Thoughts for the Day

Luke 4:1-2 Jesus, full of the Holy spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.  He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of the time he was hungry.

I’ve made no topical references of late, partly because I try to write a few days ahead, and partly I’m conscious of writing about the anchor of our hope, which remains firm despite whatever goes on in the world.  Nevertheless, today we reach a point that does connect with our present conditions, Jesus’s self-isolation in the desert.  So often these verses are read as the preamble to the three specific temptations that the gospels record, but it is worth dwelling on them.  First, I note that Jesus was ‘full of the Holy Spirit’.  He was fired up and empowered for ministry, and yet the Spirit immediately led him into the desert.  What for?  Certainly not expressly for him to be tempted.  I’m guessing it was for a time of further preparation for ministry, a time of deep meditation (arguably including those early chapters of Deuteronomy from which he rebutted the devil’s recorded temptations).  Evidently, being “full of the Holy Spirit” is not all that we require!  Secondly, I note the forty days.  As I contemplate the prospects of self-isolation I may now be facing, I know that Jesus knew isolation beyond anything I will experience.  And perhaps I would do well to spend time in deep meditation too.  Thirdly, I note that he was tempted for the whole forty days.  Empowered as he was, Jesus knew temptation daily … and overcame it.  And by that same indwelling Spirit we too can overcome.