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Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Matthew 4:1-3

Was Jesus' time in the wilderness the only time (recorded in the Bible) that He encountered Satan on Earth?

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  • There is no Biblical (Protestant) way to answer your question, but it must be remembered that Satan is a Spirit, although an evil one; and Jesus was both human and Spirit, so the possibility of multiple meetings is surely possible.
    – BYE
    Commented Dec 20, 2014 at 19:30
  • @JimG. To answer this question from a Catholic perspective, I believe one would require an understanding from here and here.
    – user13992
    Commented Dec 20, 2014 at 21:37
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    @FMS: Not a bad point.
    – Jim G.
    Commented Dec 20, 2014 at 21:38
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    @JimG. The puzzling thing is how those questions are being received.
    – user13992
    Commented Dec 20, 2014 at 21:39
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    I think this question is okay, but it should be phrased in a less Truthy way, and instead ask if any other events in the gospels are commonly interpreted as a meeting between Jesus and Satan.
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 0:32

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That is the only time it is given as a specific account of a face-to-face meeting. But, Satan was always there behind the scenes such as:

  1. When Jesus told Simon Peter:

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: [Luke 22:31 KJV]

We are not privy to that conversation between Jesus and Satan in the Biblical narrative, but it must have occured somewhere, sometime.

  1. When Jesus told Simon Peter:

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. [Matthew 16:21-23 KJV]

Jesus saw the influence of Satan working through Peter, to oppose the plan of God.

  1. Many of Jesus' healings were to undo the works of Satan:

And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? [Luke 13:16 KJV]

  1. Jesus knew when Satan had entered Judas Iscariot:

Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. [John 13:26-27 KJV]

  1. When Jesus was born, Satan was the one who influences king Horod to kill all the baby boys under two years of age, to try to get rid of Him.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. [Matthew 2:16 KJV]

I am sure that there are many more. Even though Satan might not have been in Jesus' face, from a human standpoint, he was always there to oppose Him any way he could.

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