Here’s another insight from Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness:

Afterward, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the lonely wilderness in order to reveal his strength against the accuser by going through the ordeal of testing. (Matthew 4.1, Passion Translation)

According to this translation, The Holy Spirit’s intent was “to reveal his strength against the accuser…”

I looked it up in the Greek:

πειράζω peirazō; to test (objectively), i.e. endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline: — assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt(-er), try.

So The Passion’s perspective is a good one. “To reveal his strength…” I think of my grandson Taylor’s Marine Corps training, which ended with a 3-day exercise called The Crucible. Here’s what the Marines say about that exercise:

The Crucible is a test every recruit must go through to become a Marine. It tests every recruit physically, mentally and morally and is the defining experience of recruit training. The Crucible takes place over 54-hours and includes food and sleep deprivation and over 45 miles of marching. The Crucible event pits teams of recruits against a barrage of day and night events requiring every recruit to work together to solve problems, overcome obstacles, and help each other along the way.

The obstacles they face include long marches, combat assault courses, the leadership reaction course, and the team-building warrior stations.

Each warrior station is named for a Marine hero whose actions epitomize the values the USMC wants recruits to adopt.

The bottom line is this—the Crucible is a rite of passage that, through shared sacrifice, recruits will never forget. With that memory and the core values learned in recruit training, they will be able to face any challenges in their path.

Boot camp is designed to transform recruits into Marines: the trainers knew that the recruits could complete the Crucible exercise. The purpose was to reveal to the recruits themselves that they could do it and give them an experience to look back on and build upon.

The Father knew that Jesus would defeat Satan in Matthew 4, but now Jesus knows and is ready for subsequent temptations including the one on the cross where the crowd said, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matthew 27.40) It’s the same thing Satan said in Matthew 4.3, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

That completed the testing. The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity. (Luke 4.13, MSG)

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. (1 Corinthians 10.13, MSG)