PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 4
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness…” (Matthew 4:1)
These opening words raise some questions for me?
How did the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness?
Did Jesus hear a voice, was he taken over by the Spirit and made to go?
Or was it just a feeling Jesus had, a sense that this is what God wanted?
Why would the Spirit lead Jesus into a desolate, wild place?
To be tempted by the devil… but what does God want this?
Does the Spirit of God lead us into our wilderness experiences?
The word ‘tempt’ can also mean ‘test’; is God testing Jesus?
A teacher tests students to help them succeed, not to make them fail.
We live in a wild world, and there are tests and temptations every day.
I’m encouraged to know I’m not alone, the Spirit of Jesus leads me.
Jesus passed this test and beat the devil, reversing the curse for me.
The wilderness remains, but so does Jesus, and he is leading me!
Today I will reflect on how the Spirit is leading me, to help me succeed!
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I don’t always sense how you are leading me, but I trust that you are. Whatever happens today, I will try to see you leading me, and to go where you want me to go.
Thanks Fred. I hadn’t thought of this experience of Jesus from this angle, how he wanted to experience what we experience. I was thinking how we experience wilderness like Jesus; you turned it around to how Jesus experienced wilderness like us! Cool how switching your perspective helps you see something new!
Immediately after baptism Jesus was being tested,tempted..why?
What is the significance of 40 days and the uncertainty, scariness of being hungry, poor..a weakened state?
Jesus was on a high after the baptism (as we Christians are on occasion )and then Satan steps in and everything seems to go wrong. At your weakest point doubt, worry, being scared comes into the equation. This is when Satan has a fertile field to get you over to his side.
Did Jesus have to go thru this, to actually KNOW the feelings that we experience, even though as God He would know?
I think this brings me closer to Him, knowing that He wanted to experience first hand the challenges that we face in our personal desert. When we meet someone who has traveled a similar difficult road there is no need for words-we see all we need for us to be understood in their eyes- without words
Fred