Sunday Link – Love in The Wilderness – Matthew 4:1-11 | SL20260222

OPENING CHORUS and OPENING PRAYER

WELCOME and THANKS for joining us.

OPENING COMMENTS

Today is the First Sunday of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and renewal.
- Our theme this week is love in the wilderness.
- The selected Bible passages that support the theme are listed below.
- In Genesis 2:15–17 and 3:1–7, we remember when Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden. They chose mistrust over trust, typifying a world marked by brokenness and hiding.
- Yet Psalm 32:1–11 sings of another way: the joy of confession and the liberation of forgiveness.
- In Romans 5:12–19, Paul contrasts Adam and Christ — through one came sin and death, but through the other comes righteousness and life for all.
- In Matthew 4:1–11, we walk with Jesus into the wilderness. There he confronts temptation head-on, not by power or pride, but by trust in the Father and faithfulness to God’s word.
These readings remind us that Lent is not about self-punishment. Lent can be seen as re-entering the wilderness with Jesus. We don’t resist evil alone, but in the strength of his grace, and to walk with him toward the life he freely gives.

TRANSITION SONG

SERMON

Love in the Wilderness

Matthew 4:1–11

Matthew 4:1–11 (NKJV)	Matthew 4:1–11 (NRSVue)
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.	Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.
²And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.	He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.
³Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”	The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
⁴But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”	But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
⁵Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”	Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
⁷Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt^[test] the Lord your God.’ ”	Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”	Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you^[^{M Get behind Me}^], Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”	Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
¹¹Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.	Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

INTRODUCTION: Love and Misunderstanding

If you were an adult in 1970, you might remember the movie Love Story, starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw. The film’s most famous line is: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Now, anyone who has loved — romantic or otherwise — knows that’s not true! Real love means saying “I’m sorry” quite a lot. It means humility, forgiveness, and beginning again.

That line from “Love Story” may sound romantic. But it actually captures something important about how easily we misunderstand love. We often think of love as a feeling, or a transaction — something we earn, deserve, or maintain by our performance.

And sometimes, we bring those same misunderstandings into our relationship with God.

Lent and Love

Today is the first Sunday in Lent — a 40-day season of preparation before Easter. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and leads us toward the cross and the resurrection. For many, Lent is associated with giving things up — fasting, abstaining, or “doing without.” Some people fast from sugar, social media, or meat. Others add practices like prayer or acts of service.

Those practices can be good, but Lent is not about earning God’s approval or proving our devotion. It’s not about punishing ourselves for our sins or trying to pay God back for Jesus’ suffering.

Lent is about remembering who God is and who we are in God. It’s about returning to love — divine love, not sentimental love.

The forty days of Lent recall Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. Just as Israel wandered in the desert for forty years, Jesus enters the wilderness. He enters to face what humanity has always faced: temptation, struggle, and testing.

But this isn’t a story about willpower or moral heroism. It’s about the faithfulness of God revealed in the humanity of Jesus.

The Scene: Led by the Spirit

Matthew begins, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.”

Notice: it is the Spirit who leads Jesus into the wilderness.

This means the wilderness for Jesus was not a mistake or a detour. It was part of God’s redemptive plan. The same Spirit who descended like a dove at Jesus’ baptism now leads him into a place of hunger and desolation.

The Father’s voice had just thundered at the Jordan: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And now that beloved Son walks into loneliness, silence, and testing.

Why? Because this is what divine love looks like when it steps fully into our humanity.

The Incarnate Son, empowered by the Spirit, goes into the wilderness not to prove his love to the Father — but to reveal the Father’s love to us.

The Wilderness as a Place of Encounter

In Scripture, the wilderness is never just a backdrop; it’s a place where the boundaries between heaven and earth thin out.

Israel met God in the desert.
Moses heard God’s name from a burning bush in the wilderness.
Elijah heard God’s whisper there after the storm.

Wilderness can be thought of as a metaphor for a place or condition where everything else is stripped away, like success, distraction, comfort, and noise. And we are left face-to-face with the living God.

When Jesus enters the actual wilderness, he enters the human condition in its most vulnerable form: hungry, alone, and tempted.

And yet, even here, God’s presence is not absent. The Spirit is with him. The Father’s words of love still echo in his heart.

Three Temptations, Three Lies About Love

Matthew tells us that after forty days of fasting, Jesus is hungry — famished. And that’s when the tempter comes. The devil doesn’t begin with something obviously evil. He begins with something that sounds reasonable: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Each temptation begins with that same phrase: “If you are the Son of God.” In other words, “Prove it.”

