Temptations

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Mark 1:12–13
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Temptations
Immediately after being revealed as God’s Son, the devil begins to assault Jesus. Christ emerges from His time of testing perfectly, without succumbing to temptation in any way. Accomplishing for us what we could never do for ourselves. He thus achieves something greater than all those tempted before Him and foreshadows the climax of the Gospel. There, He will undergo greater temptations but will rise triumphantly over the grave. Jesus’ successful struggle against temptation in the wilderness points to His final victory at the cross over sin, death, and the devil. From the days of Adam and Eve, we have continuously fallen into Satan’s traps. Jesus, after uniting Himself with fallen humans through Baptism, won a preliminary victory over the evil foe’s temptations. At the cross, Jesus gained an even greater victory for us. His resurrection settles once and for all that Satan cannot prevail. When we are tempted, may we be reminded of Christ’s own struggles and trials. For He has broken Satan’s power once and for all.