Jesus, Israel, and You
Matthew 4:1-11
February 22, 2026 anno Domini
When you hear Jesus’ temptation you should be making a lot of connections.
- Israel was baptized in the Red Sea and so was Jesus.
- After their Red Sea baptism, Israel went into the wilderness to be tempted and so did Jesus.
- Israel was tempted with hunger, with faith, and with idols, and so was Jesus.
- Israel’s greatest temptation came at Mt. Sinai, and Jesus’ greatest temptation came on a high mountain. Who knows, maybe it was Sinai?
It’s the same story, but with different endings. Israel sinned but Jesus didn’t. And that’s good news for you, because Jesus is in the wilderness for His Israel, for His people, for you.
Jesus had just been baptized. The Spirit of God descended on Him in the form of a dove. The Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Then He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
Israel had just left Egypt loaded with the wealth of the Egyptians. After the last plague Pharaoh couldn’t wait to be rid of those Hebrew people. Take whatever you want and leave. But then Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued them. The Israelites were trapped between the Red Sea and a raging Pharoah. Then, according to the New Testament, they were baptized. God parted the water. They passed safely through, but Pharoah and his army were drowned. Israel’s enemies were dead. They were alive and free. And then the Lord led them into the wilderness.
What do we learn from this? The Holy Spirit gives the greatest tests after He bestows the greatest gifts. You might face your greatest test right after you leave the Divine Service or when you get to work tomorrow morning. Your newborn child or grandchild might get sick right after he is baptized. How many Lutherans remember their confirmation as a highlight of their lives – and immediately there is a test. Are you going to church next Sunday or have you graduated?
Why does God do this? The link between Jesus’ temptation and Israel’s temptation teaches us. Jesus responds to Satan’s first temptation to make bread by quoting from Deuteronomy 8, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” In that same section of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Israelites why God led them into the wilderness – that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart.
Here is one of those paradoxes of life with God. Satan tempts you to sin. God tests you to strengthen your faith. Satan will take away your health to lead you to despair. God will let him so that you trust in Him alone. God tempts no one. God never wants us to sin, but God tests those He loves – and those tests come in the temptations of Satan.
So, what did the test of hunger reveal in Israel’s heart? It revealed they had a short memory. They forgot they were baptized. Their enemies were dead, but they kept resurrecting them by wishing they were back in Egypt. They were free, but they longed for the good old days of slavery. Their stomachs grumbled so loudly they would not hear God’s Word.
What did the first temptation reveal in Jesus’ heart? His heart was filled with His Father and with you. This first temptation reveals that the Son of God is a man for you. He is hungry. God cannot be hungry, but Jesus can because He is fully human. Why is He hungry? To be tested. To see where His loyalties are. He does not use His Divine powers for Himself. Bread out of stones? Easy peasy. He made the world out of nothing. Formed Adam from the dust of the ground. Created the sun, moon, and stars and hung them in the heavens. But for you, He will go hungry. He is God in the flesh for you.
Next Satan tempts Jesus to test God. That’s also what happened to the Israelites. After they received manna from heaven they grumbled about water. And Moses responded by saying, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
The temptation to test God usually comes in this form – if God loved you He would … (fill in the blank). So, Satan tempts Jesus, “if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…”
Note again, that Satan wants Jesus to forget His baptism, to forget what His Father just said, “This is my beloved Son.” It’s another temptation away from faith and the Word. Testing wants proof. Something I can see – protect me from harm. Something I can drink – water in the desert. Something I can enjoy – good health. Such is test is dangerous because it puts me first. I judge God’s love by what I want, instead of what He gives.
Jesus answered the test with God’s Word. Again a quote from Deutoronomy (6:16), “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” What Jesus doesn’t quote is the rest of the verse – “as you tested him at Massah.” Massah was where the Israelites grumbled about water. Israel failed by testing the Lord. Jesus passed. He trusted God’s Word in His baptism. He did not need proof that He could see. He has faith in the Word alone. Jesus 2. Satan 0.
For the final temptation Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain. It was on a high mountain that the Israelites faced their greatest temptation. Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. Sound familiar. Sounds like Jesus in the wilderness. Sounds like Lent. What is the temptation Jesus faces – idolatry – to worship someone other than His Father, to fear, love, and trust something else.
Here we also see Satan’s sinister wisdom. The Son of God came into the world to rule the world. He came to redeem the whole world, that people of every nation, tribe, and tongue would live under Him in His Kingdom. And now Satan promises all of that – the easy way. “All these (the Kingdoms of the world) I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
How similar to what happens at Sinai. Moses is on the mountain receiving God’s Covenant with Israel – including the wedding vows we know as the 10 commandments – to honor God’s name, to worship on His day, to respect authority, to be faithful in marriage, to protect life from the womb to the tomb, to be content. That’s not an easy way to live, but it is the good way to live, because it’s God’s way. Down below the mountain Israel is tempted to the easy way – the Golden Calf whose liturgy is a responsive reading of gluttony and lust.
Israel falls. Jesus of Nazareth stands. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. Once again, that’s a quote from Deuteronomy.
Christ’s temptation gives you two treasures. The first is a gift. The second is a guide. The gift is this – Jesus fought temptation for you. He did not serve Himself in wilderness. He did not use the fact that He was true God for His own advantage. He did not test His Father’s love. He did not take the world with ease, but by the cross. In the wilderness He is your substitute – a man in man’s place to obey God’s law perfectly, even as on the cross He will be a man in man’s place to take your punishment. He beat Satan for you.
The other treasure that Jesus gives you is a guide. Do you want to beat Satan? Remember your baptism. Israel forgot theirs. Jesus remembered His. When you get up in the morning, make the sign of the cross as you say the name of your God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do you want to beat Satan? Hear the Word, read the Word, study the Word, memorize the Word. Jesus didn’t beat Satan with His divinity – He beat him with God’s Word – and you have that Word, made more certain by Jesus Himself.
Israel failed. Christ succeeded – for you, so that forgiven and justified, you can fight temptation and win because you’ve already won. You are baptized. In the name of Jesus. Amen.