“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt.4:1).   The word “then” connects the temptation of Jesus to His baptism in the preceding verses. After being baptized by John in the Jordan river, the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness (see also Mark 1:12) and temps the Son of God with three temptations. The term “wilderness” reminds us of Israel’s failings prior her entrance into the Promise Land. She complained about food, put G

“Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt.3:15).   Luther writes “do you think it was a joke that the heavens opened when Christ was baptized, that the Holy Spirit descended visibly, and that the divine glory and majesty were manifested everywhere?” (Large Catechism, “Baptism” 21).   God’s approval shines in the baptism of His only begotten Son, as Luther also points out: “God Himself has honored it by both words and deeds and

“A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more” (Matt.2:18).   This verse from Jeremiah 31:15 is fulfilled in the slaughter by Herod over his terrific fear of Jesus, the One born “King of the Jews” (Matt.2:2). The deranged King unleashes a murderous rampage on all male children in Bethlehem and its surrounding districts two years old and under. His rage has no bounds, j