I came across these thought-provoking comments by S.G. De Graaf in volume three of his work Promise and Deliverance. The comparisons between Adam’s testing in the garden and Jesus’ testing in the wilderness are particularly insightful.
Adam was once our head. He was put to the test to determine whether he truly wished to devote his whole life to the Lord. Adam became unfaithful and rejected the Lord’s favor. When the Lord Jesus took Adam’s place as our Head (of the covenant), the temptation had to be renewed since satan was bent on destroying the covenant. In this temptation Christ not only had to show obedience but also had to justify and reconcile what Adam had ruined. Therefore the temptation came to Him under different circumstances than it had to Adam.
After Jesus had been baptized and anointed, the Holy Spirit led Him out into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The desert was quite a different place from the paradise in which Adam had lived. In Paradise everything testified to God’s favor and communion, while the desert betrayed that everything had been forsaken by God and man because of our sins. Everything had been in Adam’s favor, while Christ had everything against Him. Despite the isolation of that forsaken place, Jesus had to hold on to God.