Israel’s wilderness region is a stark and barren place but also one rich with significance and meaning. The wilderness played a prominent role in Israel’s history: it was their home for 40 years. Instead of conquering the Promised Land as God commanded, they grumbled and complained and doubted—and so God commanded that they wander for 40 years before they were finally permitted to enter the Promised Land.

As an observant Jew, Jesus would have understood the significance of the wilderness: a place of sin and failure and punishment. And yet notice a key detail at the beginning of this account from Luke: Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Yes, Jesus spent time in the very same wilderness as the Israelites so many centuries ago. But his method of entry was quite different—and so were the results.

It’s no coincidence that God allowed Jesus to be tempted in the wilderness, and it’s certainly no coincidence that this temptation lasted for 40 days. We only hear of three temptations from the devil, but there must have been more. Despite hunger, isolation, loneliness, and vulnerability, Jesus endured. He perfectly resisted the devil’s attacks and remained faithful to his Father’s word. In 40 days, he did what Israel could not do in 40 years. He proved himself as the full and complete fulfillment of the law—in these temptations and in all the others that would come on his journey to the cross.

The book of Hebrews is rich with connections between the Old Testament and Jesus as the promised Messiah, and there’s a passage I particularly love: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). During the season of Lent, we rightly focus on Jesus’ human nature, a human nature that allowed him to suffer and die in our place. But the writer to the Hebrews also highlights another aspect of Jesus’ human nature: he has been tempted just as we are.

No matter what you are experiencing in your life—good or bad, highlights or hardships—Jesus knows. No matter how you are being tempted or how weak your faith might feel, Jesus understands. In the times of struggle, of testing, of turmoil, you can turn to your Savior: the One who underwent his own struggles and testing and turmoil, yet did not sin. Jesus’ perfect obedience in the wilderness is your perfect obedience in the stark and barren times of your life—a perfect obedience that brings the certainty of a release from all struggle one day in heaven.

In a sense, our lives are also a journey through the wilderness. This world is not our home, and we eagerly anticipate the rich and green pastures that await us. In the meantime, take comfort in your Savior’s triumph over the devil in the wilderness, and know that an even greater triumph is coming at the end of the Lenten season—a triumph that we cling tightly to throughout the wilderness of life.