Tempted, To Save Us - Sermon for the First Sunday of Lent (February 22, 2026)

Scripture Readings: Genesis 2:15–17, 3:1–7 | Psalm 32 | Romans 5:12–19 | ​Matthew 4:1–11

“If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:15).
 
This past Wednesday marked the start of the sacred season of Lent… a season of repentance… of turning our hearts and lives back to the Living God, and of preparation for Holy Week… a time to get ready for the great events at the centre of our Christian story: the saving death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Saviour King.
 
And this morning, on the first Sunday of Lent, we begin our journey with Jesus to the cross by recalling together His time of intense trial and temptation in the wilderness… where He is confronted with, and yet overcomes, the tempting deceptions and lies of the Enemy, who tried hard to undermine Christ’s faithfulness to His heavenly Father, and to bring God’s great rescue plan to an end.
 
And while this episode from the early days of Jesus’ ministry might seem like little more than an intense but private and personal struggle … it is actually a major crisis moment for the story of God’s whole rescue mission… and the story of humanity as a whole. 
 
Right before our Gospel passage today begins, St. Matthew tells the story of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River, where the Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove, and a voice from Heaven affirmed His unique identity: God says of Jesus “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17). Immediately after He received these words of assurance, we hear that Christ Jesus is led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness… where He fasts and prays for forty days… and where He is to be tempted by the devil.
 
And in this wilderness showdown where Jesus’ faithfulness was being tested in body, mind, and spirit, He was also reliving and redeeming Israel’s own Exodus story… their time of testing in the wilderness.
 
Centuries earlier, the Living God had affirmed the people of Israel as a whole to be His own firstborn son. Speaking to Moses in Exodus 4:22-23, the LORD says “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son. I said to you, “Let my son go that he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go…” As we know, God rescued Israel from Pharaoh’s grasp, and brought them through the waters of the Red Sea to start a new life as God’s own children. 
 
And what does it mean to be God’s children?
 
Just like with all children, life as God’s child begins with an act of grace. A gift offered that the child did nothing to earn or bring about. Their life is simply given to them as an act of self-giving love. And then begins a lifetime of them learning and growing… a journey which really relies and thrives on trust! Learning to trust the One who is leading us, and caring for us, even when other attractive options come calling. Even when we’re being led where we’d rather not go, if it was just up to us. Trusting that the One leading us really does love us, and wants what’s truly best for us. 
 
As we know from the Scriptures, the people of Israel really struggled with this during their time in the wilderness. Time and again, whether acting out of hunger, or fear, or other distorted motives, they turned on the LORD, grumbling against God whenever they faced trials and intense situations, instead of turning towards Him and seeking His help. For those forty long years in the wilderness, God’s children kept on falling into temptation… with disastrous results.
 
But before we get too comfortable passing judgment on them, we need to keep in mind that their stories are a gift for us, written for us and each generation of God’s children… because in them we can see ourselves. We see the same patterns playing out in our own stories. In fact, this is the story of humanity as a whole, going way back to the Garden of Eden with the very first children of God, Adam and Eve… and their deception by the snake. And just like them, all of us can be quick to be deceived and give in to our own temptations… reaching out for what we see as good in the moment, while turning our backs on God’s good ways. 
 
When you and I are faced with our own trials and temptations, we too can easily give into grumbling, and quickly go back to our old self-destructive ways… disobeying God’s guidance, and instead of growing in our faith, we grow farther and farther away from Him. 

But there is Good News for us, offered even when we least deserve it: Just like Israel wasn’t left to wander the wilderness alone, neither are we. God is with us. Jesus is on the scene. And as God’s eternal Son, who become one of us, Jesus came not just to relive and redeem Israel’s story… He came to redeem all of our fallen stories… the story of fallen humanity as well. Where we all stumble and fall, Jesus stands tall… enduring the test for us, in order to lead us into God’s life. 
 
Jesus’ three temptations are laid out for us in our Gospel passage from Matthew Chapter 4. The first was to use His divine power to turn stones into bread… to meet His own physical needs, but to do so apart from God’s way. Now after fasting for forty days and nights, His hunger must have been raging. And of course, Jesus needed to eat… what He was longing for wasn’t something bad in itself. But the way He was deceptively invited to satisfy His deep hunger would undermine the whole reason He was fasting in the wilderness in the first place… to endure these trials to draw near to and deepen His dependence on His heavenly Father. To actively trust God to sustain Him, and to actively choose the way of faithfulness, even when it hurts.

And Jesus responds to the tempter by quoting from a passage from the Torah, from Deuteronomy Chapter 8, where Moses reminds God’s people of how the LORD constantly cared for them in the wilderness.
 
Deuteronomy 8:2-6, “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you. Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him.”
 
As a parent disciplines… not just in the sense of punishment, but of training… like an Olympic athlete disciplines themselves to become far better at their sport than they would be naturally… so God was training His people Israel to trust in Him. And so, centuries later, Christ Jesus also chose to endure this divine parental training… trusting in His Father’s sustaining love, even when He was presented with an easy way out.
  
Like Israel, you and I also have real physical needs that God knows all about. But He also wants us to come to know that what brings us life is not just food, and water, and shelter alone. We need these things, yes. But we also need God’s word… His grace and His guidance are not simply nice options… they are essential for us if we are to find real life as His children, and not to wander through life searching in vain for what only God Himself can satisfy.
 
