Today, Jesus’s ministry begins in earnest. But before He preaches a single sermon or calls a single disciple, He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1).
Some see those forty days of fasting as a toughening, a kind of spiritual boot camp. I see it more as a time of cleansing and focusing. Jesus sets aside everything else, and at the end of those forty days the tempter, the accuser, comes to try to divert Him.
What fascinates me is how closely the three temptations line up with the ways Israel was tested in the wilderness after God rescued them from Egypt, and failed. They grumbled about bread, and Satan tempts Jesus to make bread for Himself. They put God to the test at Massah, demanding proof He was with them, and Satan tempts Jesus to throw Himself from the temple to force God’s hand. They bowed down to a golden calf, and Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He will bow down to him. Every time, Jesus answers from Deuteronomy, the very book where Moses recounted Israel’s wilderness years (Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16; 6:13). Where Israel failed, Jesus stands. He reverses the story.
And notice how Satan fights. In the second temptation, he quotes scripture himself, lifting Psalm 91 out of context to make it say something God never intended. Jesus doesn’t throw out the scripture. He answers it with scripture rightly understood: “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test'” (Luke 4:12).
That is so often the way the enemy works. If he can’t keep us away from God’s Word, he’ll twist it, bending it to mean and say and do things God never meant.
We see this today in how scripture gets pulled into almost every debate. Take immigration. Some argue for open borders; that isn’t the answer. Others argue for slamming the door shut completely; that isn’t the answer either. Both sides can find a verse to wave around. What matters is looking for people who are receptive to what is true, good, and right, people who will come, honor our laws, and become part of the community.
In a far deeper way, that’s what Jesus was looking for: hearts open and receptive not only to God’s love, grace, and mercy, but also to God’s way of living. “Repent,” He preached, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). The invitation was wide open, and it called for a response.
That’s exactly what stirred up His hometown. In the Nazareth synagogue, Jesus read from Isaiah that He had come to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, and freedom for the oppressed (Luke 4:18). The people spoke well of Him, at first. Then He reminded them that in Elijah’s day God sent the prophet to a widow in Sidon, and in Elisha’s day God healed Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:25–27). Both were outsiders. The Messiah had come not only for Israel, but for anyone, Jew or Gentile, whose heart was open to God’s mercy and grace. The same crowd that had admired Him tried to throw Him off a cliff.
And the rest of today’s reading shows Him doing exactly what He announced: healing the sick, touching a leper no one else would touch (Luke 5:13), forgiving a paralyzed man lowered through a roof (Luke 5:20), and calling a tax collector to follow Him (Luke 5:27). The downtrodden, the oppressed, the outsiders—these were the people who received Him.
So here is my takeaway today: a heart that is open. Open to God’s Word as He actually meant it, not as it can be twisted. Open to His grace, and open to His way of living. And open to love others and share God’s goodness with them, especially the ones others might overlook.
Is your heart open to God’s Word as He meant it, and to the people He is reaching for, even the ones you might not expect?
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