Satan. After all that, Jesus starts His public ministry (see Matthew 3:13 - 4:17).  

Before the miracles, signs and wonders, before the amazing events we associate with Jesus, before His ministry, Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit leads Him to the wilderness where He was tested and tempted. Tempting and testing were part of the process preparing Jesus for ministry.

Scripture describes three direct tests and suggests one indirect test. First is a test of faith and trust. Will Jesus, as hungry as He is, begin to trust in His own provision rather than God’s? Satan knows Jesus is the Son of God, and he challenges Jesus to use His power and authority, His blessings from God, in a way contrary to God’s will. And in so doing, Satan challenges Jesus’s faith and trust in God’s faithfulness. Satan says, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus repels the attack by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, “One does not live by bread alone.”

The second test is a test of allegiance. Will Jesus exchange His allegiance with God for allegiance with Satan? Pointing to all the kingdoms of the world, Satan says, “Worship me and it will all be yours.” Jesus repels the attack quoting Deuteronomy 6:13, saying worship and serve only God. Jesus knows that God has all authority in heaven and on earth, that He alone is sovereign, and that Satan’s limited authority is a grant from, under and controlled by God’s sovereign reign. So why would He possibly bow to Satan?

The third test challenges Jesus’s ability to understand God’s will through His holy word. Satan accurately quotes Psalm 91. He says the words as they are written, but he applies them in a way contrary to God’s will. Psalm 91 is a beautiful passage promising God’s faithful presence and protection. God promises to “send his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways, on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone” and in it, God promises to “be with them in trouble.” Jesus repels the attack by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Repelling the third type of attack requires an understanding of God’s will. We must understand what God means by His holy word. This requires that we stay in God’s holy word, that we continue to study and meditate on His word, that we stay connected with God through prayer, that we keep God in the forefront of our minds, or as Moses urges the Israelites at Deuteronomy 6:5, to talk about God’s holy word all the time, recite His words, teach our children His words, write them on our hands and foreheads and door frames.

I am reminded of the armor of God protecting us against Satan’s attacks. God’s truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation and “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) are our defenses. God’s holy word is the sword of the Holy Spirit. If we are to use the sword we must know it, and if we are to train others to use the sword we must train them to know it.

The account includes another unstated test – the test of waiting. Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days. The tests we read about in Scripture probably happened in less than forty days, but Jesus had to wait until God’s perfect time. Similarly, the Israelites waited a long time in bondage in Egypt before God delivered them, and then they wandered the wilderness for forty years. They waited. And through waiting on God they learned that they needed God and they learned to depend on God and they learned to trust God. What do you learn in your time of waiting on God?

Jesus was tested in the wilderness by hunger and time and Satan getting prepared for ministry. What wilderness are you in? What ministry are you being prepared for? We know that God is all-powerful. He has all authority. He can do anything, so when we are tested He allows it. Tests reveal what is hidden in our darkest places, not so God can see them – He already knows all about them – but so we can see them and so we can take steps to eradicate them from our lives.  

We may be tested through times of little and through times of abundance. We may be lured away from God by whispers enticing us to exchange our focus on God for our focus on other things in our lives. We may be lured away from God by whispers enticing us to use our limited power and authority rather than relying on God, or we may be enticed away from God by whispers of accurately quoted but misapplied Scripture. Satan has been at this game a lot longer than we have and he is a crafty adversary, so we must keep our focus on God. As you wait during your time in the wilderness, cling to God, meditate on His holy word, stay in prayer, rely and trust in Him, and pray to understand the ministry He is preparing you to begin.

Our understanding of God provides the basis for our worldview and the foundation for our response to everything we experience in this life. May your faith and trust and relationship with God continue to mature and grow.