For his second temptation, the evil one brought Jesus up to the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem… and told Him to throw Himself down and prove to everyone, Jesus included, that He really is God’s beloved Son, even quoting Scripture to make this sound like an act of faith… but all the while, the tempter was just sowing doubt… trying to undermine God’s clear affirmation of Jesus’ true identity declared at His baptism… and trying to drive a wedge between Father and Son, calling for some other proof instead of taking the LORD at His word.
 
And again, Jesus responds by referring to the Torah, Deuteronomy 6:16-18, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you…”
 
Rather than try to make the Father prove Himself on Jesus’ terms, Christ practiced faithfulness by doing “what is right and good in the sight of the Lord’’, instead of seeking what seemed right in His own eyes. No room was allowed for twisting the Scriptures to pursue His own agenda apart from God’s ways… just humble dedication to the One He loved, and lived to follow with all of His heart.
 
Finally, the gloves come off, and the tempter lays all his cards down on the table. Matthew 4:8 “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
 
All the world and all its splendor… yours… all you need to do is give yourself to the devil.
 
There are lots of people who have taken up this offer over the years. Maybe not in such an obvious, back and forth conversation with an agent of spiritual evil… but with the same compromises being made… and the grand expectations to receive all that one could desire… if they will just turn their backs on the Living God, and turn their lives over to the ways of darkness instead.
 
The worst is when God’s own people fall into this trap, handing over our full allegiance to the Living God, and His ways in exchange for things like security… influence… possessions, accomplished agendas and political power… setting aside God’s commandments, all while proclaiming to the world that we are faithfully serving His good Kingdom. []
 
But the irony of this third temptation that Jesus faced, is that everything was to be His already! After all, Jesus is the beloved, eternal Son of God, destined to reign as King of Kings at the Father’s right hand forever.
 
But the path to this eternal Kingdom would first lead Jesus to the cross… to again be called on to faithfully endure fierce trials, and betrayal, and abandonment… torture, and death. To be the true Saviour King of the world, Jesus would need to suffer and die to set us sinners free.  
 
And so, His third temptation was to bypass all this suffering… to turn His allegiance over to the devil, and receive everything right then. To seize for Himself the chance to rule ‘like’ God but without having to humble Himself, and learn obedience conforming His will to the Father’s holy ways. The devil tells Jesus He can ‘have it all’ without the hard work of faithfulness, and righteousness, and the steadfast love that’s willing to suffer to seek and to save the lost.

But in response, Jesus turns to the tempter and says:  “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’” (Matthew 4:9-10).
When push comes to shove, Jesus shows there is nothing in the world the devil can offer that will get Him to turn His back on His Father.
 
But what about us? Does this third temptation pull at our hearts today?
Are there ways you and I are tempted to take hold of something in this life that would mean refusing to trust God, and resisting the calling to walk in His holy ways?
 
If so, we’re certainly not alone. The devil is hard at work bending many ears these days, as he has been since day one. And yet, when we hear these dark whispers, offering us our desires in exchange for our faithfulness, we must recall that the evil one offers us nothing good that the Living God has not already exceeded.
 
While wandering in the desert for forty years, Israel had already been offered far more than they could have asked for or imagined while they were suffering as slaves in Egypt. The LORD graciously set them free, and was with them every step of the way… leading them into a whole new life of blessings and freedom in the Promised Land as God’s own beloved children. 
 
And as Christians today, we have already been offered the new life of God as well… a new identity as God’s own beloved adopted children… invited to share an eternal and blessed life with one another, and our Saviour King. And through the Holy Spirit, the LORD is with us every step of the way too… leading us through our own wildernesses, and times of trial… our own seasons of learning to live each day by faith, to trust that God loves us, and wants us to grow more and more like Him. 
 
But what hope do we really have of passing the test?
 
Our hope cannot be in our own faithfulness… but in Jesus Christ… the faithful One who passed the test for us and gives His life of complete obedience as a free gift of grace. 
 
The hope for all of humanity’s story falls on the shoulders of Jesus. Where we all stumble and fall, Jesus alone remains true and completely endures the test of faithfulness. And through His faithfulness, God has graciously opened the door wide for the rest of us to find new life in Him… to be received as Christ’s new brothers and sisters, saved by all that He’s done for us… and offered to us as a free gift of love.
 
But this free gift of Christ’s saving faithfulness is not given to us so that we can avoid trying to be faithful ourselves.
It’s not like that at all. This free gift is given to save us, and faithfully led us through the wilderness… no longer alone, but completely confident in God’s sustaining grace and steadfast love every step of the way, and even when we still stumble and fall.
 
Because of the faithfulness of Jesus, we can see what true faithfulness looks like… and spend our days following the One who finally got it right.! Learning from Him how to be God’s faithful children too, and leaning on His grace when we fall.
 
Lent reminds us that Jesus our Saviour endured all our temptations… and He has overcome them so that with His help… with His own Spirit at work in us, we can now begin to overcome them too. We can now follow Him in faith, trusting in His grace and love, and learning from Him how to walk in God’s good ways… as a child learns to become more and more like the parent who constantly and faithfully cares for them.
 
But Lent also reminds us that Jesus our Saviour does not lead us away from the wilderness… He leads us through it. In faithful love, He leads us steadily onward to the cross… where our faith in Him will no doubt be tested, but where God’s own faithfulness and saving love is made known beyond measure to those who believe.
 
So then, as we begin this journey through Lent, walking together with Jesus to the cross… may we place our trust in our heavenly Father’s great mercy and sustaining grace, even when we face times of deep longing. May we seek out the comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit, especially when we feel uncertain and afraid. And may we cling to the steadfast love of Jesus Christ, our faithful brother, offering our own wholehearted devotion to our Saviour King, who leads us into life. Amen.