The Hungry Beloved

Reflections on Matthew 4:1-11

            He was hungry. These are the words used to describe Jesus after his 40 days in the desert. He wasn’t “spiritually recharged,” he wasn’t on a “spiritual high.” After 40 days of fasting and praying in the wilderness Jesus was hungry. Hunger, a feeling of a man, not a deity. I find when I think about Christ, I immediately think of him first as God. Yet, I am told Christ is fully God AND fully man. I think what it comes down to is it’s kind of scary to think of my savior as fully man. As I see the brokenness, the injustice, the pain all around, it isn’t a mystery whose fault it is, mans. I don’t want to think of my God as being one of these creatures, but this is where the LORD called Jesus. Fully man. Jesus’ vocation, his mission, the place he was called to be was man. The story continues… after acknowledging Christ’s vulnerability, his fatigue, the accuser comes with his tricks.

            He comes with slyness, deceit, trickery, and begins doing what he does best, slandering, and accusing. With a savvy tongue he begins business, and attempts to call Jesus away from his home, his calling. The accuser first appeals to Christ physical state, calling him away from his humanness towards the deity. A simple miracle is all the accuser asks for, besides Jesus will do plenty in the future, but Jesus resist. He knows where he is called. Defeated, the next trick is put into action attacking Jesus loneliness. If God were with you, he’d protect you. Yet again, Christ stays rooted in the Holy Scriptures, knowing his true home. In a last ditch attempt the accuser makes an attempt at man’s desire to be know by others, to be valued, to have power. Christ again, resting in his previous studying of scriptures, is ready to respond. And the accuser departs, feeling frustrated, looking for an easier target.

            The accuser works in this same way today. His plan hasn’t changed, but his cunningness is far beyond my own wisdom. The attack comes when I’m weak, tired, frustrated. This is the time I am most susceptible to listening to the lies he pours into my head. “You’re alone. God isn’t here. You’re exhausted. You’re only this. You’re only that. You’re missing out. You’re not good enough. You need more power. You’re in control.” But, I stay rooted in the beautiful gift that is the scriptures. The precious strength, the holy gem, the magnificent love story that is the Bible. I come back to MY Truth, MY vocation, MY calling here on earth, which is simply to be God’s Beloved. I am His Beloved child. Who is cared for, and dearly loved with an unconditional, passionate, redemptive love by the creator God of the cosmos. The accuser will keep coming, calling me away from my home. His timing is perfect. His lies are crafty. But I will look to the example of Christ. I will remain rooted in the absolute fact that I am covered by the steadfast love of God who redeems and restores me. I am God’s Beloved.