After Christ Jesus had received the blessed benediction from our heavenly Father (Matt. 3:17), "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," he went into the wilderness and fasted forty days and forty nights.
Then the voice of the tempter came to him, saying (Matt. 4:3), "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." The tempter next suggested, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down." Finally, the tempter showed him "all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them," and said, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
Jesus silenced each of these suggestions with Truth. He never for a moment lost the conviction of that heavenly benediction, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." He rested in the understanding that he was the Son of God. He based his reasoning on this important eternal fact, and nothing could cause him to question or surrender his spiritual sonship.
