Today's main idea: Jesus knows the Father loves him. When the devil tests him, he keeps trusting and obeying the Father.
Read Slowly
Day 2 introduced Jesus as Savior and Lord. Today we see how he lives as God's Son.
John prepares people to meet him. The Father speaks at his baptism. Then Jesus faces temptation in the wilderness, a lonely place away from the crowds.
John Prepares People to Meet Jesus
Luke names the rulers and religious leaders of the time. These events happen in real history. The note about New Testament leaders gives more background.
But God's message comes to John in the wilderness. John tells people to repent. That means turning away from sin and back toward God.
Luke connects John's work with Isaiah 40:3–5. Isaiah pictures a road being made ready for the Lord. John prepares people by calling them to stop resisting God and receive the one who is coming.
John prepares a way by calling people to turn toward God. Receiving the coming Savior includes becoming willing to leave the sin that resists him. Preparation reaches our choices.
As I read about Jesus, I can ask where I am willing to be taught and where I am protecting an old habit. An honest willingness to change makes room to hear his words personally.
Remember: Making room for Jesus includes letting him challenge the way I live.
Turning Back to God Changes Our Actions
Some people may assume that belonging to Abraham's family makes them safe. John warns them that family background cannot replace a response to God.
When people ask what to do, his answers are practical. Share food and clothing. Collect only what is owed. Do not use threats or lies to take people's money.
John calls these changed actions the fruit of repentance. Turning toward God becomes visible in generosity, honesty, and contentment.
John answers people within their existing responsibilities. Sharing clothes, collecting honestly, and refusing intimidation make repentance visible where others experience it. Turning toward the coming Lord changes what my neighbor receives from me.
After an apology, I can ask what action would give it weight. Returning what I owe or changing how I speak lets the other person encounter more than my regret.
Remember: The next changed action can give weight to an honest confession.
John Knows Jesus Is Greater
People wonder whether John is the Messiah, God's promised King. John points them toward someone greater.
John baptizes with water. The one coming after him will bring the Holy Spirit and fire. John's picture of separating wheat from chaff also warns of judgment. Jesus will deal with evil.
John does not try to keep the attention for himself. He wants people to recognize Jesus.
John recognizes the difference between preparing people and saving them. He can give a faithful witness while directing their hope to the one who brings the Spirit and judges evil. His humility comes from knowing who Jesus is.
When someone asks me about faith, I can help them listen to Jesus. The conversation can succeed even if they remember his words more than mine.
Remember: I serve people well when their confidence grows in Jesus.
Telling the Truth Can Be Costly
John challenges Herod about his wrongdoing. Herod responds by putting him in prison.
Doing what is right does not always make life easier. Someone may dislike the truth or punish the person who speaks it.
Herod's punishment tells us about Herod's resistance to the truth. John's imprisonment does not make the rebuke false. As Luke prepares us to meet Jesus, he also shows the opposition God's message can face.
We need that discernment when honesty brings disapproval. I can examine whether my words are true and spoken with care, then leave the other person's reaction with God.
Remember: Someone's anger at the truth does not decide whether I should obey God.
The Father Calls Jesus His Beloved Son
Jesus is baptized and prays. The Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove, and the Father says he loves and delights in his Son.
These words remind us of God's royal Son in Psalm 2:7 and the servant God delights in in Isaiah 42:1.
Notice what happens before the wilderness. Jesus hears the Father's love before facing the devil's tests.
The words about being God's Son return on the devil's lips. At his baptism, the Father declares who Jesus is. In the wilderness, the devil urges Jesus to use that identity to satisfy his demands. Jesus lives as the Son by remaining faithful to the Father.1
The Father's declaration comes before the tests, and Jesus remains faithful to that relationship under pressure. The wilderness reveals the obedience of the Son already loved by his Father. His identity is secure as he refuses the devil's demands.
When pressure makes a wrong choice seem necessary, I can look to this faithful Son. He shows why God's word deserves more weight than the demand to prove myself.
Remember: Pressure does not get to rewrite what the Father has said about his Son.
A Real Need Can Have a Wrong Solution
Jesus is hungry. The devil tells him to turn a stone into bread if he is God's Son.
