In the first temptation Jesus was told that if He was the son of God he should turn stones into bread. After all He was hungry and he could have done that.

However Jesus reply was an answer to the problem of self sufficiency. Being self reliant goes against everything that the kingdom stands for.  The Lord teaches us that instead we must be reliant on God and not ourselves.  “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God”
It is the difference from being self assured to being God assured, open and vulnerable to what He desires.

The second temptation is one that many leaders can easily fall into. Satan tempted Jesus to throw himself off a tower, knowing the angels would protect him. In other words he should put on a show for the crowd.

However Jesus refused to be a stunt man standing in for or becoming a celebrity. He was not here for the spectacular. He did not come to earth to impress anyone or maintain an image.

He came to obey God. That is a lesson that we must learn because earthly fame is so rampant today. Jesus never considered the fame and there were times that he left places to avoid the publicity. He was far more concerned with helping people to understand the fulness of the kingdom. John the Baptist got it when he declared that he would decrease so the works of Jesus should increase. Do we do the same? Do we rather enjoy and try to cling onto our moment of power so that everyone knows who we are?

That leads on conveniently to the third temptation.
I have always seen this as the pivotal point in Jesus ministry.
Satan offered Him the kingdom and all its power if he would just worship Satan.  After all this was why Jesus came. He came for the kingdom and he could have it now. The test of being powerful and in charge is a crucial one.

I imagine heaven standing still waiting for Jesus reply. He could have the power without the service. He could forego the cross. He could completely ruin everything God had been planning since Adam fell. This was a real temptation. Jesus thought about it. He considered it or it would not be a temptation.

Jesus, ever our example chose obedience and service over short lived power. To lead is appropriate and it is necessary but to push and manipulate, and gain control is never right.
                         
So Jesus in these 3 short temptations shows us the true path to servanthood. Recently I started going through the gospels looking at it afresh from Jesus perspective. I asked myself what is the learning point here? How did Jesus do it?
The thing I saw from this key test passage on servanthood was that Jesus always turned back to the Word of God because that carries the answer to every situation we face.
He did not trust to His own ideas and thoughts but trusted in those of his Father. That defeated Satan and every temptation He faced.

Will we do the same and pass the test?