Why did Jesus go into the wilderness?

Answer 1

According to the gospels, Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days before beginning his public ministry, during which time he was tempted by Satan. Satan tempted him to turn stones into bread, to take worldly power, and to jump off a cliff, such that angels might catch him. Jesus refused all three. Some say that the three temptations may be metaphors for various options that Jesus could have taken as Messiah.

Lent is a mark of forty days to remind us of the extreme amount of preparation of Jesus while He was in the desert. He went 40 days and nights without food and was constantly tempted by the devil as He prayed to get ready for His impending Crucifixion.

Jesus didn't necessarily observe Lent. Rather, He invented it. Lent commemorates the period of 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness after his baptism by John (the Baptist). During the 40 days now known as Lent, Jesus ate and drank nothing and was tempted by Satan.
The devil tested Jesus, but each time Jesus responded with a quote from the scripture, even when the devil tried to tempt him by quoting the scripture himself.

In Luke 4 it says:

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

4 Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

5 The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 The devil said to him, "I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want. 7 If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours."

8 Jesus answered him, "Get behind me Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"

9 He led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

'He will give his angels charge concerning you, to guard you;'

11 and,

'On their hands they will bear you up,

Lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.'"

12 Jesus answering, said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"

13 When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.

14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area. 15 He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

(translation according to the World English Bible, 2002)

He fasted. He was also tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread, but he refused.

Answer 2

After Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days, he called Simon Peter and Andrew then taught in the synagogue and the people were amazed. He then cast out an unclean spirit. This, and many of the following events in the mission of Jesus are contained in this list taken from Mark's Gospel:A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

This list is in the form of a parallel structure (a modification of the chiastic structure more commonly used in ancient times), so named because it contains two parallel sets of events (A-X and A'-X') that mirror each other and thus reinforce the respective theological messages.

Answer 3

Mark 1:13 says that Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days, ministered by angels. Here he was tempted by Satan and was with wild beasts. There is no actual suggestion in Mark that Jesus fasted for this time, but those familiar with the story of Elijah are likely to have assumed he did do so. The reason for referring to Elijah is that we can see from the parallel structure of Mark (described below) that this passage was an allusion to Elijah, who was ministered by an angel and spent forty days in the wilderness (1 Kings 19:5-7), and to Moses (Exodus 34:28), not something that really happened.

Matthew and Luke follow the allusion to Elijah in a subtly different way, taking the angels out of the gospel story and actually have Jesus fast for forty days, just as Elijah did after the angel ministered to him. They also elaborate on the temptation by Satan.

The parallel structure (a modification of the chiastic structure more commonly used in ancient times) links Jesus' 40 days to Elijah and Moses in the pair groups BCD and B'C'D' in the following list, further demonstrating the author's intention:A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

Answer 4

As a human (see John 1:14), Jesus was fully tempted by fleshy appeals we humans face on a daily basis in various ways and levels. But Jesus resisted each of these attempts to have Him sin by praying to the Father for His power (John 5:30; 14:10) and having His Holy Spirit in Him to strengthen and guide Him. This is the same spirit we can receive after true repentance and baptism, following our perfect example, Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus certainly faced genuine struggles and temptations while weakened by fasting. His fasting in the desert for 40 days and nights and being tempted by the devil ( Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.) Everything Jesus said and did had meaning for mankind and this temptation was not merely a pointless exercise. Satan tempted Jesus with food while He was quite hungry, a demonstration of His relationship with God to protect Him, and probably most attractive to many humans is power and wealth in exchange for His worshipping the god of this world over God, His Father. Obviously, many humans would consider at least one of these while in the desert and hungry and weak. It is appealing to any human being, and Jesus was human.

Jesus defeated the devil in the desert as well as during His lifetime, qualifying Him to rule from the 'throne of the earth' that is currently occupied by Satan. After the Millennial Rule, the New Earth will be the headquarters of the entire God Family (see Revelation 21).

Answer 5

Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and seek the face of God as well as to prepare himself for His next test.