Tested in the Desert

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” — Matthew 4:4

After He was baptised, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness, a dry and lonely place. There He would be tempted by the devil. To be tempted means to be tested, to be pulled towards doing something wrong.

Jesus didn’t eat anything for forty days and forty nights. And after that, He was very hungry.

Then the tempter came to Him. “If You are the Son of God,” the devil said, “tell these stones to turn into bread.”

Jesus could have done it. But it would have meant using His power for Himself, and listening to the devil instead of to His Father. So Jesus answered with words from the Bible. “It is written,” He said, “‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and stood Him on the very highest point of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels to take care of You, and they will catch You in their hands, so that You won’t even hurt Your foot on a stone.’”

Did you notice? This time the devil quoted the Bible too! But he twisted it, to make it say what he wanted.

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Then the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and how splendid they were. “I will give You all this,” he said, “if You will bow down and worship me.”

That was the biggest lie of all. And Jesus had had enough.

“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus said. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

Then the devil left Him. And angels came and took care of Jesus.

Every time Jesus was tempted, He answered with God’s Word: “It is written.” All three of His answers came from Deuteronomy, the book where Moses reminded God’s people what they had learned in the wilderness. Long ago, God’s people were tested in the wilderness for forty years, and they kept failing. Now Jesus was tested in the wilderness for forty days, and He didn’t fail once.

Jesus knows what it’s like to be tempted. And because He won, He can help us when we are tempted too.

Read it in your Bible: Matthew 4:1–11

Dear Jesus, thank you that you never gave in to temptation. When I am tempted to do wrong, please help me to remember your Word and to say no. Amen.