Jesus had to suffer the temptation in the wilderness to succeed in being tested in the wilderness, where Israel failed in her forty years in the wilderness. He follows the path of righteous obedience to atone for his people’s disobedience. God used the devil’s malice to bring God’s Son into genuine temptation. Just as a railway bridge must bear the full weight of a train that passes over it, so Jesus bore the full weight of temptation, but remained obedient as the Second Adam where the first Adam failed. Christ’s temptation was actually more difficult, since he was, of himself, entitled to the glory and power that the devil urged him to take, but Jesus knew that that would have ended his God-given mission.
Just as Israel was led into the wilderness for forty years to be tested (Deuteronomy 8:2), so Jesus was tempted there for forty days. Where the nation of Israel failed, however, the Son of God stands firm to accomplish this victory for all.1
Jesus being carried off into the wilderness must therefore be regarded as a necessary first step on the path that Jesus is set to take for the people. All righteousness cannot be fulfilled unless he personally succeeds in withstanding the temptations of the devil. He proceeds on the path to the wilderness of temptations through solitude, but Jesus takes this path for the sake of the people from Jerusalem, Judea, and the whole district of the Jordan.2
While the devil may have tried to disrupt Jesus’ redemptive work by tempting him, he was forced to concede defeat despite being used by God to accomplish his redemptive purposes. Moreover, there are elements here which fall beyond our limited understanding, such as how God could use the devil in his service in order to genuinely tempt his Son.3
In spite of our lack of understanding of the exact nature of the temptation, we can and must maintain that Jesus carried the full weight of this temptation. Here one can think of the example of the testing of a railway bridge, which is conducted by means of letting loaded freight trains run over it. In order to hold, the bridge must carry the full weight of the train. Since Adam fell by failing the test of the devil’s temptation, the Second Adam also had to be tempted and remain standing.
Just like Adam, Christ hears the voice of Satan, yet holds firm to God’s commandment. Like Adam, Jesus is presented with glory which he could easily achieve, yet he rejects this earthly ideal in favor of the more difficult path given to him by God. He remains obedient. The temptation Christ had to endure was actually more difficult, for that which Satan presented to him fully accorded with the general expectations prevalent among the people of Israel at the time, meaning they would have embraced him as king if he had opted to take the path proposed by the devil. Yet Christ here shows himself to be the true Israelite. In Christ, the righteous demands of God are vindicated, for he shows that man can indeed remain standing firm against diabolical temptations.4
1 Alors Jésus fut emmené par l'Esprit dans le désert, pour être tenté par le diable.