Temptation of Christ

"Despite the difficulties urged, …against the historical character of the three temptations of Jesus, as recorded by St. Matthew and St. Luke, it is plain that these sacred writers intended to describe an actual and visible approach of Satan, to chronicle an actual shifting of places, etc., and that the traditional view, which maintains the objective nature of Christ's temptations, is the only one meeting all the requirements of the Gospel narrative.

"[15] The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John.

Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating; he lives among wild beasts, and angels minister to him.

[19][20] Luke's account is similar, though his inversion of the second and third temptations "represents a more natural geographic movement, from the wilderness to the temple".

[21] Luke's closing statement that the devil "departed from him until an opportune time"[22] may provide a narrative link to the immediately following attempt at Nazareth to throw Jesus down from a high place,[23] or may anticipate a role for Satan in the Passion (cf.

[29][30] On the other hand, the synoptic gospel of Luke specifies that "He ate nothing" which, based on the plain reading of the text, suggests complete abstinence of food.

Mark does not provide details, but in Matthew and Luke "the tempter" (Greek: ὁ πειράζων, ho peirazōn)[31] or "the devil" (Greek: ὁ διάβολος, ho diabolos) tempts Jesus to: The temptation of bread out of stones occurs in the same desert setting where Jesus had been fasting, with a spot on Mount Quarantania traditionally being considered the exact location.

[33] In response to Satan's suggestion, Jesus replies, "It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (a reference to Deuteronomy 8:3).

[36] What is meant by the word traditionally translated as pinnacle is not entirely clear since the Greek diminutive form pterugion ("little wing") is not extant in other architectural contexts.

Once more, Jesus maintained his integrity and responded by quoting scripture, saying, "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.'"

The spot pointed out by tradition as the summit from which Satan offered to Jesus dominion over all earthly kingdoms is the "Quarantania", a limestone peak on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

[15] Instead of a literal reading, George Slatyer Barrett viewed the third temptation as inclining to a doubt of Christ's mission, or at least the methodology.

Readers would likely recognize this as reminiscent of the temptation to false worship that the Israelites encountered in the desert in the incident of the Golden Calf mentioned in Ex.

The Greek verb Mark uses in the text is synonymous with driving out demons, and the wilderness at times represents a place of struggle.

He cites Sirach 2: "Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation."

According to St. James, the source of man's temptations is his proneness to evil which is the result of the fall of Adam, and which remains in human nature after baptismal regeneration, and even though the soul is in the state of sanctifying grace, mankind's concupiscence (or proneness to evil) becomes sinful only when freely yielded to; when resisted with God's help it is an occasion of merit.

[15] In the first three Gospels, the narrative of Christ's temptation is placed in immediate connection with his baptism and then with the beginning of his public ministry.

The first three Gospels agree concerning the time to which they assign the temptation of Christ, so they are at one in ascribing the same general place to its occurrence, viz.

By the second temptation Satan tried to awaken a spiritual pride in Jesus, saying: "Throw yourself down; God will help you and see that no evil befalls you!"

The cunning seducer wished thereby to change a humble and submissive confidence in God's mercy into a proud presumption.

Our first parents succumbed to these temptations, because they gave ear to the suggestions of Satan, held intercourse with him, and gazed at the forbidden fruit.

This vision of the temptation as extending to the open sea is eerily similar to the possibilities of conquest as commonly depicted in British and American art during the Romantic era.

"[60] Quarantine is a novel by Jim Crace with seven characters in the desert, fasting and praying, and includes Jesus as a peripheral cast member.

Daniella Zsupan-Jerome sees this as a challenge to "...the Duke and meant to recall him to humility and conversion..."[61] Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, part of the novel, The Grand Inquisitor, features an extended treatment of the temptation of Christ.

In W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge, the narrator uses the gospel of Matthew to introduce his own ending in which Jesus accepts death on the cross, "for greater love hath no man," while the devil laughs in glee, knowing that man will reject this redemption and commit evil in spite of, if not because of, this great sacrifice.

The temptation of Christ in the desert is shown in the following theatrical and television films: King of Kings (US 1961, Nicholas Ray), The Gospel According to Matthew (Italy 1964, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini), The Greatest Story Ever Told (US 1965, George Stevens), Jesus (US 1979, Peter Sykes and John Krish), The Last Temptation of Christ (US 1988, Martin Scorsese), Jesus (1999 TV film, Roger Young), The Miracle Maker (UK-US TV film, 2000), The Bible (US 2013 TV miniseries, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett), Last Days in the Desert (US 2015, Rodrigo Garcia), and 40: The Temptation of Jesus Christ (US 2020, Douglas James Vail).

Dave Matthews' single "Save Me" from the album Some Devil recounts Christ's time in the desert from Satan's point of view.