Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit for the express purpose of being tempted by the Devil himself.
After forty days there fasting Jesus was as any man would be—extremely hungry and vulnerable to temptation.
The tempter went straight for the gut.
“If you’re really Son of God then turn these stones into bread.”
Jesus replied quoting scripture in the way that only he can pull off.
Then with a view from the pinnacle of the temple Jesus is challenged to jump and surely be rescued by angels, to which Jesus reminds his tempter that God cannot be manipulated.
The sly fox even threw a little Old Testament back at Jesus with an out-of-context Psalm “it is written…” but a hungry Jesus has no patience for proof texts.
With two strikes the tempter puts all his cards on the table. In panoramic view of all the world’s kingdoms he proffers, “All these things can be yours. Just kneel down and worship me.”
“Go Satan!” commands Jesus with one last punch from Deuteronomy “Worship the LORD your God and serve him only!”
Then for a moment he was alone again, and at just the right time those angels came after all.
“Satan Tempts Jesus” art by Pope Saint Victor