Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness during which time he faced Satan's temptations. But have you ever wondered how Jesus spent the rest of his time? Did he sit in some sort of Zen pose for the bulk of those forty days? Did he wander around? Did he get bored? What did he see? What did Christ do?
Simon Smith, an illustrator from the UK, asked that question and created a series of illustrations that help us to reflect on what it must have been like for Christ to have spent forty days in the wilderness—forty days to think, forty days to attend to what was happening within and outside of himself, forty days to prepare for his ministry.
Christ had been baptized, he had heard God proclaim that he was God’s “beloved Son,” the Holy Spirit had come upon him, and then that same Holy Spirit had compelled Christ to go into the desert wilderness. Given the importance of his baptismal experience and what lay before him, it's no wonder that Christ needed forty days to get his thoughts and heart sorted.
Smith has made his illustrations free to download for use in worship. They would make great sermon illustrations when preaching on Christ’s temptations Some creatives have set them to music and created a video. How might you use them in your worship to encourage worshipers to think more deeply about this time in Christ’s life?
Smith has generously gifted these illustrations to the church; please honor that gift by including the following copyright information: —Simon Smith, ”40” © 2026 Simon Smith, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Used by permission.
Permission to use these illustrations outside of a worship context must be obtained from Simon Smith directly.
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