The historicity of the temptation
has been doubted by some, but there are good reasons for accepting that the
story originated with Jesus himself. There are no clear parallels to such an
encounter with Satan in the Old Testament or Judaism, and no good reason why
the early church would create such an account. The kind of messianic
temptations Jesus experienced were unique to his mission, not the common
experience of believers. The criterion of dissimilarity would thus favor the
story's authenticity. The criterion of multiple attestation also applies, since
the scene appears in both Mark and Q.
Concerning its nature, the
temptation may have been at least partly visionary, an experience which Jesus
later recounted to his disciples. Luke suggests a visionary dimension when he
says that Satan showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world "in an
instant" (Luke 4:5). Whether visionary or not, the Gospels present them as
real temptations from a personal Satan, part of Jesus' preparation for his
messianic ministry. (Mark Strauss, Four Portraits, One Jesus: An
Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan,
2007], 357)
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