Scripture

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Observation

The Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness. There He fasts for forty days and nights.

The devil comes and tempts Jesus three times- to make bread out of stones, to throw Himself off a high place so that angels rescue Him, and to worship satan in return for the glory of the kingdoms of the earth.

Each time, Jesus rebukes satan by quoting Scripture.

Finally, the devil goes away, and angels come and care for Jesus.

Application

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Actually the Greek word means to be thrown out. This is a forceful leading of the Spirit.

Jesus was taken out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for a confrontation with the evil one.

It is said that God does not tempt us to do evil things. However, it is also true that God allows us to be put into places where we are confronted by evil – both the evil in our own hearts and that in the hearts of others.

We don’t know the depths of sin that we can fall into until we face temptation.

Every one of us is able, under the right circumstances, to commit actions that we thought were beneath us.

Satan’s role is to remind us of how corrupt our hearts are without Christ, and to lead us to depend on Him even more.

Prayer

Lord I know temptation is real. Please give me the grace to stand firm in you. Amen.

Scripture

But Jesus said, “It must be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.”

Observation

Jesus goes from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptised by John the Baptist. John tries to talk Him out of it, but Jesus replies, “We must carry out all that God requires.”

As Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens open, and the Spirit of God comes on Jesus in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven says, “This is my dearly loved Son who brings me great joy.”

Application

Obedience to God is not a matter of choice or convenience.

Jesus says, “We must carry out all that God requires.” For Jesus the great test was to accept the suffering of the cross.

We see our lives as a series of choices from what to wear to what to eat, whom to marry, and so on. In this series of choices, we see obedience to God as an option.

For a person committed to walking in the way of Jesus, there is no choice to be made.

Obedience is obedience at every point. We cannot be 80% obedient. We cannot pick and choose how we will serve God and in what parts of our lives we will be surrendered. We have to carry out all that God requires, and not just the bits we enjoy.

Surrender to Christ means to give up the right to choose- perhaps even our choice of clothes.

As soldiers in an army obey their orders without question, so too christians must learn to obey God’s orders without hesitation.

Prayer

Lord Jesus please teach me what it means to be obedient to you in all thing, so that I can carry out all that God requires. Amen