Mat 4:1-2, 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry
Satan works in subtle ways to derail believers from seeking what is most important to seeking what is temporal. And what some consider to be the move of God is wrapped up with distortion of God’s word causing many believers to drift from the right path of truth.
Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit did not make Him less of a target of Satan. If anything, the intensity to derail Him from His call and be disobedient to the Father was strong. The forty days and forty nights fast made Him an easy target in His hunger. A side note, a forty days’ fast was accomplished by Moses (Exo 34:28; Deu 9:18), and by Elijah (1Kin 19:8), and it is a significant fact in this connection that these two men appeared with Christ at His transfiguration (Mat 17:3).
On this account, Jesus was tempted on 3 levels as we all are. The subtle ways are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life also stated as the flesh, the world and the devil. When we are at our vulnerable state that’s when he strikes the most but again in very subtle ways. In a few series, I will address each temptation and how it presents and appeals to believers.