Saint Mark tells us today that “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.” Saint Matthew in his gospel wrote that “At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” I was always confused by that and wondered - why would Jesus be led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted? Don’t we pray “and lead us not into temptations?” I began to understand it this way - we all are tempted whether we want it or not. As you see today, even Jesus was tempted. So, temptation is nothing morally wrong, it is not a sin. But it is a weapon that Satan uses to make us do what he wants, to make us sin. The Son of God was tempted, and we are constantly being tempted. Yet the huge difference is that Jesus never sinned, but we have. So, I believe that Jesus went into the desert to be tempted simply because He wanted to know what kind of weapon Satan will use against Him. It is important for us to know our weaknesses, our temptations. It is important to see where Satan is targeting you, because next time you will be ready knowing where might Satan hit you again.
