Alex Kremer 09-04-2022 // It is Written; Matthew 4:1-11

Immediately following His baptism by John, the Gospels record that the Spirit led, or better drove, Jesus into the wilderness for forty days.  We know little of that time other than he fasted those many days alone; a time which echoes the forty years Israel spent in the wilderness following their exodus from Egypt.  In a sense, Jesus fulfilled in the wilderness what Israel could not.

It was at the end of these forty days that the Devil came to Jesus in order to tempt Jesus.  At each of these temptations, Jesus' response was the Word of God, "It is written..."  In the end, Satan failed in his attempt to keep Jesus from going to the cross.  It was this temptation which led the writer of Hebrews to conclude, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all thing as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15 NASB)

Thank you for listening to today's lesson.  May you be blessed and encouraged by our Great High Priest who is solely qualified to take our place in judgment.