Preparation: The Forerunner, the Baptism, and the Temptation
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John the Baptist
Isaiah had foretold a voice crying in the wilderness: "Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (Isaiah 40:3). That voice was John the Baptist, who lived in the desert, wore a garment of camel's hair, and called Israel to repentance. When he saw Jesus approaching, he said: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
The Baptism
Jesus came to John to be baptized, not because he had sins to confess but "to fulfil all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15) by identifying with the people he came to save. At that moment, all three persons of the Godhead appeared: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17).
The Temptation
Immediately afterward, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil" (Matthew 4:1). After forty days of fasting, the tempter came three times. Each time Jesus answered with Scripture from Deuteronomy:
| The temptation | Jesus's reply |
| Turn stones to bread | "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4) |
| Throw yourself from the Temple | "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matthew 4:7) |
| Worship me and gain the kingdoms | "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10) |
Where Adam fell in a garden, Jesus stood firm in a desert. The writer of Hebrews takes comfort from this: "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).
CHAPTER 5