2819. As regards the Lord's temptations in general, some were more external, others more internal. The more internal they were, the more severe they were. His inmost temptations are described in Matthew 26:37-39, 42, 44; 27:46; Mark 14:33-36; 15:34; Luke 22:42-44. But see what has been stated already regarding the Lord's temptations, namely the following:

The Lord first of all fought from goods and truths which were appearances of goods and truths, 1661.

Out of Divine love towards the whole human race He fought against the evils of self-love and of love of the world, 1690, 1691 (end), 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820.

He alone has fought out of Divine love, 1812, 1813.

All the hells fought against the Lord's love, which was the salvation of the whole human race, 1820.

The Lord suffered the severest temptations of all, 1663, 1668, 1787.

By means of temptations and victories the Lord by His own power became righteousness, 1813, 2025.

The Lord effected the union of the Human Essence to the Divine Essence by means of temptations and victories, 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026.

See also what has been stated already about temptations in general, in 59, 63, 227, 847.

Temptation is a power-struggle over whether good or evil, truth or falsity, is to prevail, 1923.

Temptations involve feelings of anger, and many other emotions, 1917.

Temptations are celestial, spiritual, or natural, 847.

In temptations evil genii and spirits attack the things that belong to a person's love, and so the things that constitute his life, 847, 1820.

What temptations accomplish, 1692, 1717, 1740.

The purpose of temptation therefore is that bodily things may be subdued, 857.

Evils and falsities with a person who is being regenerated are subdued by means of temptations, not done away with, 868.

Truth goes into battle first, 1685.

A person fights from the goods and truths which he has acquired by means of cognitions even when they are not in themselves goods and truths, 1661.

Spirits and evil genii activate the falsities and evils within man, and this leads to temptations, 741, 751, 761.

In temptations a person assumes that the Lord is absent, when in fact He is at such times more present, 840.

A person cannot by any means endure by himself the conflicts brought about by temptations, for they are conflicts against every hell, 1692 (end).

The Lord alone fights in man, 1661, 1692.

By means of temptations evil genii and spirits are deprived of their power to do evil and to inspire falsity within man, 1695, 1717.

Temptations take place with those who have conscience, and are more intense with those who have perception, 1668.

Temptations take place rarely at the present day; instead occasions of anxiety occur, which are something different and have a different origin, 762.

Persons who are dead spiritually are not able to suffer the conflicts brought about by temptations, 270.

All temptations bring with them despair over the end in view, 1787, 1820.

After temptations fluctuation occurs, 848, 857.

By means of temptations the good learn that [left to themselves] they are nothing but evil, and that all things are subject to mercy, 2334.

By means of temptations goods become joined more closely to truths, 272.

People are not saved by virtue of enduring temptations if they go under, or if they imagine that they have acquired merit through them, 273.

Every temptation involves freedom, greater freedom than outside of temptations, 1937.

1663. 'That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar' means just so many kinds of evil desires and false persuasions against which the Lord fought. This too becomes clear from the meaning of these kings and these nations that are mentioned, and from what follows as well. Which particular evil desires and which particular false persuasions are meant by each individual one would also take too long to explain. The meaning of Sodom and Gomorrah, also of Admah and Zeboiim, as well as Zoar, has been dealt with briefly already. They are the most general or most universal kinds of evils and falsities; and these, which are meant in the internal sense, here follow in their own sequence.

[2] The fact that the Lord underwent and suffered the severest of temptations, more severe than anybody else has ever done, is not so well known from the Word, where all that is mentioned is His being in the wilderness forty days and being tempted by the devil. But although the temptations He experienced at that time have been described only briefly, those brief statements nevertheless embody all, as in Mark 1:12-13, which records that He was there with wild animals, which mean the worst of the hellish crew. And the events afterwards recorded about the devil taking Him up on to the pinnacles of the temple and on to a high mountain are nothing else than representatives of very severe temptations He experienced in the wilderness, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described later on.