The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the Wilderness
On the day of Jesus’s baptism, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and remained on him (Matt. 3:16). Shortly after, the Holy Spirit led Jesus past the banks of the Jordan River and deep into the seclusion of the Judean Wilderness. There the barren beauty of this chalky wilderness is coupled with its stark desolation. This wilderness lacks the natural resources that invite sustained residence; nevertheless, Jesus remained there, fasting for forty days and forty nights.12 As Jesus became hungry, Satan attempted to exploit the circumstances. He urged Jesus to prove himself to be the Son of God by turning stones into bread (Matt. 4:2–3).
The details associated with this temptation by Satan remind us of the experience of ancient Israel as summarized in Deuteronomy 8:2–3. In that account, following an extended stay in Egypt, the Lord delivered the children of Israel, bringing them toward the Promised Land by leading them through the wildernesses of Shur, Sin, Paran, and Zin (see Exod. 15:22; 16:1; Num. 10:12; 20:1). For both Jesus and the children of Israel the wilderness became the environment in which difficulties were encountered. For example, ancient Israel lacked food in the wilderness and therefore concluded that God had brought them into the wilderness to kill them. Consequently, he provided them with a daily supply of manna that became a staple of their diet until they entered the Promised Land (Exod. 16:3–4; Josh. 5:12). According to Moses, the Lord did so in order to teach the Israelites that “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:2–3).
So it was that after his baptism into his rabbinic and messianic authority as the Son of God, Jesus was led by God’s Spirit into the wilderness to fast for forty days. Similar to the earlier wilderness experiences of the Israelites, it might appear that the Lord brought Jesus into the wilderness to kill him. As the author of lies, murder, theft, and destruction (Gen. 3:1–4; John 8:44), certainly Satan wished that to be the case. But unlike the Israelites who blamed God for leading them into the stark and barren wilderness with its lack of food, Jesus saw the bigger picture. The Israelites who did not believe the Lord was their provider were focused on their immediate circumstances. Knowing that his Father is the provider for all of life in the midst of any circumstance, Jesus’s focus was on representing God accurately. Thus, when confronted by Satan’s temptation in the wilderness to prove he was the Son of God by turning the stones into bread, Jesus responded with God’s perspective by quoting the words of Moses: “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4).
Martin, J. C., Beck, J. A., & Hansen, D. G. (2010). A Visual Guide to Gospel Events: Fascinating Insights into Where They Happened and Why (pp. 42–44). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
