Before Jesus began teaching, he spent forty days in the desert and he ate nothing during all that time. He talked to God about the work he had to do, and learned how God wanted him to do it. But the devil wanted Jesus to do the work in a different way. He wanted Jesus to obey him and not God. "If Jesus obeys me," the devil thought, "I can ruin God's plan to make humans his friends again." So he went to Jesus.

"Look at all these stones!" the devil said. "Make them into bread and eat them!" Jesus refused. "Eating bread is not more important than obeying God," he said. "The Bible tells me that."

So the devil took him up to the top of the Temple. "If you jump down from here, God will send angels to save you!" he said. Jesus refused again. "If I do that, I will be forcing God to do something - and the Bible says we must never do that."

The devil was angry. He took Jesus to the top of a high mountain and showed him all the countries far and wide. "You can be king over all of these if you just bow down and worship me!" he told him. "No!" Jesus said. "In the Bible it says, 'Worship God and God alone'. Leave me!"

So the devil left him, but he was thinking, "I will come back to him later. Perhaps he will give in then."