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FTER Christ's baptism, He went out into wilderness for 40 days. For 40 days Jesus was tempted by the devil. We usually think of Jesus' three specific temptations as if they were His only temptations. Matthew's account does leave that impression. Mark's and Luke's accounts are rather clear though. Satan troubled Him the entire time. The climax of His test did apparently come at the end of this period of physical solitude though. Wonderfully, Satan was defeated by a proper application of the Scriptures. In other words (in resisting temptation), Jesus used a tool we also possess.
Truly, the Old Testament was a primary tool in Christ's ministry. Not only did this reality show up in His resistance to temptation, it is also the dominant factor in His first ministerial statement (in the synagogue in Nazareth Jesus had a habit of attending every Sabbath day when the Bible was read). On the Saturday after Christ's temptation, He stood in that synagogue and read from the book of Isaiah. He read a prophecy that pointed directly to Him. Then He told His audience that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy. This was the commencement of the career of the greatest teacher ever.
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