Jesus and the 40 Days of Fasting and Temptation in the Wilderness

In the Gospel accounts, following His baptism by John the Baptist, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights. This was a time of great testing for Jesus, as He was preparing to begin His public ministry.

Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13

The Temptations

The devil tempted Jesus in three ways:

• To turn stones into bread: After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry. The devil tempted Him to turn stones into bread, but Jesus refused. He knew that He could not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:2-4)
• To jump from the pinnacle of the temple: The devil then took Jesus to Jerusalem and placed Him on the pinnacle of the temple. He tempted Jesus to jump down, saying that God would send His angels to catch Him. But Jesus refused. He knew that He was not to put God to the test. (Matthew 4:5-7)
• To worship him in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world: Finally, the devil took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. He promised to give all of this to Jesus if He would only bow down and worship him. But Jesus refused. He knew that there is only one God who we must worship and serve. (Matthew 4:8-10)

Jesus’ Victory

Jesus resisted all of the devil’s temptations and emerged from the wilderness victorious. He was now ready to begin His public ministry and proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.

Lessons Learned

We can learn several lessons from Jesus’ 40 days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness:

• We are all tempted by the devil. The devil is a real enemy who seeks to destroy us. He will tempt us in every way he can.
• We can resist temptation with the power of God’s Word. Jesus resisted the devil’s temptations by quoting Scripture. We can do the same.
• We need to be prepared for temptation. Jesus prepared for temptation by fasting and praying. We can prepare for temptation by doing the same.
• Jesus is our example. Jesus showed us how to resist temptation. We can follow His example and overcome temptation in our own lives.

Заключение

Jesus’ 40 days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness is a powerful reminder of His victory over sin and temptation. We can all learn from His example and overcome temptation in our own lives.