Today's gospel text is a remarkably detailed tour of temptations given Jesus by an articulate, Torah-toting, Scripture-quoting devil. Mark's short form of this confrontation is elongated and elaborated by both Luke and Matthew, suggesting that the shared source of these two gospel writers held this longer version, which each then adopted and adapted to fit his own gospel form.

Luke opens by affirming the coherency between Jesus' experience at his baptism and his journey into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit, which comes upon Jesus at his baptism, now fills Jesus. Its guiding presence continues as it leads him out into the wilderness for a period of fasting and testing.

Note that in Luke, the Holy Spirit's presence appears almost as an internalized force in Jesus' life. In Mark, the Holy S…