A Hungry God

"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for 40 days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them He was hungry." Luke 4: 1-2

This passage gets (at least for me) to the heart of Jesus and His love for us. Technically speaking, as far as the economics of our salvation goes, the bare minimum required was for Jesus, the Son of God to bear our flesh, live a perfect sin-free life, die on the cross for our sins, and then rise from the dead. This incredibly humbling act of grace earns for us by faith our salvation. It was really all that was required.

Jesus however, did more than the bare minimum.

God himself, not only took on our flesh, but He also took on every possible form of suffering that comes with being a human hip deep in a sinful world. His journey to the cross began not with a coronation or pep rally - but with a 40 day journey of suffering in the desert. God willingly walked towards difficulty, and in an amazing turn of events, He did not use His might to immediately snuff it out - rather, He took it all.

He suffered temptation, the likes of which we could only imagine, and He forced Himself to know and experience hunger. And all of this suffering took place, not at the park, the mall, or the golf course, but in the loneliness of the desert. He allowed the devil to sock Him with his best punch, without any evident defense. God suffered.

So why did Jesus suffer? Why did He do more than the bare minimum?

Out of His great love for us. Whenever we must endure temptation, whenever we are hungry, whenever we must struggle through the desert - know this: We are loved, and carried, and strengthened by one who has gone before us. Jesus fully understands how we feel and what we're going through. Jesus did more than was needed because He wanted to be able to love you as much as He possibly could.

The God who loves you is a hungry God.

Be God's, Scott