The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He was confronted by the devil. Some render this merely a psychological exercise for Jesus, but the plain reading the text does not support that position. Jesus was tempted by the devil not by Himself. Jesus never had a problem of accepting the reality of satan.

Upon the heals of the wilderness encounter, Jesus is led by the Spirit to begin His ministry in Galilee where in enters the synagogue at Nazareth. There He reads Isaiah 62:1,2 and applies it to himself as the fulfillment of the prophecy.

¹⁸‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Luke 4).

Jesus knew his purpose and mission in life. In this inauguration of his ministry he clearly states why his Father sent him into the world. The rest of his earthly ministry would be the fulfillment of the divine design of him. All of this culminating in the cross.

If Jesus conformed to the plans that God had for him, how much more I need to open myself up to his divine plan and sacrifice my plans for his.