1st Sunday in Lent - Matthew 4:1-11

The True Israelite (Click on the picture to see it large)

Lectionary Sketch of the Week - 1st Sunday in Lent
Matthew 4:1-11

Above is my depiction of Jesus' temptation in the desert. This sketch pulls double-duty for lectionary sketch of the week and a project that involves proposals for illuminated manuscripts that show Jesus' fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. The temptation in the desert is one of the many examples that show Jesus to be the true Israelite. Behind him is Israel led by Moses. When they were in the desert, they fell prey to temptations and failed to trust God's Word. Here now is the Israelite that is without sin; He who is perfectly faithful to the Word of God. As the devil shows him the extent of the world that he would give him if he just bowed down and worshiped him, Jesus looks off in the distance to the cross. It is the way, not of vain glory, but of suffering and death. He, alone, is the one who is faithful and righteous. He is the one who has undergone temptation and triumphed for Israel. If we think that this was easy, we would be mistaken. This is the greatest temptation that mankind has ever known. Think about the temptation to take the easy way out, to avoid suffering and death. But our Lord's faithfulness and love for us led him to choose the way of the cross. In His faithfulness, God raised him from the dead. So that all who are baptized into Him, have been baptized into his death and resurrection. They have become the new Israel. Israel is now defined, not by ethnicity or ancestry, but those whom the Lord has called in Jesus. We, as the new Israel, follow him into his death and newness of life in our Baptism. Because of that we now are given a way out of every temptation because our Lord has overcome the greatest of all temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13). He once told His disciples, "In the world you will have tribulations, but take heart, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Temptations and trials are real for us today, but take heart, our Lord has overcome them all. 

Lord, Grant us the strength in your Holy Spirit in the sight of every temptation to trust your promises to us.