Over the past month, I have been researching and preaching on Jesus’ temptation in the desert in Matthew 4. The story takes place right after Jesus is baptized, and God proclaims that Jesus is His son. From the baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where he fasted and prayed for 40 days before he was tempted by Satan in various ways. There are three temptations and each is loaded with significance. However, for this article, I want to zero in on one specific aspect. In each temptation Satan calls into question Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. In the first two, he says it outright: “If you are really the Son of God.” In the third, he offers him all of the nations in the world, which God had already promised him in the Psalm Jesus quoted at the baptism in chapter 3. Satan sows doubt that Christ was entitled to or would receive what God promised him as the Son. It’s a big deal that all three temptations were an attack on Jesus’ identity.
I would argue that a lot of the temptations we experience as followers of Jesus are rooted in forgetting our identities as his people. This is a major theme throughout the Bible: how God deals with his people. A large swath of the Old Testament laws serve the purpose of reminding the Jews who they are as his people. There are all sorts of daily habits and prayers that are recited morning and night as a reminder of who they are. Their identity was supposed to be rooted in their relationship with God. I believe that this is the reason why Jesus responds the way he does to Satan’s temptations. When Satan attacks his identity, Jesus responds by quoting verses from the book of Deuteronomy. Specifically, all three quotes are from chapter 6 and chapter 8. These chapters are part of a sermon Moses preached to the people about their identity as God’s people and how it was vital to remind themselves every day. God commanded his people to go back and remember who they were in their relationships, conversations, even going as far as hanging them on their doorframes as a reminder when they come and go from their homes. Their identity as God’s chosen people was supposed to be the guide for their lives, and they reviewed it constantly. You see similar things in our world. Farmers and ranchers discuss the intricacies of their work and lives constantly. They watch the calendar and weather reports religiously. Their music and reading material emphasizes long held values. They wear farmer shirts. Their kids play with farm themed toys. They even play farm themed games on their phones.
We see the same direction for Christians as they face temptation, try to grow spiritually, and become new people in Christ. For example, Romans 6 tells us that we are a new creation in Christ, having died to our old, sinful selves. As new people in Christ, we have died to sin. This is just one example. The New Testament is loaded with directions to return to our identity in Christ as the means of overcoming sin. We are to spend time with other believers, discuss Jesus and the Word, pray, read the Bible, worship, serve, and do all manner of other things to go back to our identity in Jesus. It’s not unlike the farmers, who live and breathe their work. We are to do the same.
Our identity in Christ is something we “walk in” according to the Bible. This means we live it daily. It is how we overcome sin and temptation.
