Lukan aspects of the temptations of Christ

Let us consider several important aspects of this Sunday's Gospel story of Jesus tempted. The Holy Spirit did not lead Jesus into temptation. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. The evil one would utilize the moment of Jesus‚ physical weakness and exhaustion in the desert to tempt him. Satan would consider this "an opportune time," and he would look for other "seasons" as well. The devil did the tempting, not the Holy Spirit!

Neither Matthew (4:1-11) nor Luke claim to represent the chronological sequence of the temptations. Luke may have reflected on the scene from the standpoint of geography, relating the two in the wilderness first, and then the one on the temple's pinnacle. Matthew records that after the temptation on the high mountain, Jesus said, "Away from me, Satan." Matthew's order, therefore, may be the chronological sequence, but there is no contradiction between the two evangelists.