The baptism of Jesus, with its declaration of his divine sonship (see Mark 1:9—11), served as preparation for his temptation, or testing, in the wilderness. Jesus had, as it were, come definitely out into the open after his long period of seclusion and preparation in Nazareth; and now his understanding of the nature of his mission was to be tested. The report of this incident is one of the most vivid in the whole Gospel narrative. The information it contains, as in other cases in which the Gospel writers record events taking place when the Master was alone, can only have been given to the disciples by Jesus himself.
Here, at the opening of Jesus' career, we are made aware of the great fact that although he was unquestionably the Son of God, he had to demonstrate this sonship through his human life. "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" (Hebr. 5:8). He "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (4:15). In this episode, Jesus exhibits a transcendent example of the individual's God-given power over evil suggestions. He strove mightily against the forces of evil and conquered them gloriously.
The expectancy that the spirit of God should rest upon the Messiah had been current among the Hebrews for centuries. Isaiah the prophet had announced it (see 11:2). Now John the Baptist, the New Testament prophet, had seen prophecy fulfilled in the descent of the Spirit upon Christ Jesus. In the Fourth Gospel the Baptist is represented as saying (John 1:32), "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him."
