Thus, when we fail, we should not despair, but rather repent quickly and lift up our heads, putting faith in Christ, who not only triumphed in the wilderness, but also in time will triumph in our souls. Rather, obedience comes by an emptying of ourselves and a filling by the Holy Spirit. What we must remember is that we cannot achieve obedience on our own strength. Third, those seeking obedience are especially prone to self-condemnation when they sin, and there’s nothing the devil wants more than for us to despair of relationship with God. Second, the devil is strategic, and he pays special attention to those who are threatening to escape his dominion.
First, those who are not seeking obedience, are already in the devil’s grasp, so he need not assail them with temptations. One of the ironies of the Christian life, is that we often experience the temptation of the devil MORE when we are actively seeking to be obedient to God. “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Should we expect the Holy Spirit to give the comforts of the world, or the higher comfort that comes from reliance upon God? Perhaps the Spirit brought Jesus to this time of temptation, not only so that Jesus could triumph over the devil, but also so that through suffering he could be refined for pure reliance and obedience to God. But perhaps the problem is in our notion of comfort. It seems strange that the Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter, should lead Christ to this supremely uncomfortable situation. The same Spirit which descended upon him like a dove, immediately led him up to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Sometimes we forget that Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness began with his baptism.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 3:13-4:1). Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.