What do you do when following God leads you straight into the wilderness?

Immediately after Jesus is baptized and the Father declares, “This is my dearly loved Son,” Matthew 4 tells us something we might not expect:

Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

For 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus fasts. He's hungry. He's physically weak. He's alone.

And then Satan comes.

In Episode 13 of Remember Who The King Is, Chad Muncy, Donnie Prince, and Mark Berry walk through the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4 and uncover some powerful lessons about temptation, suffering, spiritual warfare, Scripture, and what it actually looks like to remain faithful when life gets hard.

Satan tempts Jesus three different times.

Turn these stones into bread.

Throw Yourself from the temple.

Bow down and I'll give You the kingdoms of the world.

But each time Jesus responds the same way:

With the Word of God.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why Jesus was led into the wilderness immediately after His baptism
• The significance of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness
• Why following God doesn't guarantee an easy life
• What Jesus' temptation teaches us about our own temptations
• How Satan attacks when we're vulnerable
• Why Jesus responded to Satan with Scripture
• The importance of knowing God's Word before the battle comes
• Why Christians shouldn't be surprised by trials and hardship
• The danger of assuming suffering means someone has done something wrong
• Job, suffering, and remaining faithful when life doesn't make sense
• Why prosperity-gospel teaching doesn't match what we see in the life of Jesus
• How Satan can twist Scripture for his own purposes
• The "bait and switch" of temptation
• Why we need compassion instead of judgment when someone is walking through a difficult season
• How God can use other believers to surround and care for people who are suffering
• Why preparation matters in spiritual warfare

One of the most powerful details in this passage is how Jesus fights back.

He doesn't negotiate with Satan.

He doesn't depend on emotion.

He doesn't rely on His circumstances.

He goes back to what God has already said.

Again and again:

“The Scriptures say…”

That should challenge every one of us.

Because temptation rarely announces itself ahead of time.

Hardship doesn't wait until we're prepared.

The wilderness can come when we least expect it.

And when it does, what are we going to stand on?

If we don't know God's Word, how will we recognize when truth is being twisted? If our faith is built only on good circumstances, what happens when those circumstances fall apart?

Jesus shows us a better way.

And this passage also destroys the idea that following God means everything in life will become easy.

Jesus was perfectly obedient—and still entered the wilderness.

Jesus was completely within the will of God—and still suffered.

Jesus was the Son of God—and Satan still came after Him.

So maybe the wilderness you're walking through isn't evidence that God has abandoned you.

And when someone else is suffering, maybe our first response shouldn't be judgment or trying to figure out what they did wrong.

Maybe our response should be to come alongside them.

At the end of Jesus' temptation, Matthew tells us:

“Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.”

There are people around us walking through their own wilderness right now.

Maybe God is calling us to be the ones who show up.

Open your Bible to Matthew 4:1–11 and join us for an honest conversation about temptation, suffering, spiritual warfare, standing on Scripture, and trusting God when life leads us into the wilderness.

Scripture Focus: Matthew 4:1–11
Hosts: Chad Muncy, Donnie Prince & Mark Berry

Scripture. Truth. Real life. Jesus is King.

Remember Who The King Is.

For more information about the podcast and to learn about future resources and shows, visit www.remembertheking.com