INTO THE DESERT OF PROBING

MATTHEW 4, 1-11
4 Then Jesus was led up by the
Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil. 2 He
fasted forty days and forty
nights, and afterwards 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
splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if
you will fall down and worship me.”
10 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.
LED INTO THE
DESERT TO BE
TEMPTED
TESTING, TEMPTATION AND TRIALS
The wilderness is a classic place for
confronting ourselves, a place where we
analyze our motives, question our
thoughts, desires, and behavior, and
investigate our future. In the desert
there are no roads or maps, just the time
and space to know God and ourselves in
a clearer way.
1 Corinthians 10:13: “No
temptation has overtaken
you that is not common to
man. God is faithful, and
He will not let you be
tempted beyond your
ability, but with the
temptation He will also
provide the way of escape,
that you may be able to
endure it.”
Like Jesus, I find that I am
often tempted to turn
stone into loaves of
bread–bread that is
delicious, sweet-smelling,
and good. I am tempted to
reject the stone that is
hard and tough and
inflexible. I am tempted to
love the bread and not the
stone.
Like Jesus, I am too often tempted to
throw myself down from the pinnacle
of the temple of life into the depths of
work, expecting that God will catch
me and take care of my emotional and
social needs. At other times, I’m
tempted to throw myself down into
the pit of comfort and avoidance of
responsibilities I don’t like or that feel
too challenging, expecting that God
will somehow see that it all gets done.
I think Jesus is asking me to stay on
the pinnacle of the temple of common
sense and find some balance in my
life.
Like Jesus, I have been tempted
to possess all the kingdoms of
this world by having the good
opinion of others. How crucial is
the desire to be loved and
respected, to be understood and
thought well of, especially by
those I care about. These are the
kingdoms I desire. But Jesus is
asking me not to pay homage to
these human kingdoms for “God
alone shall you worship and God
alone shall you serve.” To believe
that God’s boundless love and joy
will fill me when I’m
misunderstood and rejected—
As we begin this Lenten
journey, the lesson of
the desert seems clear.
Jesus went into the
desert to know himself
and his God better. He
did not let temptations
come between him and
his God.
What are your stones, your temple pinnacles, your
worldly kingdoms? What temptations do you find in your
Lenten wilderness that will help you know yourself and
God better?