Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.Tempted : “to try to learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing” Louw-Nida Greek Lexicon
Jesus had just been baptized & declared to be the Son of God with the power of the Spirit and authority of Heaven. Now the devil wanted to learn about His character.
There are numerous aspects to temptation, but one primary test: Is my whole being submitted to the will of God or can I be seduced by something or someone less?
Satan’s main task was to find if he could influence Jesus. Temptation may not always be a seductive call to open, active sin… it may just be a test to see if I can be influenced.
If I can be influenced by the devil then I have passed his test and failed God. Satan could never influence Jesus… it was impossible. His nature was divinely perfect. Unlike Jesus, we are not perfect in character. The first “sin” of the fall of Adam and Eve was submission to improper influence. They were tempted, satan found he could influence them, they fell...








