Fasting Challenge

 March 20, 2026

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

In this story, we see three specific ways Satan tries to pull Jesus off track, by a focus on his hunger, pushing him to show off his power, and tempting him to go after political control to bring God’s kingdom his own way. That last one is especially striking: Satan basically offers Jesus a shortcut. “Skip the suffering. Skip the cross. I’ll hand everyone over to you, just worship me instead of God.” It’s the easy way out, but it’s also the wrong way. And every time, Jesus pushes back using Scripture, the “sword of the Spirit”, as his anchor and defense.

All of this happens right after Jesus’ baptism. The Spirit leads him into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting, knowing he’ll face temptation there. It echoes Moses’ 40 days on Mount Sinai, when he fasted before receiving the Ten Commandments. The parallel is intentional: Jesus steps into the role of a new and greater Moses, not just receiving the law, but fulfilling it completely.

The temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness aren’t ancient problems we’ve outgrown, they are the same pressures we encounter every day, just with "updated packaging". We still feel the pull to satisfy our desires in ways that shortcut trust in God. We still feel the urge to prove ourselves, rather than following faithfully. And we’re still tempted to take the “easy way” instead of the sacrificial way of love. Today in our Bible reading Jesus shows us that resisting these pressures isn’t about more willpower; it is about being rooted in God’s Word, grounded in God’s character, and willing to choose obedience even when it’s costly. Jesus' victory in the wilderness becomes a pattern for our own: we don’t fight alone, and we don’t fight unarmed.

Let's Pray

Gracious God, thank you that you understand what it feels like to be tempted, just as we are. Thank you for showing us how to stand firm, and thank you for choosing the harder road, the cross, so that we could be saved. Help us trust you and follow your way. In Christ’s name, Amen.