Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 4:1-11

The next story is of when Jesus is tempted by the devil.  Jesus has just been baptized by John and he is now being "led up by the Spirit into the wilderness".  I guess this means that he didn't simply just up and go on his own accord.  Instead, he is being led by the Spirit and is in obedience to the Spirit's leading.  We also learn that the purpose of this is so that he could be tempted.  I wonder why he needed to be tempted?  I am reminded of what it says in Hebrews 4.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

Jesus is able to sympathize with us.  He is not far off or so high above us.  No, he came near and became one of us and can relate.

In any case, he gets tempted three times.  First is to make the stones turn into bread.  Jesus is obviously hungry by this point, having fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.  You might think that fasting for so long is impossible, but it certainly is.  You can't go without water for that long, but you can certainly go without food for that long.  There have been some people enduring hunger strikes that have lasted longer than 40 days.

Jesus combats this temptation with scripture.  He uses scripture in the face of all these temptations that he faces.  Here, though he is very hungry, he doesn't need to exercise his power as God to appease his appetite.  More important than his need for food is his need for God's word.

So, he gets tempted to turn the stone into bread.  The second one is a temptation to throw himself off the cliff to have the angels come and protect him.  Here, he is tempted to exercise his authority as God's son and test God.  Interestingly, the devil uses scripture in this temptation against Jesus, but he will have none of it.  He will not put God to the test.

The last temptation is to be given "all the kingdoms of the world and their glory".  That certainly is a good thing.  Why does Jesus need to endure the cross and all that suffering when he could just have it all now?  He can just sit back and relax and rule now.  However, this is obviously not the plan and certainly not at the cost of worshiping the devil.  Jesus is tempted and he combats temptation with scripture and will not worship the devil.

Lastly, we read that the devil left him and angels came to minister to him.  He must've been hungry, tired and weary at this point.  But we see Jesus enduring and overcoming temptation even in such a weak state.