 As we keep the Lenten journey, we follow Jesus in the way of the cross, sustained by the Scriptures and moving towards Holy Week as we follow through the purposes of God. Matthew's Gospel chapter 4 verses 1 to 4. Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tested by the devil. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and at the end of it was famished. Then the tempter approached him, if you really are God's Son, he said, tell these stones to become bread. The Bible says, replied Jesus, that it takes more than bread to keep you alive. You actually live on every word that comes out of God's mouth. The story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness has traditionally been part of the church's observance of Lent, the season of which this is the first Sunday. Jesus immediately after his baptism, when he's heard the voice from heaven saying, you are my son, my beloved one, Jesus is then tested. As the letter of James says, and as the letter of Peter says, first letter of Peter says, in the beginning of both those letters, don't be surprised when you're tested. It's rather like when you're at school, when you learn a new lesson and then the teacher says, we're going to have a test on this next time round to make sure it's really gone in. So Jesus is going to be tested. Is he really going to trust that he is in fact God's Son, God's beloved on whom his favour rests? Is he going to go the way that God, his Father, is showing him the way of bringing the kingdom in God's way rather than the world's way? And so the testing comes first in the form of this challenge. If you really are God's Son, surely he doesn't want you to be famished with hunger. Surely you'd be much better having something to eat and being able to get on with your work. And Jesus replies with words from Scripture, words from Deuteronomy chapter 8, because what Jesus is doing is as it were going through the story of Israel in the wilderness. Jesus is the one who is embodying the New Exodus. He's the one who is bringing about the restoration of the people of God. And so Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness is like Israel spending 40 years in the wilderness. And during that time, Israel was constantly being taught to rely on God's provision, but was constantly grumbling because it wasn't going the way that it seemed it should have done. So Jesus is succeeding where Israel failed. That is part of the whole message, actually, of Matthew's gospel as of so much of the New Testament. And so Jesus, in replying with this verse from Deuteronomy, is emphasizing his utter trust on God, his Father, a trust which we see going all the way through to the moment where on the cross itself, he cries out in pain, my God, why did you abandon me? But he still cries to God, the God of the Psalms there, Psalm 22, my God, my God, why did you abandon me? Jesus' whole life was utterly dependent on God and that dependence was something that was tested to the limit in the wilderness. And as Christians have read the story of Jesus being tested, tempted in the wilderness, it's no surprise that people have looked at this story as a model for our own testing. There's an old Jewish saying which says, my child, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for testing. Don't imagine you can sail into this project of being a Christian, of living a Christian life without any challenge, without any difficulty, without any times when you find yourself saying, maybe I made a terrible mistake, maybe it's not true after all, maybe there isn't a God, maybe he doesn't love me, whatever it may be. There are going to be times when, like Jesus, we face exactly that sort of challenge. And my experience is anything to go by, they often get harder as we go on. We meet one challenge and as happened with Jesus himself, the reward for getting one thing right is you get another challenge and then another. And though Matthew has formalized Jesus' testings into this moment at the beginning of his ministry, there are all sorts of signs that there were further testings which went on throughout, as every time he was announcing the kingdom in a synagogue or on the streets, there were people shouting at him and plotting against him and so on. Until finally, in Matthew's Gospel, this is very clear, in finally, as Jesus is arrested and tried and taken to the cross, it's as though all the testing comes rushing back and the people who are mocking him as he is hanging on the cross are echoing the words of the tempter here. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and then we will believe you. And the answer in Matthew's Gospel and all through is, no, it's because he is the Son of God that he must stay on the cross. And again and again, as we follow Jesus, we have to cling on to this. It's because we are actually in the right place that these temptations, these times of testing are coming upon us. It's not pleasant, it's not easy. We have to cling on to the scriptural story, following Jesus in the way that he has led us. My child, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for testing. Take Jesus as the model and follow him, whatever it costs and wherever he leads. And so we pray, gracious Father, as you allow us to be tested, don't let us be tested beyond our ability. Give us the will, give us the scripture, give us the resources to meet the testing, to meet the temptation and to follow and be faithful as Jesus was himself. Amen. How is this passage speaking to you? Let us know in the comments, like and subscribe or check out our other videos.