The following devotion was featured in Unfinished, Church Anew’s Lent in a Box series for 2023. Learn more and purchase access to all the resources here. 

Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only him.’ ”

11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Scholars examining this passage often focus on what it says about Jesus’ identity. The devil’s temptation of Jesus begins with the words, “If you are the Son of God . . .” (4.3) trying to provoke Jesus to live into his identity through self-serving power and control. 

But Jesus refuses, demonstrating his identity as Son of God is more about obedience and fidelity to God than it is to the use (and abuse) of power. 

That’s all interesting and helpful, but I’m still stuck on the part where Jesus is led by the Spirit, into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil. 

What sense are we to make of that? 

First it seems that Jesus being led into the wilderness where he fasts for 40 days and 40 nights connects him to the Israelites’ 40 years of wanderings in the wilderness. Like Jesus, they were tempted to follow their own path rather than God’s. Jesus models resistance to temptation.

For Israel, for Jesus, for us: wilderness is a kind of wildland that’s not inhabited by humans. It’s a place where we’re not in the driver’s seat, where we need to adapt to survive.

It’s a place where the typical tools we rely on to navigate life are stripped away. Jesus was led by the Spirit to the wilderness to prepare for his ministry. And each time he is tempted and he turns to words of scripture to refute the temptation (cf. verses 4, 7, 10). Each time he identifies how the Word of God relates to the challenge of his life in that moment, and how the Word offers guidance on how to repel temptation.

Prayer

Spirit of the Wilderness: Times in the wilderness are challenging. It’s tempting to listen to voices that lead us away from You. Spirit of God encourage us, as You did Jesus, to seek God’s wisdom and say “Be gone!” when the devil gets too close. In Christ we pray, Amen.