It’s one of the most powerful scenes from Jesus’ life, and it happened just before His public ministry began.
After John baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness where, for forty days, the devil tempted Him to do what God wanted Him to do but not the way God wanted Him to. Interestingly, the only reason we have this story is because Jesus must have told His closest friends what happened. And it was an important story for Jesus to share because in that experience, He set the pattern for His ministry and for us.
Clearly Jesus understood the great power that was at His disposal. Of course Satan won’t tempt us to turn a stone into bread or throw ourselves off the roof of our church building; he knows our limitations. Jesus knew He could make rocks into food and expect angels to catch his fall, but he chose the way of suffering—the way of the cross—over the path of instant glory and fame.
The temptations Jesus faced fell into three categories:
Provide for Yourself. Material things make people happy!
Choose the power without the cross. A little compromise will save You so much pain!
Show Yourself to be the Messiah. If You do, You’ll immediately have loyal followers.
Jesus underwent forty days of this relentless onslaught. His temptations were far more intense than any you or I will ever face, and the stakes were much higher. If Jesus had weakened and succumbed, we would all be lost in our sins, for Jesus would no longer have been the sinless Lamb of God. But even in His physical weakness, Jesus stood firm against the Enemy. The gospel writer Luke told us one source of His strength: Jesus responded to each temptation with statements of truth directly from the Word of God. The Son of God used the Word of God against the Enemy of God. And why would we mere humans do anything else?
When Paul wrote to believers in Ephesus, he described the spiritual armor available to them. Every piece but one is for defense, and that exception is God’s Word. Paul called believers to “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
We all face temptations, and as the days get darker, the fight for our loyalties and for our very souls will become fiercer. But God has provided all that we need—the powerful truth of Scripture!
Five Minutes in the Word 
Then the devil said to [Jesus], “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’ ”
Luke 4:3–4
May the praise of God be in [the] mouths [of the faithful] and a double-edged sword in their hands.
Psalm 149:6 NIV
The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 ESV
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16–17
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10–11 ESV