The First Sunday in Lent
First Sunday in Lent
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Reverend Michael J. Moffitt
February 22, 2026
There Is No Middle Ground
Text: Matthew 4:1–11
Today we begin week one in the season of Lent. This time is focused on the 40 days of preparation leading up to the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning.
Lent is a time where we invite the Holy Spirit to help us focus on the message of the cross and evaluate ourselves in the light of God’s Word. It’s the time where we ask the Spirit to show us how we have compromised with the desires of the flesh instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit. We should abandon the sins that we have grown accustomed to committing and seek God’s forgiveness. We should be asking for renewed strength and a renewal of our desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today, we will briefly consider the difference between how Adam and Eve dealt with temptation in the Garden of Eden as opposed to how Jesus dealt with it in the wilderness.
In Genesis 2:16–17 God’s command was very clear and not open to discussion.
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”
In Genesis 3:1–6, Satan appeared as a snake who was very crafty. He suggests to Eve that the fruit that God had forbidden them was actually withheld because God didn’t want Adam and Eve to be like him, “Oh and by the way, God lied, you won’t die. Go ahead just take a bite and you’ll see that I’m the one telling you the truth.”
God’s first words to man revealed that he was created with the ability to choose and had the moral capacity and responsibility to be obedient. God’s prohibiting man from eating from the one tree showed that even though man was given dominion over the garden, it was God who was the heavenly King and ruler of all things. It was God who had the authority to bring the sentence of death for disobedience.
The serpent (devil) came to tempt the woman by emphasizing what God was prohibiting instead of all that God had provided. He reduced God’s command to a question and cast doubt about God’s goodness and motives.
In tempting Eve to eat of the fruit the serpent was offering the illusion that the fruit was good and would bring them freedom to be like God. He convinced her that this was what she really needed, and it would make her like God, knowing good and evil.
The serpent was suggesting to Eve that she had the right to decide for herself whether or not she agreed with God. God’s command was not ultimate but was only a point to be considered.
By disobeying God, Adam and Eve did not find freedom or become like God but instead immediately discovered what sin and judgment felt like.
They discovered that creation could never become like the creator and knowing good and evil was never the goal… intimacy with God was.
By rejecting God’s command they chose to form an allegiance with the prince of death and darkness.
“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”
One result of sin was that they were not only alienated from God but also from each other. Now they were embarrassed by their nakedness and felt the need to cover themselves and then in shame hide from God, their creator, who had been their joy and companion.
All around them in the Garden was the evidence that they could trust God and his provision, but they chose to rebel against his command and now they and all creation with them would suffer the consequences. The joy and delight of fellowship with God and the cooperation of creation in their dominion was gone.
Eve thought that her highest goal was to serve herself but found out that it was a lie. The serpent could have been sent away from the garden defeated if God’s command had been seen as the final word.
Their terrible mistake was thinking they had the right to choose between what God said and what the serpent was suggesting. That was the first sin, eating of the fruit was merely the result of the sin.
We have seen in our country what happens when men and women reject the authority of God’s Word over every area of their lives. It produces a domino effect on morality and ethics, and we are left with alienation from God and each other and a society in chaos.
Praise God that what happened in the Garden of Eden was not the end of the story for them or for us.
In our epistle reading this morning from Romans 5 the Apostle Paul writes in verse 18–19,
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Simply stated, when Adam fell all creation fell with him. Sin entered the world and was passed down from our first parents. The only hope was that God would somehow intervene and provide a way for our condemnation to be removed and a way be provided for us to return to the relationship that man once had in the Garden of Eden.
That way was provided us when Jesus Christ came and died upon the cross for our sins. Paul writes in Romans 5:15,
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one-man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
Mankind’s only hope is found in the grace of Christ’s work on the cross which is greater than the sin, judgment, and condemnation of Adam. This is God’s solution to the problem of our sin and there is no compromise.
As we come to our passage in Matthew 4, where Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, it is important to note that this follows on the heels of his Baptism. The perfect man submits to John’s baptism of repentance out of obedience to the will of his Father. Matthew 3:16–17,
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
He was totally dependent on His Father and the Holy Spirit to accomplish all that the Father had sent him to do.
With that in mind let’s look again at Matthew 4:1–4,
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is actually a closer parallel to the children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years. Listen to Numbers 14:34,
“For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.”
You may remember the story of the people of Israel coming to the Promised Land and sending spies into the land to scope it out. They came back in 40 days and all, except Joshua and Caleb, were in a panic because the people of the land were like giants. They refused to trust that God would give them victory and they grumbled against God and paid a terrible price. Now they would wander in the desert for 40 years because of their faithlessness.
