Was Jesus Tempted or Tested in the Wilderness?

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” Mathew 4:1.

Just as Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the desert, in the same way our figurative wilderness experiences are ordained by God. But the question is, will we be tempted by the devil or tested by God in the wilderness? To read this passage, click here.

One reason God brings us through such experiences is to mature us. He does this by trials that test our faith. When our faith endures these tests, we gradually and progressively become mature, not lacking anything in our character.

Building Endurance like A Runner

I think this works much the same way a runner builds endurance and becomes mature as a runner. Every time he or she endures an obstacle like challenging terrain or hot humid weather or physical exhaustion, he becomes a little stronger as a runner.

In other words, he gains endurance. When he or she gets to the point where no obstacle, be it challenging terrain or heat or exhaustion or anything else can prevent him from finishing a race, he has become perfect and complete as a runner.

He or she became perfect by building endurance, and they built endurance by encountering obstacles.

The metaphorical wilderness is the perfect place to become mature because it is replete with obstacles or trials that test our faith. It is a place of contradiction of what God has promised us. In fact, it seems to mock God’s word to us. It appears to be a place of calamity rather than the welfare God has promised.

When we lack physical provision in the wilderness, we must look to God to meet our needs in supernatural ways. It’s uncomfortable and it’s hard work. But it’s where we learn to walk by faith and not sight.

Because of these characteristics of the wilderness experience, it’s also a place where we’re going to be tempted. We’re only tempted in areas where we have a weakness.

I’m never tempted to rob a bank. I am tempted to think wrong thoughts though, because that’s a weakness for me. Jesus was sinless, but He did have the weaknesses inherent in being human like hunger. Hence, He was tempted.

He Allows Us to Go Hungry in the Wilderness

In the metaphorical wilderness we are allowed to go “hungry” and He meets our needs with His promises. Unmet needs can become areas of weakness and temptation. If I didn’t have any money and had to live on the street, I might be tempted to rob a bank.

So, unmet need produces weakness and weakness temptation. God wants to meet our needs in the wilderness with His word.

According to Mathew 4:4″man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God“. But this is a supernatural provision like manna was for the Israelites in the wilderness. And it’s not easy for a natural being to have his or her need met in supernatural ways. It’s not what comes, well, naturally.

So, because God allows us to go hungry in the wilderness, “he humbles you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Deuteronomy 8:3.

So, to reiterate, we have unmet needs in the wilderness, and because we have unmet needs, we have weakness. And wherever we’re weak, we will be tempted. God does meet our needs in the wilderness with manna, which is a metaphor for His word or promises.

But this is a supernatural provision that requires faith. We must therefore grow in our faith and learn how to be sustained on “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. It doesn’t come naturally, and, in the meantime, we will be tempted.

Vulnerable To Temptation

God intends the wilderness experience to mature us and prepare us for the promise land. But the means He uses to do this, namely the testing of our faith, does make us vulnerable to temptation.

The testing of our faith is a glorious opportunity to build endurance or strength. But it’s also a temptation to give up and shrink back. And the greater the opportunity, the greater the temptation.

Because the wilderness experience is such a marvelous opportunity for growth, it’s also an equally great temptation to lose ground. Actually, I think every test is also a temptation. When my kids were little, they would drive me crazy because they knew just where all my buttons were and how to push them.

I would want to get in their face in a less than gentle way, and demand respect. It was a test. Would I believe and obey what God had taught me? “Do not decide until your emotions subside”. It was a temptation to decide what to say or do before my angry emotions subsided.

So, Was Jesus Tempted or Tested in the Wilderness?

So really, I think to say ” Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the God” could be a synonymous statement to . . . He was tempted by the devil. It’s just like when that runner encounters an obstacle.

If he chooses to surmount and overcome it, it will build endurance in him/her as a runner. But if he feels overwhelmed by it and quits the race, then that obstacle that was meant to build endurance and help him mature as a runner, weakens him and causes him to lose ground.

For other posts similar to Was Jesus Tempted or Tested in the Wilderness, see Why The Israelites Died in the Wilderness, Fighting the Giants in Canaan Then and Now.

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