Here in this chapter we have Matthews account of how Jesus' earthly mission began. It was no easy beginning. Sure the Baptism of chapter three was nice and a great celebration. Right away, however, Jesus is faced with temptations. Before Jesus preaches one word, before he heals a single person, before he has a follower other than John, Satan messes with Jesus. If Satan can derail Jesus before he gets started then, the rest of the story will never happen.
All of the temptations are answered with Scripture. Even Jesus did not have to use his own strength and power, he left that up to God the creator. Once Jesus clears the temptations the mission goes into full swing. The first followers are invited and the work of preaching, teaching and healing is under way.
I am amazed at how often Satan tries to derail something before it even gets out of the gate. Even more surprising is the number of times we let him. There are always solid earthly reasons for not doing something. The risk can be high and the cost more than one can bear. Possible there are people who become an unknown agent of the enemy who try to slow things down. No matter how it looks, we have all faced the start of something, and had plenty of reason to not go any further.
The battle we fight is already won. We do not have to fight it. All we must do is remind the Enemy, of the fight which he lost. This is done by turning to the holy Scriptures.
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