Matthew 4:1-11 – The Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness
Lent always brings us into the desert, and it is no accident that the Church places before us this Gospel of the Temptation of Jesus on the First Sunday. Before we speak of fasting, prayer, or sacrifice, we are invited to look at Christ – led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
Notice that carefully: it is the Spirit who leads Jesus into the desert.
Immediately after His baptism – when the Father declares, “This is my beloved Son” – Jesus is driven into a place of testing. That detail has always struck me. The very moment of clarity about who He is is followed by the moment of challenge.
The temptation begins with those words:
“If you are the Son of God…”
In other words, the temptation is not simply about bread, spectacle, or power. It is about identity. It is about being drawn away from what the Father has declared Him to be.
The Desert and Israel
Matthew deliberately echoes Deuteronomy chapters 6-8. Israel spent forty years in the desert being tested. Jesus spends forty days in the wilderness. Where Israel failed, Jesus remains faithful.
Deuteronomy tells us that the Lord led His people into the desert “to know what was in your heart.” That is what the desert does. It reveals the heart.
Jesus is tested with three alternatives to His true mission:
- To be an economic Messiah – turning stones into bread.
- To be a wonder-working Messiah – throwing Himself from the Temple.
- To be a political Messiah – ruling the kingdoms of the world.
But none of these is the path given by the Father. The Father’s will is the path of the suffering servant.
What strikes me deeply is that these temptations do not disappear after the desert. They reappear throughout His life. Peter himself, after proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, becomes an unwitting voice of temptation when he rejects the idea of suffering. “Get behind me, Satan,” Jesus says – not because Peter is evil, but because Peter speaks in the ways of men rather than the ways of God.
And at the Cross, the same taunt returns:
“If you are the Son of God, come down.”
The temptation remains the same: Be something other than what the Father calls you to be.
The Subtle Pressure of Culture
I often think of the story of the frog placed in water that is slowly heated. It does not notice the temperature rising until it is too late. I fear that something similar happens to us.
The culture in which we live gently, almost imperceptibly, reshapes us. It domesticates the Gospel. It encourages us to choose what is popular rather than what is faithful.
If we were honest, I suspect that in many moral and spiritual questions more self-identified Catholics would side instinctively with cultural norms rather than with the teaching of the Church. That is not said in judgment, but as a sober reflection.
Lent asks me – and perhaps asks you –
Have I been shaped more by the culture than by Christ?
“It Is Written…”
One of the most important details in this Gospel is how Jesus responds to temptation. Each time He says:
“It is written…”
He returns to Scripture. He roots Himself in the Word of God.
There is no clever argument. No emotional reaction. Just fidelity to the Word.
That challenges me deeply. Do I know the Word well enough to stand on it? Do I return to Scripture when I am tempted – or do I rely on my own reasoning?
Saint Jerome once said that ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. Lent is a privileged time to rediscover that truth.
Trust in the Father
The temptations are also about trust.
When Jesus refuses to turn stones into bread, He is trusting that the Father will provide. When He refuses to leap from the Temple, He refuses to manipulate God. When He rejects worldly power, He entrusts Himself entirely to the Father’s will.
And so I ask myself:
When I say I trust God –
What does that look like in practice?
Where do I struggle most to trust?
Do I try to force outcomes?
Do I seek security, applause, influence?
Or do I remain faithful even when the path is difficult?
A Hope-Filled Beginning to Lent
Though this Gospel speaks of temptation, it is not a dark beginning. It is profoundly hopeful.
The Spirit leads Jesus into the desert – and the Spirit sustains Him there.
The devil leaves.
Angels attend Him.
Lent reminds me that temptation is real, but so is grace. We are never alone in the wilderness.
If we allow this season to deepen our awareness of God’s presence and activity in our lives, then the desert becomes not a place of defeat, but a place of renewal.
A Question for the Week
As you prepare for the First Sunday of Lent, I invite you to reflect:
- Where am I tempted to be something other than what God calls me to be?
- How has culture influenced my faith?
- How deeply do I rely on Scripture?
- What does trusting God actually look like in my life?
Let this Lent be a time not of fear, but of clarity.
Bishop David Walker