4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
3 During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do 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, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’”
11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
Dear God, two things occurred to me while I read these verses this morning. And they aren’t necessarily new thoughts. I’ve heard others mention them before. But I think they are worth pondering this morning.
First, the Spirit, your Holy Spirit, led Jesus into temptation. Had he been keeping temptation from Jesus for the first 30 years? Was this a new experience for Jesus? Or was it just a time of more intense temptation. No pressure, no diamonds. Did Jesus need this 40 days of fasting, praying, and listening to you/learning from you before he started his public ministry? Am I missing anything by not fasting more often and for longer periods? Do I need to pay more attention to fasting in my life? I do it selectively and for not huge periods of time. Almost always a day. Never more than three days.
Second, there was a chance Satan could have ripped part of you from yourself. If there weren’t a chance, then there wouldn’t have been temptation. But the chance was real. The temptation must have been real. Meet your personal physical need. Meet your ego need. Meet your power need. Those must have been real temptations.
Father, as I get ready to go through Lent, select something to give up, and figure out how I should be meditating and praying through this time, please guide and direct me. Give me a sense of what it is in me that you want to purge. That you know needs purging, and only the sharp claws of Aslan can rip it away (see Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Eustace). Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you’re my God.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 