Though Bible writers used poor imagination in creating a setting for the temptation for Jesus, in essence it conveys a profound thought. Just like sea-worthiness of a ship is known when it is placed in the sea and survives a storm (not when it is anchored on the shore), Jesus proved his worthiness through his second “baptism by fire” (Mathew 3:11) which means he was victorious over all the temptations he encountered throughout his life as implied by Mark 1:13 when he said: “He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him” which means he tasted the life as it is with its rough and soft aspects. All those temptations can broadly be categorized in to three:
1) Tendency to use skills and talents for own benefit rather than for others (changing the stones into bread).
2) Putting God into test taking extreme risk (jumping from the top of temple) with an eye on fame through short-cut.
3) Forgetting the main purpose of life (realizing God as the father of all which helps view to everyone as His child) and getting sidetracked on to the splendor of world’s attractions (kingdoms of world in exchange for an act of worship of Satan, personification of bad qualities, which means enjoying worldly pleasures and powers through unjust means)
Thus, in details the account of temptation on Jesus carries wrong messages such as shape of earth is flat, Satan is a person, Jesus followed Satan to be tempted …etc. But in essence it conveys great truth that man can be victorious over any temptation by changing the thought as Jesus did—he did not dwell on any of them. No one can be tempted without his permission. Satan is personification of evil, and evil is absence of virtues just like darkness is absence of light. When one is tempted, he only needs to bring in the corresponding virtue which means he has conquered the temptation.