What's Your Temptation?
(You don't have to answer here--just think about it!)
All images and text ©2024 Barbara Bjelland. Image above is created with mixed media.
Jesus’ Temptation
Last Sunday (Feb. 22, 2026) was the first Sunday in Lent, our journey with Christ toward Easter. As we journey with Christ to resurrection joy, there will be times that we go through the wilderness. Jesus has been through it all, and is with us every step of the way. The church lectionary reading was from Matthew 4:1-11:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Our Trials and Temptations
Theologians see Jesus’ testing as following the lines described in Genesis 3:6 and 1 John 2:16: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We too, face these temptations and trials, suffering and sin. We can become slaves to things that we think will fulfill us, but never satisfy. As Saint Augustine writes in his Confessions,
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
Our temptations may be harmful or addictive habits, or we may be tempted to harmful attitudes or ways of thinking. In the Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd Jones describes the first temptation as believing the lie that God doesn’t really love me. We may wonder if God is there, and if he cares.
I am currently reading a great Lenten devotional entitled “Wardrobes and Rings: Through Lenten Lands with the Inklings.” (Here is the Amazon link, or you can order it from any bookstore:
In this book, Malcolm Guite writes about C.S. Lewis. Guite notes that Lewis advocated a worldview more akin to that of medieval times, than to “the mythology that follows in the wake of science” (p. 23). Lewis wrote that science tells us what and where things are, but not what they mean. If not informed by God, we may be tempted to think that the world and the vast universe are meaningless. The belief in a creative God of love and design made science possible.
So what is your temptation?
Eyes and Ears and Grace
Taking time to lament is not the same as giving in to meaninglessness. It is vital to take time to grieve our losses and the pain of the world. I am learning that God meets me in the wilderness, when I am someplace that I don’t want to be. I am learning that joy and longing and love are intermingled. I am also reminded to keep a sense of childlike wonder.
I am learning to ask God for eyes to see and ears to hear, even if I am tempted to give up on God and myself. When I look up at the sky, I see that “The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1, NRSVUE)
When I was in church on Sunday, the pastor prayed for eyes and ears to see and hear of God’s glory and love, and for the “grace to obey.” God gives us this “grace to obey” as a gift, when we ask.
Help for the Journey
There is hope and help for the journey through the wilderness. Christ has suffered and has been tested, yet without sin, so he is able to help us in whatever circumstances we are in (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15). As Hebrews 13:5 proclaims:
“He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Christ comes to us as daily bread, through word and sacrament. Christ has given us Scripture to study, memorize, and meditate on, deep in our hearts. He surrounds us with the comfort and power of the Holy Spirit. When we invite Jesus to be Lord of our lives, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. Even when we can’t find words to pray, the Holy Spirit guides us, and comforts us. In our weakness, the Holy Spirit intercedes with groans too deep for words (Romans 8: 26).
There are angels around us who attend our ways, and we can act like angels—God’s messengers—for each other. Christ gives us each other, as communities of sisterly and brotherly love. Christ gives us a beautiful creation to enjoy and care for. Each rippling wave, each diamond star in the velvet sky, each morning birdsong, is a gift to us. God has made us in his image, to return our gifts to him with praise.
