“For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.” Hebrews 2:18 HCSB

What suffering did Jesus suffer? He may have lost His dad, Joseph, while He was young. He had to face hunger by fasting 40 days and nights. He had many sleepless nights. He was tempted by the devil in every sin. We have three recorded but I think there could have been more. Or that those three included the three groups of sins. He was rejected by hometown. He was rejected by all his disciples. He was hated. He faced it all. Because of that He knows exactly how you feel right now. He knows how to rescue you, comfort you, and heal you. You may turn to a fellow man and say, “you have no idea what I am going through.” But with Jesus you cannot say that He has faced it before and He will face it with you.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.” Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him.”

Matthew 4:1-11 HCSB

https://www.bible.com/72/mat.4.1-11.hcsb

•  ”If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 

This temptation is to not rely on God's word but to demand from God to fulfill your immediate need. At the heart of this temptation is satisfying flesh. 

•  “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”

This temptation is to press ahead of God’s plan for your life.  This shows us that the devil will use your calling to say, ”no need to wait, go for it now.” But the devil really knows that if you do you will get yourself in a world of mess. But God says to do it His way and it will all work out. And the heart of this temptation is patience, will you wait on God to fulfill what He has planned for your life. Or will you jump ahead of God and find yourself face down on some rocks.

•   “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.”

In this temptation, the devil is trying to make it easy on Jesus. He was saying instead of facing that old rugged cross let us bypass that and I will give you all the power in the world to rule over all these nations. But really what he wanted was for Jesus to stop worshiping God and to worship him. At the heart of this temptation is your heart. What will you bow down to worship? Will it be God or the devil, which is everything else?