The Heart of the Matter

Matthew 4:1-4 ESV
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Jesus was hungry and satan chose to tempt Jesus into using the power of God to curb His own fleshly cravings. The heart of the matter here was, how was the Lord going to deal with temptation in the light of His humanity. He was human, and made like us in every way that He could do three vital things:

1) Destroy the devil’s power and free us from his clutches (Conquer over death, hell and the grave and defeat satan forever).

2) Become a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God and atone for our sins.

3) Be the One who is able to sympathize with us in all our weaknesses and infirmities to lead us back to God.

Jesus was led into the wilderness for confirmation and validation in the face of temptation. This time of testing was part of God’s plan for Jesus. It would show that, though Jesus was fully human, and fully God, and that He remained fully sinless in the face of temptation.

God did all of this for you and me. God and God’s love, manifest in a human form, to win the battle, conquer the foe and put us in right relationship with Himself. Yes, God loves us that much…absolutely amazing.

Prayer:
Thank You Father for loving us so much that You gave Your only begotten Son that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life. With that we have the privilege to represent Jesus to the world. In Your name Loving, and Amazing name Father God, Amen!