2026 Reading Plan Reflections - Day 5

Immediately after Jesus’ baptism, Matthew tells us, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

Wait… what?

Yes. The Spirit who descended like a dove now leads Jesus into a place of hunger, isolation, and testing. No applause. No platform. Just wilderness.

And yet, this passage is not just confrontational—it’s invitational.

That detail matters. As Wesleyans, we hold firmly that Jesus is fully divine and fully human. The temptations of Matthew 4 are not symbolic or staged. They are real. Jesus feels hunger. He feels pressure. He faces the pull to take shortcuts, to use power for himself, to prove his identity on his own terms. This is not playacting—it’s obedience under fire.

And notice the timing. Jesus has just heard the Father’s voice: “This is my Son, whom I love.” The affirmation comes first. The testing follows immediately. That pattern is painfully familiar. When we’re riding high after a clear word from God—after a calling is affirmed, a prayer answered, a season of renewal—it’s often when temptation finds us most vulnerable.

The wilderness is not a mistake. It’s preparation.

Before Jesus begins his public ministry, he must be grounded in two unshakable truths: who he is and whose he is. Every temptation begins the same way: “If you are the Son of God…” The enemy isn’t questioning Jesus’ power as much as his identity and trust. Will he grasp? Will he rush? Will he take the easy road?

Jesus refuses every shortcut. He chooses faithfulness over spectacle, obedience over control. He allows the wilderness to do its work.

James reminds us that this is how God often forms us: “The testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete” (James 1:3-4). Trials don’t create our identity—but they reveal it. This is responsible grace at work: God shaping us, and us responding with trust and obedience.

So here’s the honest question Matthew 4 puts before us:
Are your current trials driving you back to your identity in Christ—or tempting you to grasp for control?

The wilderness may not be where we want to be. But it may be exactly where the Spirit is forming us for what comes next.