Sermon for Lent 1: "Wilderness Redux"

 + 1^st Sunday in Lent – February 22^nd, 2026 +

Series A: Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Every so often you find yourself thinking: “This sure looks, sounds, or smells familiar.” It’s that strange phenomena we call Déjà vu. 

 

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness case of theological Déjà vu. As we read and hear Matthew 4 we get an overwhelming sense that we’ve been here before. We’ve heard this story before.

 

Matthew begins the narrative with a heavy dose of OT déjà vu. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 

 

Jesus is in the wilderness. He’s tempted. He’s hungry. He’s been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights – now there’s a loaded phrase from the OT. And if all of this sounds familiar. There’s a good reason. 

 

Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness is a cover of a classic song; a reboot of an old movie, a reprint of an ancient story. The story of Israel’s Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness and the story of temptation in Eden all rolled into one. The point is clear: Jesus is Israel and Adam, repeating history for you. He is also there for us, true man, enduring temptation as one of us, for us.

 

Here in the wilderness, Jesus is Israel reduced down to one man. Jesus is the second and greater Adam. 

 

Just as Israel’s identity was God’s chosen son, in a similar yet greater way, Jesus is identified as true and only begotten Son of God, the chosen, anointed, holy one. Just as Israel was saved from death by the blood of the Passover lamb, Jesus comes to offer himself as the final Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Just as Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea, Jesus passes through the waters of the Jordan on his way to a greater Exodus on the cross. Just as Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus spends 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. Just as Israel was tested and hungered in the wilderness wandering, Jesus endures hunger and temptation. 

 

Here in the wilderness, history repeats itself, only this time with a different outcome. Where Israel failed, time and time again, Jesus succeeds. Where Israel rebelled, Jesus is faithful. Where Israel disobeyed God’s Word, Jesus obeys his Father perfectly. And doing so on your behalf. Jesus is the perfect Israel. And the perfect Adam, overcoming the serpent where the first Adam was overcome.

 

When Jesus rebukes and rejects the devil, he hits the replay button a few familiar OT themes: Israel’s constant failure, and God’s constant faithfulness. 

 

First, the devil tempts Jesus to use his own power to serve himself, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

 

Unlike Israel, who grumbled and complained when they hungered in the wilderness, and did not trust the Lord to provide, Jesus does not fail. Hungry though he was, he did not grumble against the Father or doubt God’s promise to provide. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

 

Next, the devil tempts Jesus to doubt the Father’s power, or to misuse that power selfishly. “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

Again, Jesus replies, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ 

 

Unlike Israel, who quarreled with Moses and doubted that God would provide water for their thirst in the wilderness, Jesus does not fail. Jesus trusts the Father perfectly. For Israel. For you. For us all.

 

Finally, the devil attempts to turn Jesus away from the Father. So he “took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

 

Once again, Jesus keeps the first and foundational commandment: “You shall have no other Gods.” Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Jesus’ life and ministry, his death and resurrection are a perfect act of worship and service to the Father. Not for his own sake, but for you. Everything he does is for your good.

 

After all, we’re not all that different from Israel in the wilderness. We’re in need of rescue and redemption. We fail, falter, and fall. We grumble and complain; we quarrel and rebel against God’s Word; we doubt his promises and goodness despite all his gracious work for us. 

 

This is why Jesus is led by the Spirit, into the wilderness to be tempted. For Adam. For Israel. For you. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all ways tempted as we are, yet without sin. 

 

So when you are tempted, know that Jesus has defeated Satan for you. He has wandered that wilderness for you. There’s no place where Satan can take you that Jesus is not already there. There is no temptation that Satan can throw your way that hasn’t already been faced and defeated by Jesus for you. 

 

Jesus is in the wilderness to succeed where Israel, and we have failed and sinned in thought, word, and deed. 

 

And when Jesus repeats history in our place, he redeems our history and carries us through his cross and grave into the new creation.

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.