The Last Scribe

Story scene · The Life of Jesus · Matthew 4, Luke 4

The temptation of Jesus as a game: the wilderness and “It is written”

Follow Jesus from the Jordan into the wilderness, where after forty days He was “afterward an hungred”. Hear the tempter three times, and hear Him answer each time from the word of God.

Play free Try the quiz questions

No download. Plays in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer. Revelation 1 and the Baptism of Jesus are free to try first.

What you will see

Forty days in the wilderness, told from the Jordan to the angels

You arrive as a Scribe, sent to witness the story and write it down. The temptation is told from two passages at once, Matthew 4 and Luke 4, and the scene is one map you can walk end to end. Three stand on it: Jesus, the tempter, and an angel who ministered to Him. Each speaks only from their own verses. Jesus is met and spoken with, never played.

Six things wait to be found and read: the road from the Jordan, where He was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness”; the stones the tempter pointed to; the pinnacle of the temple; all the kingdoms of the world shown from a high mountain; the three answers that begin “It is written”, each from the book of Deuteronomy; and a note on how Matthew and Luke give the same three temptations in a different order. The quest follows them in order, from the road out of the Jordan to the stones, the temple and the mountain, and ends with the angel who came when the devil had gone.

The last answer is told as Matthew tells it: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” When you have seen it all, step into the quiz zone and eighteen questions ask what you saw.

Temptation in the Wilderness in the game: the map of the story with its people standing where the passage puts them
The game itself, not a mock-up: Temptation in the Wilderness.

The story, in order

The quest, It Is Written, has eight steps, and they follow the passages in order. Nothing is added to the text; the steps are a way of making sure you miss none of it.

  1. Find where the Spirit led Him from the Jordan.
  2. See the stones the tempter pointed to.
  3. Hear what the tempter said.
  4. Hear how Jesus answered.
  5. Stand where He was set on the pinnacle of the temple.
  6. Look out on the kingdoms of the world.
  7. Learn where all three answers were written.
  8. Meet the angel who came to minister to Him.

Who you meet

Three people and voices stand in the scene. Each speaks only from their own place in the passages.

  • Jesus — met and spoken with, never played, who answers each temptation with “It is written” and a word from Scripture.
  • The Tempter — the devil, who says “If thou be the Son of God” and offers the kingdoms of the world for one act of worship.
  • An Angel Who Ministered to Him — one of the angels who “came and ministered unto him” when the devil had gone (4:11).

What you find

Walk up to any of these and the game reads you the verses it comes from, in the King James Version.

  • The Road from the Jordan (Luke 4:1)
  • Stones Shaped Like Loaves (Matthew 4:2–4)
  • The Pinnacle of the Temple (Matthew 4:5–7)
  • All the Kingdoms of the World (Luke 4:5–7)
  • It Is Written (Matthew 4:10)
  • Two Evangelists, One Victory (Luke 4:9–13)

The first answer in the wilderness

“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4, King James Version

Every verse the game quotes is the KJV. Where a character speaks in their own words, the dialogue is written from the passages and checked against our doctrinal rules before release. The about page says plainly how we read the Bible.

Try five of the eighteen

Temptation in the Wilderness quiz questions, with answers

Five real questions from the Temptation in the Wilderness quiz, in the game's own words. In the game the options are shuffled every time, and you need 70% to pass.

1. Who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted?

  1. John the Baptist
  2. An angel
  3. His disciples
  4. The Spirit
Show the answer

D. The Spirit was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Matthew 4:1

2. How long did Jesus fast in the wilderness?

  1. Twelve days
  2. Seven days
  3. Forty days and forty nights
  4. Three days and three nights
Show the answer

C. Forty days and forty nights When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

Matthew 4:2

3. What did the devil do to make his second temptation sound right?

  1. He quoted Scripture
  2. He worked a miracle
  3. He brought a crowd to watch
  4. He sent an angel
Show the answer

A. He quoted Scripture He quoted Psalm 91: “He shall give his angels charge over thee.” Scripture taken out of its place was turned into a temptation.

Matthew 4:6

4. In Luke, which temptation comes last?

  1. The pinnacle of the temple
  2. The crossing of the Jordan
  3. The stones and the bread
  4. The kingdoms of the world
Show the answer

A. The pinnacle of the temple Luke tells of the mountain before the temple; Matthew tells of the temple before the mountain. Both tell the same three temptations and answers.

Luke 4:9–12

5. What happened when the devil left Jesus?

  1. He went down to the Jordan
  2. A voice spoke from heaven
  3. Angels came and ministered to Him
  4. He called His first disciples
Show the answer

C. Angels came and ministered to Him Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Matthew 4:11

Right answers pay 10 XP each and a perfect score pays 50 more. In a room, everyone answers the same quiz and sees how the others did. More on how the quiz works.

Story facts

24
verses from Matthew 4, Luke 4, every one covered by something you see, hear or read
18
quiz questions, each tied to a verse
3
people and voices to speak with
6
things to find and read
1–6
players in a room; solo play is fine too
KJV
every verse quoted from the King James Version

How to play it

  1. Open the game in your browser and make an account. A child under 13 gives a parent's email instead of their own, and the parent confirms before the child can play with anyone else; see the page for parents.
  2. Play the short intro story in the Archivery, the library where the Scribe finds the Book. It is free and takes a few minutes.
  3. Open the world map and choose Temptation in the Wilderness. To play with others, start a room and share its code, which looks like SCRIBE-7K4P2Q; up to six people can join from their own devices.
  4. Walk the map, speak with everyone, read everything, then step into the quiz zone.

Free, and with a subscription

Temptation in the Wilderness is one of the 14 story scenes, in the series The Life of Jesus. It is part of the subscription ($9.99 a month or $79.99 a year), and the story scenes are open from the first day of it: they do not wait on the road through the books. See pricing.

Free forever, for every player: the intro story, Revelation 1, the story scene The Baptism of Jesus, and four open lands to walk with other players: the City of the Last Days, the Garden of Eden, Judea in the days of Jesus, and Patmos and the Seven Churches. Revelation 1 is a good first chapter to try before you subscribe.

More to play

  • Before: The Baptism of Jesus — Go down to the Jordan, where John the Baptist cries, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” See Jesus come up out of the water, the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and hear the voice from heaven, as all four Gospels tell it.
  • After: The Sermon on the Mount — Climb the mountain in Galilee and sit among the multitude, where Jesus “opened his mouth, and taught them”.
  • Every chapter and story with a page: the list of what you can play.

Answer with the word of God.

The temptation in the wilderness takes about twenty minutes alone, a little longer with friends in a room.

Start with the free chapters