Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days, He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. Luke 4:1-2
It might be a bit surprising to remember that Jesus was returning from being baptized in the Jordan, at which time the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and His Father spoke from heaven about how pleased He was. In fact, He said, “In You I am well pleased.” So, what is surprising about that? After all, Jesus was being baptized by His cousin John because it was the Father’s will, not because He had any sin that needed “washing away”.
What is surprising is what happened next. You would normally think when a parent is pleased with something their child has done, they would reward them in some way. In this case, we see Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and He is not getting a special ice cream treat, He is going to be without any food at all for forty days!
So, Jesus goes to the wilderness where there is no food, but there is something waiting for Him there — temptation. The enemy is always looking for a vulnerability, a way to get at you, a weak spot. Jesus was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, He felt all of our weaknesses, He was tempted in all ways that we are tempted, yet without ever sinning.
God’s plan for saving you did not involve just saying a word and it was done. Instead He sent His Son. Once, a man asked Jesus to heal his servant just by speaking a word, for he felt unworthy to have Jesus come to his house. But Jesus went to his house and healed his servant. Could he have just spoken a word and healed him? Absolutely. But He chose to go to where he was instead.
We were not worthy of having Jesus come to this world so full of sin to save us, and yet that was the Father’s plan of salvation all along. Redeeming someone who is a slave of sin is costly and rather unpleasant. Jesus willingly sought you out, found you in your sin and took all of that upon Himself just for you. He took your place.
Jesus didn’t deliver you from your sin from the comfort of heaven, He came down to the earth and conquered the curse by overcoming every temptation and resisting the devil. He went through the wilderness to deliver you from the wilderness. He overcomes your failures with His faithfulness to always do the Father’s will and He wiped away your sin with His sacrifice.
Why forty days in the wilderness? God’s people wandered in the wilderness for forty years, living off of God’s grace and patience, and manna! Because of their unbelief Moses could not enter the Promise Land but only was allowed to see it from a distance and the rest of that entire generation died in the wilderness without ever entering in.
But now, Jesus begins His ministry in the wilderness. He is right there with you in your wilderness. This time though, there is victory, for Jesus conquered the wilderness!
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