After Jesus was baptized, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit then led him into the desert for 40 days and to be tempted by the devil.
Jesus did not have anything to eat during in the desert, so at the end of the 40 days, he was very hungry.
The devil knew this and tried to use Jesus’ hunger to tempt him.
“If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread,” the devil said to Jesus.
But Jesus was not so easily tempted. He refused to turn the stones into bread.
“It is written, ‘One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God,’” Jesus replied.
The devil didn’t give up.
He took Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem and made him stand on the Temple’s parapet, which is a low wall or railing at the edge of a roof.
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down,” the devil said. “For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
“Again it is written,” Jesus countered, “you shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
The devil tried one last time to tempt Jesus.
He took Jesus up to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence.
“All these I shall give to you,” the devil said, “if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
“Get away, Satan!” Jesus exclaimed. “It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”
The devil realized he could not tempt Jesus and left him. Afterward, angels came and ministered to Jesus.
Jesus then left the desert and withdrew to Galilee, where he lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
READ MORE ABOUT IT:
Matthew 4
Q&A
- Who led Jesus into the desert?
- How many ways did the devil try to tempt Jesus?
BIBLE ACCENT:
There are many parts of the Bible that talk about temptation.
In Genesis 3, the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, even though God had said not to eat it. Eve, in turn, tempted Adam to eat the fruit, even though he knew it was wrong.
In 2 Samuel 11, King David was tempted by a beautiful woman named Bathsheba, who was married to a man named Uriah. David purposefully sent Uriah into battle, knowing Uriah would be killed. After Uriah died, David married Bathsheba. God was very upset with David’s evil actions.
In the Book of Job, the devil tested Job to see if he could be tempted to curse God. Even though the devil killed Job’s children, caused him to be covered in boils and lose all of his possessions, Job never lost his faith. He resisted the temptation to curse God.
And in James 1, the faithful are told of the reward they will receive from God for resisting temptation: “Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him.”
PUZZLE:
Unscramble these words and put them in the correct order to form a quotation from the children’s story.
yawa egt tasan
Answers: away, get, satan
Get away, Satan!
SPOTLIGHT ON THE SAINTS:
St. Constantine of Cornwall and Govan
St. Constantine of Cornwall and Govan was a minor British king who lived in the sixth century. In 537, he likely succeeded his father as king of Dumnonia, in what is now southwest England.
Constantine was married to the daughter of the king of Brittany, France, and lived a sinful life until he converted to Christianity.
After his wife’s death, he abdicated the throne and entered religious life. He built churches in Cornwall and served in monasteries in Wales and Ireland. He then went as a missionary to the Picts in Scotland, where he was abbot of Govan before being killed by pirates in 576.
We remember him on March 11.