Today, in Matthew 4:1, we read, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." This means that Jesus did not go there against His will. Rather, He was led by the Spirit to undergo this trial. We might think that Jesus was tempted at His weakest moment because He had fasted for 40 days and had not eaten anything, but that is absolutely not the case.
As we saw in last week's message, Mark 1:1 states, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," indicating that Jesus is the gospel. And His baptism marks the beginning of the gospel. The start of His public ministry began with His baptism, and immediately after that, the grace He experienced was truly remarkable. This is mentioned in Mark 1:9, where it says, "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'" We see Him being baptized amidst such an incredible blessing from God. Right?
Why did Jesus receive such a grand welcome? What is the reason He experienced such a remarkable event while being tempted? Of course, one might think He was weak because He had been hungry for 40 days, but some people intentionally fast to elevate their spirituality. So, similarly, Jesus was not in a state of weakness when He was tempted; rather, He was in a state of strength. Why was this temptation necessary? Why did Jesus need this trial?