Right after Jesus was baptized, he went out into the desert, fasted for forty days, and was tempted by the Devil (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:9–13; Luke 4:1–13). In these temptations, the Devil tried to get Jesus to act wrongly. It was after this that Jesus began his public ministry.
During his public ministry, which lasted for about three years, Jesus was continually challenged and tested by the religious authorities of the day. They attempted to trip him up intellectually, accusing him of being a false teacher.
Just before his work here on earth was finished, Jesus went through a far more severe testing of his soul in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–46). This temptation brought him to the point of despair. On the Cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).
These three kinds of temptations that the Lord went through during his life on earth correspond to the three basic parts of us as human beings, popularly known as hands, head, and heart. There are:
- Temptations in behavior
- Temptations in the realm of ideas
- Temptations of the heart and soul
What are these temptations? How do we experience them in our life? What are they leading to?






“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18–19, quoted from Isaiah 61:1–2)
In the Bible, various time periods or ages of human spiritual history are described in narrative fashion. The general pattern of these ages is that they start in a relatively pristine state, but then decline over time until they become completely corrupted and come to their end. A new period or age then begins, and it, too, goes through a similar cycle.
If the earth is flat, this might be physically possible. Jesus could appear very high in the clouds, so that the eyes of everyone on the flat expanse of the earth could see him—especially if he came in “radiance and glory.”
Oh yes, the memes are circulating!
