Day 2 – Matthew 4:1-11

After establishing Jesus as King, Matthew takes us on an unexpected turn. In the wilderness, Jesus chooses to endure fierce hunger and thirst for 40 days. And when He is at His weakest, Satan comes to tempt Him. Jesus’ temptations are all centered on His power – to turn stones to bread, to call on angels to serve Him and to rule over all the earth. He could have done anything Satan tempted Him to do, but instead Jesus shows what kind of King He truly is. Absolute power did not corrupt Him at all. He resisted what must have been enormous temptation for the sake of fulfilling God’s larger purposes for Him. Our lesson, however, is not to resist temptation like Jesus did. Our lesson is to realize that Jesus faced temptation, just like us, and never succumbed, just not like us. So when He died, He died as an innocent so that we might be saved. That’s why we swear our allegiance to Him as our King. Offer a prayer of praise to Christ our King today.