Satan challenges not just Jesus’ hunger but his identity. He attacks the relationship between the Father and the Son — the same relationship that defines our lives.

At its core, each temptation distorts the meaning of love.

Love as Self-Sufficiency — “Turn these stones into bread.”

The first temptation is to act independently — to meet your own needs apart from the Father’s provision.

Satan’s logic is simple: If you’re really loved, why are you hungry? If you’re really the Son of God, take matters into your own hands. Fix it yourself.

Sound familiar? We face this temptation every time we believe that being loved by God means we’ll never face need, delay, or discomfort.

Jesus answers: “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

He quotes Deuteronomy 8, where Moses reminds Israel that God fed them with manna in the wilderness so they would learn to trust him. When the nation of Isreal wandered the wilderness food was scarce, but they woke every morning to find a sweet, flaky substance they could eat. They called it “manna,” bread from heaven.

Jesus refuses to turn stones into bread because he knows that his hunger doesn’t mean God has abandoned him. God will never leave us nor abandon us, and Jesus trusted this.

Love as Manipulation — “Throw yourself down.”

Next, the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and quotes Scripture, twisting Psalm 91. “He will command his angels concerning you … On their hands they will bear you up.”

The temptation this time is subtle: Make God prove his love. Force his hand. Jump and see if he catches you.

This is manipulation. The idea that relationships depend on performance is manipulation. It’s manipulation to demand that love be demonstrated under our conditions.

But Jesus refuses. “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Jesus’ love for the Father is based on who the Father is. His relationship is one of worship, not negotiation. Jesus did not need to demand proof. Love rests in trust. Jesus demonstrated that love is not coercive. God does not force us; God desires a relationship of love and trust.

Love as Transaction — “All these I will give you.”

Finally, the devil shows Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” and offers them in exchange for worship.

Here love is reduced to a bargain: I’ll give you this if you give me that.

It’s the logic of the marketplace, not heaven. It’s what drives much of human life — I’ll love you if you meet my needs, if you make me happy, if you give me what I want. But God’s love doesn’t operate by trade or reward. It’s gift, grace, and overflow.

Jesus says, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

The love between the Father and the Son is not a transaction. Jesus demonstrates for us that the love the Father has for us, his children, is not transactional either.

Jesus: The Faithfulness of God in the Flesh

In each temptation, Jesus resists not by sheer willpower but by remaining grounded in the Father’s love and the Spirit’s presence.

The Incarnation means that God doesn’t just tell us how to live faithfully — he lives faithfully for us, as one of us. Jesus isn’t simply our example in the wilderness; he is our representative.

Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeds.
Where Adam fell, Jesus stands firm.
Where the devil plants doubt, Jesus trusts.

He embodies what it looks like for a human being to live fully dependent on God.

In his victory, we see the faithfulness of the triune God at work (triune meaning consisting of three in one) —

The Father whose voice has already declared love,
The Son who lives from that love,
The Spirit who sustains that love in the wilderness.

The temptation story is not just about resisting evil. It’s about revealing love — divine love that never abandons or coerces and love that is not a transaction.

The wilderness didn’t end for Jesus when he left the desert. As a metaphor, it followed him throughout his ministry. Jesus faced the wilderness in rejection, misunderstanding, suffering, and finally the cross.

Yet through it all, he remained anchored in love.

We, too, have our wildernesses — seasons of scarcity, confusion, or pain. Times when God feels silent and temptation whispers, “You’re on your own. You can’t trust this love.” But wilderness can also be the place of transformation. It strips away illusions and teaches us to depend on the Word that sustains us.

These temptations are still alive today. We can be tempted to believe that God is not trustworthy. Maybe he will abandon us.

But Jesus turns those lies upside down. His victory in the wilderness isn’t just a moral triumph — it’s a divine revelation. It points to how we are saved. Jesus took on flesh and healed our humanity. We are in Jesus, and Jesus overcame temptation for us. We share in Jesus’ perfect trust in his Father.

The Ministry of Angels

Matthew closes the story with a quiet, beautiful sentence: “Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.”

Notice the tenderness of divine love. The Father does not leave the Son to starve. At the right moment, help arrives. The same God who allowed the testing also provides comfort.

The angels ministering to Jesus is a picture of the Spirit’s ongoing ministry in us. God’s presence attends to our weakness, nourishing us. God’s love has the last word.

