Making the Journey – Luke 4:1-13

A text – Luke 4:1-13

⁴ Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And the devilsaid to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”

⁹ Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ ¹¹ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹² Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ¹³ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

A reflection:

It’s no accident that the first Sunday in Lent has as its gospel story Jesus on a 40-day journey in the wilderness. A journey of fasting and prayer can be an undertaking any of us might want to try in Lent. Jesus is driven into the wilderness by the Spirit right after his baptism and God’s declaration that Jesus is God’s son.

During Jesus’s 40 days, the devil tempts him continuously (I’m told the Greek verb for was tested is in the continuous tense, meaning that, from the first day, the devil was working on Jesus). The story we have this week from Luke’s gospel happens after 39 days of continuous harassment. The devil tempts Jesus to use his heavenly powers to make bread, to gain the worship of the masses by himself worshiping the devil, and to bend God to Jesus’s own will by throwing himself off the temple roof.

Jesus knows his heavenly power is not for himself. It is to heal the sick and proclaim the Kingdom of God. He can resist the first temptation because he knows where his power comes from and what it is for.

Jesus knows the devil is lying about his own authority; Jesus knows that all authority comes from God. He can resist the second temptation because he knows that only God is worthy of worship.

Jesus knows that when God’s chosen leaders have put God to the test deliberately, God has punished them. But Jesus also knows God, is part of God, and doesn’t need to prove he is God’s beloved son. He can resist the third temptation because he is in a right and clear relationship with God.

This Lenten season, let us just dwell in these pieces of Jesus’s knowledge: our power to do good comes from God, only God is worthy of worship, and we are God’s beloved children in a clear relationship with God. Know that God gives us what we need and loves us. We can make our Lenten journey in confidence!

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the story of Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness. Thank you for teaching us through him that we are your beloved children and receive what we need from you. Help us to resist temptations to do unhelpful things by remembering we are yours. Amen.