Jesus · c. AD 26
Chapter 11
The Baptism and the Testing
Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
In those days came to the from in . He came to , to be by him.
But John tried to stop him. “I need to be baptized by you,” he said, “and you are coming to me?”
Jesus answered him, “Let it happen for now. This is the fitting way for us to fulfill all that is right.” Then John agreed.
So John baptized Jesus in the Jordan. Luke says that Jesus was baptized too, when all the people were.
The moment Jesus came up from the water, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God come down on him like a dove. Mark says he saw the heavens parting.
Luke says that Jesus was praying when the sky opened, and that the Holy Spirit came down on him in a bodily form, like a dove.
Then a voice spoke out of the heavens: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
In Mark and Luke the voice speaks to Jesus himself: “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”
Full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus came back from the Jordan. Then the Spirit led him up into the wilderness to be tempted by the . Mark says the Spirit drove him out there at once.
He was there in the wilderness for forty days. Luke says he was tempted by the devil all those days, and Mark says he was tempted by . In those days he ate nothing. Matthew says he forty days and forty nights. Afterward he was hungry.
Then the devil came to him. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “command these stones to become bread.” In Luke, the devil says “this stone.”
Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘People don’t live only on bread, but on every word that comes out of God’s mouth.’”
Then the devil took Jesus into the holy city. There, in , he set him high up on the pinnacle of the temple. Luke tells of this temptation last, after the one on the mountain.
“If you are the Son of God,” the devil said, “throw yourself down from here, because it is written, ‘He will put his in charge of you, to guard you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will carry you, so that you don’t hit your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “Again, it is written, ‘Don’t test the Lord your God.’”
Again the devil took Jesus, this time up a very high mountain. There he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Luke says he showed them all to Jesus in a single moment.
“I will give you all of this,” the devil told him, “if you will bow low and worship me.”
In Luke the devil says more: “I will give you all this authority, and their glory, because it has been handed to me, and I give it to whoever I want. So if you will worship me, all of it will be yours.”
Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You are to worship the Lord your God, and serve no one but him.’”
Then the devil left him. Angels came to Jesus and served him. Mark says that Jesus was there with the wild animals, and that the angels were serving him.
Luke says that when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Jesus until another time.