Food is a real need. But Jesus refuses to let the devil tell him how to use his power. He answers with Scripture from Deuteronomy 8:3, which teaches dependence on God.
Read the surrounding words in Deuteronomy 8:2–3. Moses reminds Israel of forty years in the wilderness, when hunger tested their hearts and God fed them with manna. Jesus faces forty days in the wilderness. His answer comes from the very instruction God gave Israel about trusting him there.2
All three of Jesus' answers come from Deuteronomy's instructions to Israel after that wilderness journey. Hunger, worship, and testing God connect the old story with this one. Jesus remains faithful through the pressures that exposed Israel's failures. We meet the obedient Son in whom we can place our trust.1
Jesus chooses to trust the Father while he is hungry.
Jesus' hunger is real, and so is his commitment to obey the Father. He considers the devil's proposal in light of God's word. The urgency of the need does not decide the rightness of the answer.
When I am tired, lonely, or anxious, I can name that need honestly and ask for help meeting it faithfully. Slowing down to separate the need from the proposed shortcut is a practical way to follow Jesus.
Remember: A real need deserves care, but it does not make every solution right.
Jesus Refuses Power at the Wrong Price
The devil offers Jesus authority over kingdoms if Jesus will worship him.
Jesus refuses. He answers from Deuteronomy 6:13 that worship and service belong to God.
He will not reach a good goal by bowing to evil.
Jesus measures the offered kingdoms against the worship being demanded. The benefit cannot make that price acceptable. His answer reveals a Son whose loyalty to the Father governs what he is willing to gain.
Before accepting an opportunity, I can ask what it will require me to become or excuse. A promotion, advantage, or approval can cost more than it gives if I must disobey God to obtain it.
Remember: An opportunity's value includes the price it asks of my obedience.
Jesus Does Not Demand a Dramatic Rescue
The devil tells Jesus to jump from the temple and quotes God's protection in Psalm 91:11–12.
The words come from Scripture, but the devil uses them to encourage a wrong action. Jesus answers with Deuteronomy 6:16: we must not put God to the test.
Jesus trusts the Father's care and refuses the devil's demand for a dramatic demonstration.
The devil uses words from Scripture to support a demand that contradicts trusting God. Jesus answers by reading the proposed action in light of what God has commanded. This is discernment at work.
When advice sounds religious, I can examine where it leads. Does it help me obey God, or ask me to force his hand? Jesus teaches me to trust the Father while letting Scripture correct the use of Scripture.
Remember: A biblical-sounding claim still needs to be tested by what God teaches.
What We Learn About Jesus
Jesus is the Father's beloved Son. He brings the Holy Spirit and has authority to judge.
He also remains faithful under pressure. He does what people so often fail to do: trust the Father without taking a wrong shortcut.
We can follow his example and place our trust in him.
How the Readings Fit Together
John calls people to turn back to God. The Father identifies Jesus as his Son. The wilderness then shows how faithfully that Son obeys.
The Father names his beloved Son, and the wilderness reveals that Son's faithfulness. Jesus carries Israel's Scriptures into Israel's kind of testing and obeys the Father through it.
Take a Moment with Jesus
- What real need am I using to justify a choice that Jesus teaches me to refuse?
- What would the people closest to me notice if my repentance became action?
- Where do I need to test an appealing opportunity or religious-sounding claim against God's word?
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for staying faithful when you were tested. Help me be honest about the shortcuts I want to take. Teach me to trust the Father and do what is right under pressure. Amen.
One Thing to Do
Name one pressure you face. Write down the need behind it and the shortcut you are tempted to take. Choose one honest response, such as asking for help, refusing to exaggerate, or waiting before acting.
Carry This with You
Jesus stays faithful when the pressure is real. I can trust him and follow his way instead of taking a harmful shortcut.
Sources Consulted
Source citations
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Arland J. Hultgren, Commentary on Jesus’ testing in the wilderness, Working Preacher, Luther Seminary. On the Son’s identity and the setting of his three answers in Deuteronomy. ↩ ↩2
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Chelsey Harmon, Commentary on the wilderness temptations, Center for Excellence in Preaching, Calvin Theological Seminary. On the forty days, Israel’s forty years, and trust in God’s provision. ↩
What is one thing you want to remember?
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