I have simplified this as best I can. It may still be a bit tedious, but I think it will be worth it.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the baptism and
temptation of Jesus. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that
he immediately left the Jordan River after his baptism to spend forty
days fasting in the Judean Wilderness. At the end of those forty days
Satan came to him to tempt him.
The first temptation
overcome by Jesus was a challenge by Satan for Jesus to use his divine
power to satisfy the desires of his own flesh; that is, to transform
stones into bread to satisfy his hunger. In the second, Satan took him
to the pinnacle of the temple and (using a misquotation of scripture)
challenged Jesus to throw himself from the top of the Temple and land
safely at the base. In the third temptation, Satan shows Jesus all of
the Kingdoms of the World and offers to surrender them all to him in
exchange for one thing that Satan wants above all else; that is,
worship.
The Gospel of John is the most unique of the
four gospel accounts. We sometimes use chapter one as an account of
Jesus baptism and anointing by the Holy Spirit. Technically it is not.
It is a record of John the Baptist's dialogue with priests and Levites
about his role in the kingdom of God. In this dialogue John the Baptist
is recounting the baptism of Jesus which had occurred a few
weeks prior. The next day, after this dialogue, Jesus returns and John
the Baptist makes a public proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah.
Here is what I find so interesting.
In the wilderness Jesus repelled the temptations Satan brought to him,
and upon his return Jesus begins a counter attack against Satan in the
very same venues in which Satan had declared war.
Counter attack #1: Transformation
Three days after Jesus has returned from his wilderness experience he
is at a marriage in Cana of Galilee. It is here that he performs his
first miracle: he transforms water into wine...not privately for himself
but publicly for the benefit of others. This act manifests his glory
and causes his growing band of disciples to believe on him. There is no
mention that he prayed over the water. There is no mention of the Father
or the Spirit in this passage. This was an autonomous divine action by
the Son of God.
Counter attack #2: The Temple
A few days later he attends the Passover in Jerusalem. He enters the
Temple and promptly throws the merchants and their livestock out. This
marked his entrance into Jerusalem (and particularly the Temple). His
zeal for holiness is unmistakeable. His entrance is not self
aggrandizing, rather, he openly chastises the merchants for polluting
the house of the Father.
Counter attack #3: Nature of the Kingdom
The third item of interest come from the next chapter, John chapter 3.
While Jesus is in Jerusalem, a young ruler named Nicodemus comes to him
by night to consult with him. Jesus immediately reads his heart and
begins to discuss with him the nature of the Kingdom of God, and
emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation.
1.
Bread and wine are both symbols/types of the suffering of Christ. Satan
tried to corrupt these symbols, Jesus reinforced them.
2. Satan
tried to turn the Temple into a circus and Christ into a clown. Jesus
cleansed the temple, and left the resurrection as his calling card.
3.
Satan bargained with the kingdoms of the earth in an attempt to elevate
himself. Jesus reveals the depth of the sacrifice of the Godhead so
that he might give men the key to the Kingdom of God.
The
wilderness temptations were not solely and attack on the Son of God,
they were an attack by Satan on the Godhead as a whole. Notice the
emphasis on each person of the Godhead in the progression of events. The
Son, the Father and the Spirit are all emphasized in turn.
Additional thoughts...
...on throw yourself from the pinnacle
The
challenge here was to make a spectacle of himself in the temple by
doing something supernatural, and in essence trade his mission of
salvation for a carnival act.
...on worship me and I'll give you the kingdoms.
Essentially
Satan was offering Jesus a way around the cross. In exchange however
Satan would be allowed to exalt his throne to the level of Godhood. by
the very act of worship, Jesus would have been acknowledging Satan as a
superior . [cf. Isaiah 14:12-14].
...on John 3.
It
is in this dialogue that the much quoted John 3:16 occurs (for God so
loved the world...etc.), but we also see that in this passage the
wilderness experience is still very fresh on his mind, for he says,
"And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of man be lifted up:That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life." [John 3:14-16]
I, for one, have enjoyed this study. Hopefully it will inspire you as well. Blessings.
