Reading Matthew 4, Pastor Todd points out that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where the devil tempted Him, so testing and temptation can happen in the very same moment. He unpacks the three temptations Jesus faced: self-sufficiency, the pull to provide for ourselves instead of trusting God, pictured in mercenaries who got baptized with one sword-holding arm still raised out of the water. Recklessness, jumping into jobs and relationships without God and then asking Him to bail us out. And the integrity temptation, sacrificing what is right for the sake of accomplishment, which he confessed hit him over whether to leave a note after backing into a parked car. Jesus passed each test the same way, with three words, "it is written," the Word already buried in His heart. Then Pastor Todd found a fourth and subtler test, the identity temptation, hidden in the devil's repeated line, "if you are the Son of God," daring Jesus to prove who He was.

Jesus did not need to prove anything, because just one chapter earlier the Father had spoken over Him at His baptism, "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," a preceding word He was still living on before He had done a single miracle. That is the word for us too: we are children of God not because we earned it, but because He spoke it over us. Pastor Todd said this message is less about what we do than what we receive, and he showed it through the prodigal son, who failed every temptation and rehearsed a speech to come home as a hired servant, only for the father to interrupt him and call for the robe, the ring, and the shoes of a son. God loves us so much that He will interrupt our mess rather than let us throw away our sonship. So when you fail, and you will, do not hide it the way a scared child hides a broken thing at the back of a drawer. Bring it home, remember who you were always meant to be, and keep getting back up, because there is no righteousness in falling, but there is always righteousness in getting up one more time.