"If You are the Son of God"

It is beneficial to consider the similarities between the temptation of Eve and the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. First, consider how the devil began each temptation. He used the phrase, "If You are the Son of God..." Jesus was baptized just before these 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. At His baptism, the Father proclaimed from heaven, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."(Matthew 3:17). The devil knew exactly who Jesus was, just as the demons readily recognized Jesus as God's Son. When the devil began with "If You are the Son of God...", he was literally saying, "Since you are the Son of God..." This was a part of the temptations. It was a call for Jesus to act from pride and prove that He was the Son of God. Yet, such an action was unnecessary because the devil already knew this. Jesus did not perform miracles for frivolous things like pride. Jesus did not perform miracles in His own hometown because of their unwillingness to see the truth of who He was. He was not here to prove who He was, He was here upon this earth because of who He is and that was easy to see for anyone with an open heart to the truth. Pride was the downfall of Eve as she pridefully sought to be as wise as God. Yet, Jesus used scripture and humility to avoid the trap of pride to prove who He was and what He could do.