Jesus in the wilderness (Mar. 6, 2022)

READ: After Jesus was baptized, God’s Spirit led him to the wilderness away from everyone where he stayed for 40 days without food. The Evil One came near and used Jesus’s hunger to try to get him to turn a rock into bread. Jesus said no, and quoted from the Bible saying, there was more to living than simply bread.
The Evil One tried a second time, showing him a view of all the countries of the world and telling Jesus he could give him all of them to rule over. All Jesus needed to do was worship him. Again Jesus said no, and quoted from the Bible saying, we are to worship only God.
The Evil One tried one more time, and took Jesus to the top of the Temple in Jerusalem and told Jesus to make a spectacle of himself, by jumping off the building. After all, he said, the bible also says God will protect you, sending angels to catch you. Prove you’re really God’s son. And again, Jesus said no, and quoted from the Bible saying, we are not to test God.    
With that the Evil One left Jesus. And Jesus was filled with the power of God’s Spirit and he returned home and began to teach others about God’s kingdom.
(from Luke 4:1-15)  
WONDER:
I wonder what it would be like to be alone in the wilderness for such a long time?
I wonder what Jesus and God talked about while he was there in the wilderness?
I wonder how Jesus felt when the Evil One was near him?
I wonder if it was hard to say no?
I wonder what it felt like when the Spirit of God filled him?
I wonder what people thought when Jesus talked about the kingdom of God?
SAY: In this story we see Jesus resist making choices which would lead him away from following God’s hopes for his life. Even though he was by himself in the wilderness, he wasn’t really alone. God’s Spirit was with him too, helping him.
PRAY: Let’s pray. Dear God, thank you for always being near us, just as you were with Jesus when he was in the wilderness. Help us to be like him. Help us to make good choices, even when those decisions are hard. Amen.
EXTEND

• Affirmation prompt: I can make good choices. Using the art tools of your choice, create a scene of a wilderness place. As you do, talk about what Jesus experienced when he was in the wilderness. What parts of your wilderness scene remind you of God? (Prompt is from A Sanctified Art, Full to the Brim children's resources.)
• ​Read All in a Day by Cynthia Rylant, Newberry Medal winning author and illustrated by Nikki McClure. In poetic verse the book takes us through a day from the point of view of a child. What possibilities await you today? What things from past days have gone “sailing off to sea”?