Tempted In The Desert

“He said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’

But I myself said: I have labored in vain,

I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;

yet my vindication is with the Lord,

and my reward is with my God.

And now, says the Lord,

who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,

and my God is my strength—

he says, ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant

raising up the tribes of Jacob

and restoring the protected ones of Israel.

I will also make you a light for the nations,

to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

(Isaiah 49:3–6)

On Sunday, Pastor Joe discussed the theological concept that Jesus fulfills the role of our representative as the second Adam. When we zoom out, we see that throughout the Old Testament there are many “Adam” figures who attempt—and fail—to represent humanity. One of the most significant of these figures is the collective nation of Israel.

Israel functioned in a covenant relationship with God, one established at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19–24. Israel was God’s chosen people, meant to represent a renewed relationship between God and humanity. Through their covenant relationship, we learn who God is and what He requires of humanity in order to be right before Him.

However, as we all know, Israel failed at this task. Though God promised them a land where they would dwell with Him, they repeatedly disobeyed His law and broke the covenant. One significant example occurs in Numbers 13–14, when Moses sends twelve spies into the promised land. Despite God’s promise to give them victory, ten of the spies return with a fearful and faithless report.

This results in widespread disobedience among the people, leading God to judge that generation by making them wander in the wilderness for forty years until they died off. This punishment came as a result of Israel’s failure to trust and obey God in their representative role as “Adam” figures.

Israel’s continued disobedience eventually led to exile from the land and the destruction of the temple—effectively another rupture in humanity’s relationship with God. This brings us to Christ, and to the significance of Him as the last Adam.

In our text on Sunday, we heard the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. This moment is so significant that all three Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—record it. Jesus wanders in the desert for forty days, being tempted by the devil, yet He resists temptation and prevails. In doing so, He succeeds as the last Adam, faithfully representing humanity where all others failed.

When we look at the life of Christ more broadly, we see that in His role as the last Adam, He also fulfills what Israel failed to do—namely, to keep the covenant perfectly in a way that only He could.

This begins even in Jesus’ infancy, when He is forced to flee to Egypt to escape King Herod. Matthew draws attention to this by quoting Hosea 11:1: “Out of Egypt I called my Son” (Matthew 2:15). In its original context, Hosea is clearly referring to the nation of Israel and the Exodus. So did Matthew take Scripture out of context? Our commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture requires us to answer: no.

What Matthew is doing is showing us a greater fulfillment of what the Exodus was always meant to point toward—Jesus and His work. In other words, Jesus is the true Exodus. He brings His people out of bondage and into the promised land. Egypt, often used in the Old Testament as shorthand for evil and oppression, becomes the backdrop for this deeper redemptive pattern.

As Jesus then moves forward to His baptism, He again represents His people by passing through the waters—echoing Israel’s passage through the Red Sea—not for His own sake, but for ours. This leads directly into His temptation in the wilderness.

It is no accident that Jesus enters the desert. It is no accident that He is there for forty days. Jesus is picking up the baton where Israel dropped it. Where Israel grumbled and sinned, Jesus resists temptation. Where Israel defied God’s Word, Jesus perfectly obeys it. In this way, Jesus proves Himself to be the true Israel, faithfully representing us.

What a great joy this is. If we look at Israel apart from Christ, the story is deeply discouraging. This is a people who saw God shake mountains, appear in fire and smoke, send plagues upon Egypt, and yet still failed to keep the covenant. How much less could we hope to succeed, so far removed from those events?

Yet, as Pastor Joe reminded us on Sunday, we may boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence. Jesus has kept the covenant. He has not failed. Therefore, we may rest in Him as the true Israel and the last Adam—the one who is able to bring us eternal life. This is worth celebrating as we continue our study of Luke’s Gospel.