First Sunday in Lent
February 22, 2026
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Matthew 4:1-11
Overcomers
Who here has been on a camping trip?
Mary and I camped out when we first married. A tent and two sleeping bags is a lot cheaper than staying in a hotel room.
Our son Dan and I went camping regularly with his Boy Scout troop.
I’ve gone on two trips, one to Cleveland, and another to Cincinnati to see baseball games, and on both trips I camped in an Ohio State Park.
It doesn’t take a lot to go camping. A tent, a sleeping bag, a hammer is good for driving in tent pegs. It’s also good to have a light of some sort for nightime and early morning. It’s wise to have a first aid kit. You never know what could happen, even in a State Park. It takes a little preparation to go on a camping trip, and so does our journey toward Easter Day.
Lent carries us to the most glorious day of every year, but, like camping, it can be a bit rough along the way. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, a fast day. Further along is Good Friday, another fast day. While fasting on these days is not required in our Lutheran tradition, it has been a regular practice for these days for centuries in the church.
Sundays in Lent remain remembrances of our Lord’s resurrection, but they are more somber in this penitential season. Even so, the hope of Easter still shines, even in Lent.
On this first Sunday in Lent, we are in the wilderness with Jesus, far from His empty tomb.
vv. 1-2 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.
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He would be tested by the devil. This was likely the desert west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The same Spirit of God that descended upon Jesus at His baptism almost immediately sends Him into the wilderness. Just as God led Israel for forty years after the Exodus, do does the Spirit lead Jesus. God tested Israel in the wilderness to see whether they would “keep his commandments or not” (Dt. 8:2). Too often, they did not.
Like Moses and Elijah, Jesus fasts for forty days and nights. After forty days of fasting, He was hungry.
v. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Does Jesus need to prove that He is the Son of God” Did not God the Father just declare when Jesus was baptized that Jesus is His Son, His “beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17)? Will Jesus use His divine power to alleviate His hunger? Or, will Jesus remain in the suffering of His forty day fast?
v. 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus addresses His tempter with Scripture, Deuteronomy 8:3. The context for the Scripture that Jesus uses is Israel’s wilderness wanderings after their Exodus from Egypt. Unlike Israel, Jesus is victorious over His testing as He recognizes that obedience to God His Father is paramount. He chooses to live by the Word of God. He chooses to accept suffering over the quick fix that the Devil suggests.
How about us? Are you sufficiently grounded in God’s Word that when you are tempted to deviate from God’s way, His Word directs you back to God?
vv. 5-6 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.’”
Again, the Devil challenges Jesus, “If you are the Son of God…” This time, the test is whether Jesus will force God His Father to rescue Him. The Devil even quotes Scripture, Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12. In effect, the Devil says to Jesus, go ahead and jump, God will save you.
v. 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Jesus has moral clarity because He knows the Scriptures better than the Devil does. Jesus trumps the Devil’s Scripture with Deuteronomy 6:16. Again, Jesus reaches back to Scripture that pertains to Israel’s wilderness wanderings. Israel failed their testing in the wilderness over and over again. Jesus does not.
Jesus will not test God His Father. Instead, Jesus will trust and obey God, the same God who led Him into this wilderness experience. Jesus trusts God and God’s power to provide.
One of the most difficult stories in the entire Bible is Genesis 22. In that chapter, God tells Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac are alone when Isaac asks his father, “where is the lamb for a burnt offering” (v. 7)? Abraham replies, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (v. 8). While he says this, Abraham knows what God has commanded him to do.
They arrive at the place for the sacrifice, and Abraham builds an altar there. He lays wood for the fire, and then he binds his son Isaac and places him “on the altar” (v. 9). Abraham raises a knife to slaughter his only son, and God stops him. Abraham passes the test, but what a terrible test it was.
Has any of us ever been confronted with as terrible a test as this?
For Abraham, for Israel, for Jesus, and for us, the question is always, do we trust God? When all the chips are pushed to the center of the table, do you really believe in your heart of hearts that you can trust God above all else?
vv. 8-9 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.”
When Israel was near the Promised Land, God commanded Moses to climb to the top of Mount Nebo and look out from that vantage point. From that place, Moses could see the Promised Land, and other lands as well.
From Christ’s vantage point, He can see all the kingdoms of this world. He sees all that this world has to give. The Devil offers Jesus global power and authority, wealth like no one has ever seen.
v. 10 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.’”
Jesus commands Satan to leave Him. Satan translated means “the adversary.” The adversary has tested Jesus and the adversary has failed. Jesus doesn’t need the Devil to grant Him authority over all the kingdoms of this world. Jesus has that authority. More than that, He has authority over the spiritual realm, including Satan.
Jesus will not worship the Devil. Jesus is one with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The devil is the power behind the kingdoms of this world, particularly the Roman occupiers of Israel, but He has no power over Jesus Christ. Jesus is not an agent who receives power and authority from Satan. He is the Son of God who has power and authority because He is God.
Jesus came to do the will of God His Father, but the Devil opposes God’s will.
Jesus came to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. The Devil makes this world like Hell.
The Devil leaves Jesus because Jesus has authority over the Devil and has commanded him to do so.
As it was for Israel, Elijah, and now Jesus, the wilderness is a place for preparation. The wilderness prepared Israel for life in the Promised Land. The wilderness prepared Elijah at two different junctures in his ministry to the two kingdoms of divided Israel. The wilderness prepares Jesus for His public ministry.
For forty days, Jesus fasted in the wilderness. Like Noah and his family who were battered by the flood for forty days inside the ark, Jesus remains secure in His relationship with God His Father and God the Holy Spirit. Noah and his family were secure in the ark because of God’s protection.
For forty days, we walk with Jesus toward His cross. For forty days, we are reminded of what much of our lives make clear - suffering, including temptations, are as much in our lives as they were for Jesus. The crucial difference is that He did not sin. Beyond that, He willingly accepted death on a cross in place of you, me, and all other sinners. He willingly substituted His death for the eternal death that we deserve because of our sins.
The Gospel of John tells us, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). That’s what Jesus, the Son of God, does for all who believe in Him.
For those temptations that beset u, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Temptations can burden us and wear us out. Jesus says, “Come to me.”
Furthermore, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (v. 29). Yoked with Christ, joined to Him in faith, we are able to walk with Him and learn from Him.
We see the temptations that He endured and can reflect on the Apostle Paul’s words: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The way of escape that our Lord used was His deep knowledge and understanding of Scripture. He was able to combat temptation with the Word of God.
How much Scripture do you have committed to memory? Perhaps memorizing Scripture would be a worthy Lenten project for you.
When you are tempted to use the powers that God has given you for your personal benefit in ways that hurt others, remember the second great commandment, love your neighbor as yourself.
When you are tempted to test God’s faithfulness to you, remember not only Christ’s respons to His second temptation, but also God’s Word elsewhere, when God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5, Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:5).
When you are tempted to seek out leadership positions and authority over others, remember that our Lord Jesus Christ came to be served, but to serve. He who washed His disciples feet said to them to do likewise. He taught us to seek the lower place.
We face many temptations, but God can give us the strength to overcome them. In all things, look to Christ who is your strength.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, you know our many weaknesses. In your mercy, give us strength to resist anything that would draw us away from You. We confess that we do not have the power within ourselves to fight the battles that confront us. You promise that we will not be tempted beyond what we can handle, but we admit that we err and stray by following the desires of our sin-filled hearts. Grant to us, O Lord, the fullness of your Spirit, and the power of your grace, that we may be faithful to you in all our ways. It is in your Name, Lord Jesus, that we pray. Amen.
