Recalculating

February 22, 2026

Rev. Mary Erickson

Colfax Lutheran Church

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Recalculating

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Where are you? It’s very important to know where you are and how to find your way home. One of the things we learn as children is our home address. “1434 Gordon Avenue” will always be permanently etched in my brain. Knowing that home location is very, very important.

Not being able to get back home is one indication that something is wrong in an elderly person with dementia. It was a clear sign to my husband’s family when his elderly aunt was driving around in her car, circling the neighborhood where she lived, until some landmark clicked in her head and led her home.

Orienteering is a popular outdoor sport. You’re given a map and a compass, and you have to find your way to the targeted spot. The sport began as a military exercise for land navigation training.

Where are you, and how can you get back home? Nowadays we have GPS, and that’s taken all the guesswork out of navigation. We can get anywhere so long as we plug in the coordinates and the GPS can track our position.

When my husband and I are traveling with the help of our trusty GPS device, there are occasions where traffic conditions will not allow us to take the recommended rout. When that happens, our GPS says, “Recalculating…” Since we veered off course, it’s determining the new rout to get us back on track.

Recalculating. That’s a very apt word for the main task of Lent. Lent is a 40-day season in our liturgical calendar. And our gospel reading for today is the perfect text because Jesus launches his ministry by first taking this 40-day retreat into the wilderness.

Matthew tells us Jesus went into the wilderness in order to be tempted by the devil. That’s pretty extreme! The whole point was to face temptation. Will he still know his bearings after 40 days of fasting and harsh living? Will he know who he is, will he know where he is and what direction he should take? Or will he be led astray?

This is like orienteering on steroids. It’s like being stowed in the trunk of a car, driven into the middle of nowhere, then tossed out, spun around and told to find your way home. It’s hard to recalculate your position when you haven’t the foggiest idea where you are.

Now, just prior to this story, Jesus had been baptized by John. It was a spectacular experience. The sky opened up and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. Then a voice spoke from the heavens: This is my beloved Son!

Here was an extremely affirming spiritual experience. Jesus received vivid confirmation as to his identity. He was God’s agent; he was God’s Son.

But now that identity was being put to the test. Would Jesus remember his center? Would he know his place in the world under extreme stress? Could he recalculate his bearings from the identity he was given, or would he latch onto a false set of coordinates?

When the devil approaches Jesus, his challenges specifically question Jesus’ identity: “IF you are the Son of God…” he says. If you are the divine Son, then you should be able to perform spectacular miracles. You should be able to do things that no one else would even dream of.

If God could provide manna from heaven to the Israelites, then you should be able to turn stones into bread. And if God is limitless in power and scope, then you should be impervious to injury. You should be able to fall from a tremendous height and walk away unscathed.

Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted. This 40-day trial was tempering him for the even greater tests to come. During his ministry there would be more trials. The Pharisees and other religious leaders continually questioned the validity of his ministry. “By what authority do you do these things?” they asked. Members of his very own family thought he’d gone mad and came to take him quietly away.

And even Peter, his most ardent disciple, flat out rejected Jesus’ mission when Jesus disclosed he was going to Jerusalem to be crucified. But Jesus knew he was being tempted. He’d felt it before. And he knew who was behind it. “Get behind me, Satan!” he told Peter.

The experience Jesus has during his 40-day retreat in the wilderness tempers him for the mission to come. He maintains his orientation by keeping the focus on his God-given identity.

The second purpose of this wilderness journey is to fully identify with us in our all too human condition. Jesus may be the Son of God, but that doesn’t render him out of touch with our humanity. He isn’t a far-away divine being who dwells high above us, out of touch. No, he is God-with-us, Immanuel! That’s why he poured himself out into our human form. That was why he submitted to John’s baptism, and that is why he entered the wilderness. He means to be a savior who fully identifies with us.