This week we are going to examine the transition from John’s the Baptist’s established ministry to the preparation of Jesus to His ministering years. John did not resent the fact that his ministry was coming to an end, on the contrary, he rejoiced that the Messiah was starting the redemptive work for the human race.

Immediately after this experience Jesus entered the wilderness to be tempted by Lucifer. I think that most people read this account, but fail to note the fascinating details. We know that Jesus had a personal bodyguard of 72,000 angels to make sure the Devil and his forces would not interfere with God’s plan.

After Jesus was baptized through immersion by His second cousin, He immediately left the crowd at the Jordan river and walked into an uninhabited wilderness area and stayed there for 40 days. Since Jesus was going to be tempted as a man, He could not see into the spirit world and had to believe that the holy angels assigned to protect Him were doing their job to keep the lions, snakes and scorpions at bay.

When Satan approached the Son of God after 40 days of fasting, he came in the form of a man with a humanoid body. Jesus did not challenge the Devil; He was passive and reacted to each temptation by quoting the applicable Old Testament scriptures. Lucifer had the capacity to fly – we don’t know – but he grabbed Jesus and took Him to a pinnacle on the temple in Jerusalem and then to a mountaintop some place on earth.

Satan left in defeat once the temptations were over, stranding Jesus on the high mountain. Holy angels materialized, provided Jesus with food and water, and returned Him to the wilderness area.

Jesus was able to achieve victory over the Devil through the use of Scripture and the same can happen for you!

Print out the sermon outline and let's examine the Scriptures together Sunday morning at 9:00 AM PST.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor John S. Torell