Ash Wednesday, 40-day Easter Journey – Day 1

Jesus in the Wilderness

Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Deut. 8:3) Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God throw yourself down for it is written, “He will give his angels charge concerning you” (Ps. 91:11); and “On their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.” (Ps. 91:12)  Jesus said to him, “On the other hand it is written, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 6:16) 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 things will I give you, if you fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Deut. 6:13) Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Right before starting his ministry, Jesus retreats to the wilderness to pray and fast for 40 days and 40 nights. It says after the 40 days “He became hungry.”  It was at His weak point that Satan comes to Him and tempts Him. And not only does he tempt Jesus, but he uses scripture to do it – taking it out of context to try and lure Jesus into sinning. Satan is the Father of Lies and sometimes does it by starting with the truth. As we see though, Jesus is well-versed in the scripture and responds with scripture Himself, showing the devil that he cannot use God’s word against Jesus.

One of the scriptures Jesus uses is from Deuteronomy 8:3 where Moses is reminding the Israelites about the goodness of what the Lord has done for them bringing them out of Egypt. He tells them that God provided manna from heaven when they were hungry – so much of it that it was a reminder that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Food gives us our daily sustenance, but what really sustains our hearts and souls is the Word of God. It‘s important to learn scripture in its context, how it applies to us and what it tells us about God.

Activity: Print out copies of Deuteronomy 8:3 and cut them into small strips (think fortune cookies). Buy premade crescent roll dough in a can (like Pillsbury). Roll paper into the dough and bake according to package directions. Serve the bread to the children asking them to break it open before eating. You can have the children help you make it or have it ready for an ah-ha moment when they realize scripture is inside.

1. Print and cut out verse. Fold in half twice and place on wide end of dough. (verse downloadable here)

2. Roll into crescent shape and bake according to package directions.

3. When kids open rolls, scripture should be in the middle.

4. Show them that man cannot live only on bread.