A Closing Word About Lent

As we journey through Lent, remember: Lent is not about proving our devotion but participating in Jesus’ dependence on the Father.

When we fast, it’s not punishment; it’s an opening.
When we pray, it’s not performance; it’s presence.
When we give, it’s not transaction; it’s sharing in God’s generosity.

Lent isn’t about saying “I’m sorry” enough times to earn forgiveness. It’s about remembering that forgiveness is already ours and letting that forgiveness re-shape us into people of love.

The story of Jesus’ forty days is not just his story — it’s our story. It’s the story of a love that will never leave or forsake us. It’s a story of love in the wilderness.

The Incarnate Love That Transforms Us

The story of Jesus’ temptation shows us the Trinity in motion —

The Father’s love, already declared
The Spirit’s presence, leading and sustaining
The Son’s faithfulness, giving us a share in his trust

This is not a story of a contest of power but a revelation of relationship.

Jesus does not overcome the devil by divine lightning bolts but by human obedience rooted in divine love. He meets temptation not as a superhero but as one of us — showing that the love of God can be lived out in human flesh.

That is the heart of the Incarnation: God with us, God for us, God within us.

And because Christ faced temptation and triumphed in love, our wildernesses — our hungers, our doubts, and our tests — can become places of grace too.

Conclusion: Love That Cannot Be Tempted Away

In this story we see how faithful God’s love is. Satan leaves, defeated. Angels come. Love remains.

In the wilderness of Lent, and in the wildernesses of our own lives, we can trust that same love. The Father’s love is a love that neither hunger nor doubt, neither testing nor trial, can take away. There is nothing stronger than the Trinity’s love in the wilderness.

For the One who was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin, now lives within us, loving through us.

So, when you feel empty, remember: A trustworthy God holds you.

And you are loved enough to give love away. You are free to give love without fear of running out. Look for ways to serve, bless, and encourage others. Divine love is always outward flowing, always overflowing. How can we live generously this week?

God’s loving generosity has already said, “You are mine.” That love — tested, proven, and faithful — will never fail you.

Jesus, may we feel your love in the wilderness. Amen.

Small Group Discussion Questions

How long was Jesus in the wilderness?
- #
Does the number 40 ring any bells for you? Does it remind you of anything?
- number of “days” in Lent
- number of years … in the wilderness
Do you see any similarities between what the devil tried to “tempt” Jesus with compared with what Eve was tempted with?
- See the table below …

Do you see any similarities between either of those two circumstances and what we read in 1John 2:16?

Check out the table below …

In the wilderness

In the Garden

In the world

Matthew 4:3,5-6,8-9

³Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁵Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Genesis 2:6

⁶So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

that it was pleasant to the eyes,

and a tree desirable to make one wise,

she took of its fruit and ate.

She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

1 John 2:16

¹⁶For all that is in the world —

the lust of the flesh,

the lust of the eyes,

and the pride of life

— is not of the Father but is of the world.

Which of the tests that Jesus faced relates to … 1) lust of the flesh … 2) lust of the eyes … and 3) pride of life ?
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
What do Jesus’ responses to Satan reveal about his relationship with the Father?
What, if any, comfort do you get from knowing that Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations?
- If we were in Christ, then what Jesus did was for us … So, we share in Christ’s victory and Christ’s overcoming.
Have you ever fasted? What was it like?
- Yes.
- Not enjoyable … BUT helpful, physically … Still trying to figure out how it was helpful spiritually.
- Maybe it would be easier to figure out how fasting can help us spiritually IF we fasted from things that affect our minds (like Social Media)
What if we lived as if we were loved enough to give love away? What might that look like in our community?
- Loving our neighbours would be easier, I think.
- Being more friendly to more people … being less judgmental (less quick to judge others)

COMMUNION

Matthew 4:1-3,4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

⁴But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

John 6:25-58 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

²⁸Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

³⁰Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³²Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

³⁵And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ³⁶But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. ³⁷All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

⁴¹The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴²And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Do not murmur among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

⁵²The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸This is the bread which came down from heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Matthew 26:26–29, Mark 14:22–25, Luke 22:14–20 , 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

“Take, eat; this is My body.” ²⁷Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

“Take, eat; this is My body.” … Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.

He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” … “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me … This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

BLESSING OF EMBLEMS

PARTAKING OF EMBLEMS

CLOSING SONG

CLOSING PRAYER

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply