4:1 The baptism of Jesus, which culminated with the voice from heaven declaring divine approval, is followed immediately (Mark 1:12 has “at once”) by a time of temptation. The parallel account in Luke indicates that Jesus was tempted by Satan throughout a forty-day period (Luke 4:22). Matthew describes the dramatic conclusion of this period (“after [Jesus fasted] forty days and forty nights … the tempter came to him,” vv. 2–3). It is not at all uncommon for temptation to follow closely our times of spiritual exhilaration.

Note that Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert. Times of testing (and that is the meaning of the Greek peirazō in this context) come from the Lord in order to strengthen and help. In the entire episode, Jesus is being put to the test. Will he, like Israel of old, d…