Remembering Whose We Are - Part 1
- admin
- Jan 23
- 3 min read

The water from his baptism in the Jordan River evaporated quickly in the hot, dry Judean desert air. Jesus was not on his way to where the action was in crowded Jerusalem.
Neither was He walking in the direction of the hills of Galilee where the sea and the familiar little towns were. Surprisingly, Jesus was heading out to the desert, a barren, wild place – for what purpose?
There seemed to be a measure of compulsion in the way Jesus was directed towards the lonely hills in the desert. Matthew says that He “was led by the Spirit” while Mark uses more stark language: “At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert” (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12).
It was as if Jesus had the weight of history on His shoulders. This was at least the third take of a familiar scene.
The first time was when the ancient Israelites stepped on the moist seabed of the Red Sea as they walked nervously from shore to shore, mindful of the wall of water on either side of them. But they stepped from a miracle into a mess, for though God assured them of His presence and providence, Israel gave in to their rebellious passions and sinned against God. They wandered around the desert dunes and hills for 40 long years. A whole generation spent its lifetime in disobedient failure and expired there.
The second similar scene was when the new generation of Israelites miraculously crossed the river Jordan under Joshua’s leadership to claim the Promised Land. With the desert behind them, Israel’s eyes were on the rich oasis of Jericho before them, and the city fell in an exhilarating moment of faith. However, the story after that was a mixture of success and failure, of faith and unfaithfulness. The book of Judges tells the sordid story of how far God’s people could fall.
This time, Jesus, as the new Israelite, walked into the desert to carve a new history. The backdrop was familiar. Jesus fasted for 40 days, each day perhaps representing a year spent by the Israelites wandering in the desert.
Satan tempted Jesus, doing his best to have the old history repeated. The basic thrust of Satan’s temptation was to make Jesus accept a distorted identity.
Jesus had just been baptised in the Jordan, when the Father’s voice declared, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). As Jesus ventured further into the desert, perhaps He could hear the words quietly echoing round the hills – “You are my Son, my Son …”
Then suddenly, Satan’s silky voice interrupted. “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread” (Matthew 4:3). How devious of Satan. He did not directly challenge the identity of Jesus, but he suggested a distorted alternative by tempting Jesus to stop talking to the Father and start talking to a stone!
He uses the same tactic in every act of idolatry whether it is directed at stones, strategies or slogans. Jesus, the One who said that His food was to do the will of the Father and to finish His work ( John 4:34) refused to listen to the diabolical suggestion and refuted it with Scripture. It is better to be hungry and obedient than to be satisfied but disobedient.
Discussion Questions:
Between our baptism and our ministry lie many temptations. Think of some of them and discuss how they provide real challenges to Christians. How can we be on guard against them?
What can we learn from Jesus on how to deal with our temptations? The temptations that seem to sound biblical or religious are particularly dangerous. Can you think of examples of such temptations faced by Christians and Christian workers? How are people seduced into talking to ‘stones’ instead of talking
to God?

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