Everyone expects a new president to have a "honeymoon."  Some think he deserves at least a few days to settle into office and undertake initiatives without confronting opposition and criticism right away.  Time will tell whether our new president enjoys a "honeymoon" or not.

Jesus did not.

Not only was our Lord not granted a gradual opening of his public ministry, he was immediately confronted with the most perilous of adversaries.  The devil wasted no time in attack.

Does it baffle you that Jesus was deliberately led to the wilderness by the Holy Spirit?  Was that remiss?  Should the Holy Spirit have "paced" Jesus better, gradually introducing Him to the difficulties of His calling?  It appears Jesus' whole ministry was placed on the line as soon as he was baptized.  No honeymoon.

It is reminiscent of Bethlehem.  There the baby Jesus was but a newborn but already Herod has a contract on his life.  No quiet period, no tranquil babyhood, no "honeymoon."  Jesus is a target from birth.  Here the same goes again. 

No sooner is Christ publicly identified at the Jordan River as the Anointed One and God's own beloved Son, He is escorted to the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, and in that broad wasteland the devil attacks.  He didn't cut Jesus any slack or give him the benefit of the doubt.  Satan didn't lay off, but immediately goes for the jugular.

I think we need to know why the devil would not permit Jesus a "honeymoon."  His interests are, and continue to be, opposite to Christ's.  The devil has no interest in negotiation, compromise, cooperation, or "reaching across the aisle."  The devil is not interested in bipartisanship.  His code, aims, and principles diametrically conflict with Jesus just as fundamentally as darkness cannot dwell with light.

This is not to say Jesus sought to appease the "other side," or meet death and the devil half way.  "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)

The reason Jesus was led into the wilderness was precisely so He would be fully armed with the Word of God for His task.  For forty days and nights our Lord set aside every matter, even the basic need for physical nutrition, in order to be immersed in Word and prayer.  Each passing day Christ in His body may have been keen to eat, but this 40-day fast was to make spiritual readiness paramount. 

Physically weakened Jesus was, but when the devil sought to make bread the trap-bait for Him and a temptation to selfishly place His own welfare above the interests of all of us, Satan seriously miscalculated.  The devil met Jesus while our Lord was in a marathon with the Spirit and Word. 

Jesus vanquished the devil's wiles by answering, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4)  The persuasion applied by our enemy was prevented by the power of God's Word.  Being nourished by the Word of God is exactly what had been happening with Jesus these 40 days.

Here was something superior to any 40-day honeymoon.  Here was Jesus Christ, in the complete harmony of God, led by the Spirit, and concentrating on the undertaking for which He came.  He is our Savior and servant, unbroken in His faithfulness to God and His dedication to us.  The time in the wilderness was not a honeymoon retreat.  It was our Lord advancing, pressing, and undertaking the onslaught against Him with the weapon of the Word.

Jesus knows a "honeymoon" is not the same as an entire marriage.  Even if we could blissfully pass through this world with unlimited delights and amusements, the "honeymoon" would finally end.  The reality of sin and death awaits.  The real work must be done.  The truth must be faced, and our Lord would never settle for anything less than meeting it all for us.

Christ would never negotiate our future.  He never compromised the plan for our redemption.  He never required our cooperation or reached across the aisle to "partner" with us.

Christ Jesus won our salvation, overwhelmed temptation, crushed the adversary, and conquered death.  There was no bipartisanship effort or teamwork.  You and I are certain of our salvation because Christ did it all.  Everything!

Because He has, you and I enjoy something infinitely better than a honeymoon or intermission between birth and death.  We have no wilderness to cross, no opponent to fear, no hunger to endure.  We have been married to the Lamb and given paradise as home, not for 40 days or 400 lifetimes, but forever.