The Fourth Chapter of Matthew

From Matthew four we may learn this simple principle-God will not lead His own into circumstances of trial without first preparing them for those circumstances. He had anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He now leads Him by the Spirit into the wilderness that His manhood should be thoroughly put to the test. The prince of this world is the instrument chosen of God to do this.
Also in Job's case Satan had been selected to break the links that bound the carnal man to the earth. God will be glorified, and if man in the flesh fails to glorify Him, He still will be glorified in His Son. The first Adam had failed to resist the test applied to him by Satan. Jesus resists the temptation and defeats Satan, even though everything that could entice the natural man was laid before Him in the most attractive forms.
The wilderness, the pinnacle of the temple, and the exceeding high mountain are the three scenes of the temptation. The character of the trial is suited to the locality. The wilderness was necessarily destitute of food. The pinnacle would afford the most suitable, because the most lofty spot to display so notable a miracle (Psa. 91:11, 12). And the mountain top was the place from which naturally all the kingdoms of the world would appear before the eye in their most attractive forms.