February 3, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him. ” (Matthew 4.11)

“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4.13)

“At once the Spirit sent Him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels attended Him.” (Mark 1.12-13)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

They are called the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. “Synoptic” refers to a general summary and overview shared with similar references and purpose. The purpose, of course, was to capture in writing what had become oral tradition over the course of thirty-plus years. No one had even considered writing down what Jesus had said or done at the moment He did them. Jesus was a teacher of the Word of God after the construct of being a rabbi. Jesus, though He was called a rabbi and was considered one by many who had heard Him teach “as one with authority,” was not a rabbi in the traditional sense. Following His bar-mitzvah (read here the story of Jesus being found in the Temple at the age of 12), Jesus went back with His parents to Nazareth. He continued to practice the trade of his earthly father, Joseph, who was a carpenter and stonemason. Joseph was successful in his trade. Wherever he went (Bethlehem and Alexandria), he set up shop and plied his trade with great repute. It is quite possible that Joseph had established a shop in Capernaum near where the Jordan River emptied into the Sea of Galilee or Lake Tiberius. We know that during Jesus’ ministry, He often stayed at a home there not as a guest. Perhaps it was a family house which Joseph had purchased for lodging while he worked building fishing boats and other such items which were not requested in Nazareth in the hill country to the west. Jesus would have travelled with his father as an apprentice. He would have learned much about God through His stepfather’s eyes and his faith. We know that Joseph was considered a devout man of God. During those visits, Jesus would have had opportunities to visit the local synagogue and continue His education, and His teaching, hearing different voices and perspectives of the people of God. He would have also experienced the religious practices of other faiths. He may have even had the opportunity to play with some of the children of the local fishermen like the sons of Zebedee or their cousins. The world can often seem like a small place when God has a reason to work all things together for good.

So, from the synoptic point of view, we know that Jesus’ ministry was announced by John the Baptizer; that He was baptized by the same; and that He was directed into the wilderness where Satan, the Devil, tempted him. And so it began for Jesus that His life as a wandering prophet of God bearing the “good news” which was for all the people moved forward propelled by putting Satan on notice: God’s will be done! It had to be quite an ordeal to fast in the wilderness for forty days. Mark reminds us that Jesus was among wild animals. To borrow from the “Wizard of Oz,” He wasn’t in Nazareth, or Capernaum, anymore! He walked among “lions, tigers and bears, oh my,” … and, as I mentioned yesterday, wild goats along with other wild creatures. Some of those wild creatures may have been those possessed by demons such as the Gadarene demonic or those dispossessed by families and friends because of sicknesses such as leprosy. They would have gathered in the desert places where other “spirits” far worse than their own condition would have been found. He could have also been in places where desert heretics or magi had wandered to practice an ascetic lifestyle devoting themselves to their particular faith. We know that His cousin, John the Baptizer, preached in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey and clothed himself with coverings of camel hair. It was indeed a forty day opportunity to experience a different side of life than that of Nazareth, Capernaum and most especially Jerusalem. Or was it truly much different than all of that? What did Jesus find in Nazareth upon His return? Those who were friends of the family and perhaps His own family glowed with the teachings of the quickly famed “preacher of good news.” He was claimed to be “a hometown boy done good,” until He wasn’t. He preached what God had given Him to preach. Echoing in the background were the words of blessing at His baptism which said, “Listen to His words, this is My Son with whom I am well-pleased.” Yet, in Nazareth, Jesus might as well have been John the Baptizer who railed against the unrighteous leaders in Jerusalem and in the Temple. He spoke with a voice that defined righteous living far different than what we practiced. What the people desired was a God who obeyed not a God who solicited obedience to “the way, the truth and the life” which was the only road into the His Kingdom on earth as it was in Heaven. They threatened to execute Him for His failure to comply with their wishes. He simply said “No good works could be done there because the presence of faith in God was too small.” Was it a small thing in Capernaum and beyond as well? It would seem that the “wild animals,” those who were not so Jewish in their faith orientation responded more willingly? What hope did they have until “God” drew near in an “Immanuel” experience…first to the Jews and then to any who would listen and drew near to God.

And what of Jerusalem? Jerusalem, the city where Jesus visited at least once a year at Passover, according to Luke, every year of His life. He had sat on the steps with the elders and teachers of the Law. He expounded upon the wisdom of God’s word in ways worthy of their own mastery. They would know Him by name and even anticipate His coming each year to hear and be challenged by this young man of Nazareth. But, in that thirtieth year, when His fame preceded Him as a rabbi whose words carried authority even greater than their own? Now they were wild animals barking and nipping for their own survival. They coveted and cowered in their own “dens” of iniquity. He would speak the Word of God, “This is a house of prayer. This is My Father’s house and you have rendered it to be nothing more than a den of thieves as a brood of vipers.” He would call them out as “sons of snakes” and “white-washed tombs.” The people who had been dispossessed by their own leadership for the benefit of profit rallied at His words. Did they truly listen to them? In one moment they would hail Him “King, son of David, Messiah” with palms raised in the air and cloaks covering His pathway making it straight. In the next moment, they would cry out “Crucify Him, Crucify Him” and the echoes of His own hometown in Nazareth would catch up to their distant cousins in Jerusalem. They would carry Him along the narrow road which led to Golgotha that ultimately would led to the Gate of Heaven while behind Him was a straight path and wide gate that opened to perdition. Regardless, in all of those moments, Jesus did not succumb to the taunts of “the Devil.” He proclaimed the Word of God and fulfilled all righteousness. He would demonstrate the greatest love of all “as one man who would lay down His life for the sake of others not only in this world but for the next.” This is the gospel in synopsis and in harmony. It is “the way, the truth and the life” by which all are welcome to take on so that in doing so they might walk through the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil or wild thing but rise up anointed and blessed to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! AMEN. SHALOM. AMEN.

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.