Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 4:1-11 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 4Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Verse 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. Verse 3The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Verse 4But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Verse 5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, Verse 6saying 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.'" Verse 7Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Verse 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; Verse 9and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Verse 10Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Verse 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Devotion
Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, the wilderness becomes, for Jesus, the place where questions seek to undermine his trust and obedience. We can identify with the tempting concerns for personal well-being, personal power, or even (surely never within us!) the wish to be like God. "You will be like God, knowing good and evil," the serpent teased. Even in the midst of the silence and hunger of the wilderness, Jesus remained tuned to a different voice. He heard again the scriptures and their collective witness to the Word and promise of God. He heard again their call to love God with all one's heart, mind and strength. When the voices of all that question and would lead us astray threaten to overpower us, then it is a return to hear, once again, the promises of God. It is a return to the faithful witness of the scriptures that has the power to lead us back again to obedience and trust.
Prayer
God of Promise, when the voices around us threaten to lead us astray or even to despair of your love, teach us to return to your scriptures, and to find the promises spoken again. Open our ears and our hearts to be inspired by your Word to new and faithful obedience and trust. Amen.