January 26, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be sorely tested by the devil. ” (Matthew 4.1)

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was sorely tested by the devil.” (Luke 4.1,2)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

II remember a few of my Business Communications students who would come to my desk after writing a speech for presentation to the class and ask “How does this sound?” They would hand me their paper and stand there waiting. I looked at them, and I did it every time in every class until the entire class got the message, “I don’t know, I haven’t heard it yet. Read it to me.” The student(s) would look at me surprised. Many of them had been trained under the “false assumption” policy of “let someone else do the hard work or just say ‘it’s good.’” You know that policy, as parents, right? It is the one that validated parents doing their kid’s homework so they didn’t have to listen to them complain about “I don ‘t know how to do it.” It was especially practiced when their kids waited until the last minute to announce, “I have a project due tomorrow and I haven’t started.” As in the words heard in the movie Cool Hand Luke, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Well, it was a communications class, after all, and I was in the business of teaching students how to become effective communicators. The goal was that they would be successful in whatever job they were planning on making a living from. I am a bit old school about such things. I was raised to “do you own work.” I was bound to pass that principle on to others. Still in a state of shock, the student would start to read their speech out loud to me. It wasn’t long before they would say “That is not what I wanted to say. I will go back and try again.” It is always why I taught my class in pods of 4 students. I observed students the first few days of class and with some profile exercises, I began to build teams based on competency and skills. The task was for them to learn how to work together using what they literally “brought to the table.” They were graded individually and as a team on the projects and presentations. Such collaboration is critical because at some point in life we are all leaders. The success of any community depends on such proficient collaboration.

Now you may ask what does that have to do with Jesus’ competing against Satan, literally “The Accuser.” It is a story about quality control, if you remember from yesterday’s reflection. Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of God His Heavenly Father, was directed as a “field agent” to go into the wilderness beyond the Jordan. You may not know the significance of that journey, so let me share some images for you. The first image was that of Moses and the Hebrews who had to cross the wilderness to re-enter the Promised Land. There were many opportunities to test their faith and faithfulness in God, and in Moses. It was a test of Moses’ leadership and faith, too. We know of some of those tests right off the top of our head: the Red Sea, Mt. Sinai and the betrayal, the seasons of hunger and thirst and perhaps the biggest of all- “shall we enter into the land of Giants!” The Hebrews did not do well in any of those situations. They depended on God and Moses to “do it for them.” They demonstrated their lack of deep faith and an inability to truly believe. Two generations were lost in the wilderness. The first generation at Mt. Sinai when they were swallowed up by the earth that opened wide at God’s command. They had convinced Aaron to make a golden idol and they worshipped like they were godless Egyptians. It was an abomination to God. They had been warned against it. They had no integrity and suffered the consequences of it. The second was at what could have been the end of their journey to the Promised Land. Camped at Kadesh Barnea, the report of the 10 spies held more sway than that of the faith report from Joshua and Caleb. Because the people chose to disbelieve, they continued to wander for 38 years until the unbelieving generation passed. What a tragedy!

The second image was that of the “scapegoat.” In the season of redemption on the Day of Atonement, a lamb and a goat were chosen to be sacrificed. They would represent the people of Israel (yes, let someone else do the work for them…or pay the price.) The lamb would be offered as the substitutionary blood sacrifice giving thanks to God for His promise to deliver His people and be their God. Of course, they would have to be His people. The goat bore the fleece of the lamb that was slain and taken into the wilderness and left. The fleece represented the sins of the people of Israel. The image was that their sins were a far off (out of sight and out of mind.) Their ancestors had been delivered out of the wilderness where their sins were made known. They were brought into the Promised Land where the goodness of God’s provision was also made known. Thus, the term scapegoat came to be known. It is a term used even now to blame someone else for the wrong that we have done or for the responsibility of the negative consequence we are experiencing in life. [It amazes me that in today’s culture and climate we have to easily used the image of “the goat” to represent something good and valuable. Yes, Satan is represented by the image of a goat and now we understand why. But, what of the G.O.A.T.? Yes, the “greatest of all time” individuals the world lauds. Hopefully, you see my point on the dangers of such accolade unintentionally given. It is like those students who asked me how their speech sounded when it hadn’t been read except in their head. So the world doesn’t think of the inherent danger of G.O.A.T. unless the truth of the matter is spoken. We need such teamwork to bring the truth to light.]

So, Jesus went into the wilderness to encounter the homefield advantage Satan thought was his. The wilderness (an image Jesus would use in the Parable of the Seven Spirits) was a place of sin and demonic possession. Jesus would meet the Enemy on his own turf, in his own backyard. God sent Him there to demonstrate what it meant to be truly prepared for the ministry we each are called to perform. His success would fulfill and exceed the expectations of faith’s “quality control.” Of course, you may ask after reading the scenarios above, where is the team effort in this. Jesus went into the wilderness alone! Did He? Jesus had not crossed the Jordan River that we are told in scripture until this point. He only went to the other side of the river after He was filled with the Holy Spirit upon His baptism. We also know as we read the story presented that Jesus also was accompanied by the Word of God written on His heart through the instruction of his earthly mother and stepfather as was the traditional practice of good Jewish parents. That would intimate that He was accompanied by the presence of His parents in His heart, mind and soul. Further, we know that Jesus had the promise of Immanuel. He was Immanuel in the flesh declaring the presence of God was with Him, was Him and would always be Him as the Father and Son were one in spirit and in truth. Jesus entered the testing ground of the wilderness, Satan’s “home field advantage,” with an all-star team. He was the field general just as David had been versus the Goliaths of Philistia who stood against Israel. The difference was that Jesus did not sling stones and cut off heads. Instead, He stood on those stones piled up as a reminder of the firm foundation on which the sacrifices of thanksgiving for deliverance would be offered. He passed the test showing us that we can, too.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.