The Sinless One

What man has ever gone head-to-head with Satan and been found without a trace of sin? Only one is recorded in all history: Christ Jesus, Our Lord. Without delay, The Spirit, which just descended on Jesus during baptism, now sends Him into trial, testing, and temptation in the wilderness. He had no break, no rest, and was immediately thrust into being tempted by Satan after the celebration of baptism.

Looking ahead, we know the pain Christ endured on the cross was severe, but these forty days were also brutal. He suffered. No food. No shelter. Exposure to forty cold nights and forty hot days. Yet He submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Across the world and human history, humanity has resisted the Spirit of God and submitted to temptation. Yet, here, we see Jesus submits to this difficult leading of the Holy Spirit and resists the temptations of the devil. Mark gives an interesting detail in that Jesus was surrounded by wild animals and angels ministered to Him. This parallels the first man created: Adam. Jesus and Adam were both tempted by Satan. Jesus and Adam both were surrounded by animals. The Father declared Adam "very good" and then He is "well pleased" in Christ.

In contrast: Adam was in a garden, Christ in the wilderness. Adam was likely well-fed, and Christ was fasting. Adam resisted the desire of God, while Christ submitted to the difficult leading of The Spirit. Adam submitted to Satan and Christ resisted Satan. When the trial passed, Adam was kept out of the garden by angels, and Jesus was ministered to by angels. These parallels and contrasts reveal that Jesus did what Adam and we have failed to do—trust in The Spirit and resist temptation.

Jesus submitted to The Spirit when it was difficult. Jesus endured suffering. Jesus resisted the devil. Jesus did what we could not do. Glory to His name!

Jesus desires to do what we, and all humanity, had failed in—fully resisting temptation. In this we see His desire to do what we cannot do on our behalf. Not to judge our failures from a distance, but to take the pain and the testing for us. He desires to save us and rescue us.