Ash Wednesday Devo

Dependence in the Desert

Deut. 8:2-3 “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Jesus’ genealogy and virgin birth prove His legal human qualification as Israel’s King. His baptism was the occasion of His divine approval. His temptation demonstrated His moral fitness to reign.

Fasting in Scripture was for a spiritual reason, namely, to forego a physical need to give attention to a more important spiritual need.[197] During this fast Jesus ate nothing but presumably drank water (cf. Luke 4:2). Moses and Elijah, two of God’s most significant servants in the Old Testament, likewise fasted for 40 days and nights (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 9:9; 1 Kings 19:8). Jesus’ fast would have connected Him with these servants of the Lord in the minds of Matthew’s Jewish readers, as it does in ours

“According to Hosea 2:14-23, the wilderness was the place of Israel’s original sonship, where God had loved His people. Yet because they had forsaken Yahweh their Father, a ‘renewal’ of the exodus into the desert was necessary for the restoration of Israel’s status as the ‘son’ of God. In this new exodus, God’s power and help would be experienced again in a renewed trek into the wilderness.”[194]

The Greek word translated “tempted” (peirazo) means “to test” in either a good or bad sense. Here God’s objective was to demonstrate the character of His Son by exposing Him to Satan’s tests (cf. 2 Sam. 24:1; Job 1:6—2:7).

Scripture consistently teaches that God does not test (Gr. peirazo) anyone (James 1:13). Nevertheless He does allow people to experience testing that comes from the world, the flesh, and the devil (1 John 2:15-17; Rom. 7:18-24; 1 Pet. 5:8).[195]

God evidently led Jesus into the wilderness to demonstrate the obedience of this Son compared with the disobedience of His son Israel (2:15; cf. Exod. 4:22; Deut. 8:3, 5). God tested both His sons “to prove their obedience and loyalty in preparation for their appointed work.”[196]

Many have observed that Satan followed the same pattern of temptation with Jesus that he had used with Eve (Gen. 3). First, he appealed to the lust of the flesh, the desire to do something apart from God’s will. Second, he appealed to the lust of the eyes, the desire to have something apart from God’s will. Third, he appealed to the pride of life, the desire to be something apart from God’s will (cf. 1 John 2:16).

1st Jn 2:16 “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”