Commentary: In Genesis 3 we see the first Adam tempted once by the Devil and failing, and that in the midst of paradise on earth, the Garden of Eden.

In Luke 4 we see Jesus, the Second Adam, tempted three times in the desert, in the very midst of want and hardship, and yet triumphant.

We read that immediately after his Baptism Jesus was lead out into the desert by the Holy Spirit, specifically in order that he might be tempted by the Devil.

Now note, it was God who lead him there, and it was God's purpose that he be tempted by the evil one. Remember in Christ's Baptism, Jesus has been associated indelibly with the sinners he came to save. And now he is going to begin the process of reclaiming those who as a result of that original sin of Adam are fallen. We will see that wherever our original parents, Adam and Eve, failed our Redeemer Jesus Christ triumphs.

The devil waits until the Son of Man is at his weakest, deprived of sustenance for forty days – suffice it say that the statement "He was hungry" is probably a massive understatement.

Then the Devil says to Jesus "If you are the Son of God" – i.e. prove it. The same thing will be thrown at Christ by the Pharisees in their constant demands for signs.

1) The First temptation was a material temptation, it called Jesus to doubt God's care and provision for Him, it also sought to cause Jesus to doubt his mission – would God have left you here without anything to eat for SO LONG if you are the Son of God? Better make sure, test your powers, make some food for yourself!

2) The Second temptation was a spiritual temptation, but here we need to ask, does the Devil really have what he offers to Christ?

Jesus himself speaks of the devil as the "ruler of this world" in John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11. But he is only the ruler of this world in so far as God allows him to be, he is not sovereign in any sense. We see that from the story of Job where power to afflict has to be granted to Him. This is not a case of equal power. The Devil is, as Luther put it, "still God's Devil"

Always the truth of Psalm 24:1 remains true: "The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein."

Still the temptation here is keen, Christ has come into the world to establish the Kingdom of God, but this can only happen through His humiliation and suffering.

Imagine if you will, the draw of not having to go to the cross, not having to endure the wrath of the Father!

We have seen of late, stirring examples of Soldiers and Marines willing to sacrifice their lives for their buddies, but Christ is not going to the Cross to lay down his life for His friends he is going to the cross to lay down his life for his enemies!

As Paul says: Romans 5:6 "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

This is also the repudiation of the earthly kingdom that the Jews want, and which will lead to His rejection by the majority of them. He was not to be the political Messiah that they wanted so much, but which would have been of no real use to them whatsoever.

3) The Third temptation was a temptation to make a vain-glorious display of His power by deliberately putting himself in danger and thus "testing" the faithfulness of God in protecting His Son.

Note that here the Devil is actually (mis)quoting Psalm 91:11-12

Psalm 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

What would this have accomplished? Nothing, it would have been a testing of His absolute trust in God. This was also not in keeping with what Jesus came to do. He was born under the law, he endured a life of trial and humiliation, and he was found faithful in all things.

Christ's miracles proved that He was who He said He was and that what He preached was true. If at the beginning of His ministry he had done this hopelessly showy and pointless miracle in the midst of the capital city, it would have been contrary to the thrust of his whole ministry. And as we have already seen, it would have been a sin – a sin that would have declared that He was not the sinless Son of God, and thus not able to perform the task for which he was sent into the world.

But that after all has been the Devil's plan all along. By tempting Jesus to Sin, he hopes to scuttle the entire plan of redemption, to prevent the coming of the kingdom, and thus to seal all men in sin, misery, and death.

The very existence of the kingdom of God is at stake here

Christ, the Second Adam, resists his temptations and thus triumphs over the Devil. But the Devil is far from finished, he is dismissed and departs waiting for another opportunity to attempt to derail God's plan of redemption. Later He will tempt Christ, via his servants, the Saducees, Pharisees, etc. Christ point out in John 8:44 " "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do."

The Devil even uses his family and his disciples in his attempts to dissuade Jesus from following the path to the Cross, and even there on the cross he tries once more to get Jesus to sin via a temptation to sinfully prove He is the Messiah:

"Matthew 27:39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads
40 and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."