As we look at the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness we must see them in the context of Israel’s refusal to enter the Promised Land in faith.
Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, but here God was inviting Israel into the land he had promised their Father Abraham. Essentially God was offering to return them to Eden where He would be their God, and they would be his people. They would once again be given the task of subduing the earth and having dominion over it, but like their first father and mother they chose disobedience to God over his blessings. They too failed the test.
Now we see Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days and nights not just praying but fasting. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to hear from God and live in his presence without distraction.
The fact that Jesus was able to go without food and water for 40 days is impressive but it also happened in the lives of Moses (Exodus 34:28) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8). It was supernatural, but not beyond human capacity when enabled by the Spirit of God. Remember that Jesus was 100% human, so it was at the point of Jesus’ weakness and hunger that the tempter shows up.
“you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Satan isn’t challenging the fact that Jesus is the Son of God—he knows that he is—and that’s why he was there. What he is tempting Jesus to do is prove that he is the Son of God and has the divine right to provide anything that he desires for himself. Jesus knows that this trial that he is experiencing comes from his Father and he will not bring an end to it but will wait for his Father’s provision.
He will also not debate with Satan as to his reasoning, but he turns to the word of God in Deuteronomy 8:3,
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
What Satan was suggesting actually made perfect sense. Doesn’t the Son of God have the right of providing for himself? Jesus shows that “what is written” makes more sense and that he will trust the word of His Father.
Look at Matthew 4:5-6,
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
Satan is crafty and decides to employ the same method of fighting as Jesus uses. He suggests that Jesus should believe “what is written” and throw himself off of the highest point of the temple which rose approximately 200 feet from the floor of the Kidron Valley.
Why should he do this? Because it is written that angels would protect him from any harm. In essence Satan was saying to Jesus, “you do believe what is written, right?” However Jesus knew that to do this would not be in obedience to the command of his Father but instead would be a challenge to God to prove his faithfulness. So he responds again with God’s word from Deuteronomy 6:16,
“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Jesus knew the word of God and how it was to be correctly applied. He knew that his Father was faithful and didn’t need to test him to prove his devotion. His word is our sure defense against the lies of the enemy.
Let’s read the final temptation of Christ in Matthew 4:8–10,
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 I will give you, if you will 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 him only shall you serve.’”
The last temptation was the greatest one because Satan was offering all the kingdoms of the world and a way to avoid the cross. He was willing to return all that he had stolen from Adam and Eve if Jesus would bow down and worship him.
Satan does have authority over this world and its governments. He wasn’t making a false offer to Jesus. God gave Adam and Eve dominion and authority over all that God had created on earth.
They were to subdue the earth and have dominion over it but instead they willingly turned it over to Satan when they turned from God’s commands. Ultimately everything thing belongs to God, but he allows Satan to function as the God of this age. 2 Corinthians 4:4, …the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
This is what Jesus came to restore. Satan doesn’t care about the kingdoms of this world. His real desire is for God himself to bow down and worship him. That has been his desire since he rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven. Jesus reveals that he is indeed the Son of God by speaking the uncompromising Word of God.
“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ Then the devil left him, and behold angels came and were ministering to him.”
The reward of Jesus’ obedience and faithfulness to His Father is seen here. Satan is cast out and God rewards the Son with refreshment and rest.
Jesus the second Adam reveals how Adam and Eve should have responded to the serpent in the Garden of Eden and how Israel should have responded to the commands of God in the wilderness.
Had they been faithful and trusted in God, his word and provision, they would have found themselves in the Land of Promise experiencing what God had promised to their father Abraham.
Jesus came to make a way for those who will surrender their lives to him and follow him obediently. The goal is the same as the reward: eternally living in the presence of God in the New Heavens and New Earth.
Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? However, the reality is that the tempter is still out there seeking to devour and turn our hearts away from God and his word. That’s why the season of Lent is so important because we intentionally focus on those areas of our hearts that are not surrendered to God and turn our focus away from him.
We should see the offer of intimacy and glory that God is offering in Christ and rejoice that we now have the hope of being restored along with all of creation. To reject God’s offer is to form an alliance with the devil and receive the reward that is to be for him and his followers—eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire.
Let’s not repeat the foolishness of Adam and Eve or Israel. Let’s turn to Christ in joyful obedience and invite others to come with us. In Jesus name, Amen!
