No matter how many times I look at this text, I come back to my first inclination: "Temptations of Ministry." Each of the temptations can be related to temptations of the individual Christian or the corporate Christian body today. In a sermon based on that theme, you might make several points which may not be obvious to the worshiper who has just heard the Gospel read orally:

1. Jesus’ temptation followed the "big" day of his Baptism when he learned his vocation. (You might even want to refer to the First Sunday after the Epiphany and the Luke 3 text.)

2. Each temptation involves that tricky little word "if" - hence, doubt as to his vocation is suggested to Jesus by the devil.

3. The devil himself presents a problem to many modern minds. That might be pause for serious consideration in …