“Then Jesus was led up
By the Spirit
Into the wilderness,
To be tempted
By the devil.”
Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνήχθη εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος, πειρασθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου.
Why was Jesus tempted? God, the Father, Yahweh, often tested the righteous ones and the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Both Mark, chapter 1:12-13, and Luke, chapter 4:1-13, have these temptations in the desert, but only Luke and Matthew are similar with their detailed account of these temptations. The Holy Spirit (ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματος), that Jesus had just received after his baptism in the Jordan River, led Jesus into the wilderness (Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνήχθη εἰς τὴν ἔρημον). The Israelites had been in the wilderness during their exodus from Egypt. John the Baptist was also preaching and baptizing in the desert wilderness. There the devil or Satan, the accuser, would tempt Jesus (πειρασθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου). Traditionally, the devil has been considered a fallen angel without all the powers of God, but nevertheless very strong. Sometimes he is referred to as the personification of evil.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 