24 February 2026

The list of temptations which Jesus struggled with has two important things to say to the Church today. Firstly, our leadership should be shaped by the character of Jesus which shines through his failure to succumb to these temptations.

Some argue that Matthew was writing at the time when the Zealots were making a stand against the Roman Empire. They were using weapons of violence to overcome an unjustified tyranny. This was not the way of Jesus who came into the world to reconcile it to God through the love which suffers and dies.

Secondly, the Church is not called to be successful – turning stones into bread, testing God, accruing power and influence, silver and gold. Of course, there have been periods of time when the Church was conceived to be successful – medieval wealth, power and influence, Presbyterian control of civic Scotland.

One of our temptations is to be successful again by fulfilling the ‘Five Marks of Mission’ and showing the world what we are doing. But the world doesn’t need to be told what we are doing, it can see and it judges. Strenuously justifying ourselves is not the way of Christ who calls us to forget ourselves and  love others.

It is clear that we are not successful in worldly terms. We have lost influence. We have lost members. We are reducing in size. But we still trust in God that the preaching of his Word, the compassion of our hearts will be used by the Holy Spirit in unseen ways to strengthen the Church and the world. We don’t need signs to know it. Our calling is to trust God that what he says is true!