on the bread of life
by GW friend Rachel Hinote
When Jesus quoted scripture in reply to the half-truth of the tempter, his words served not only as defense for himself, but also as a resounding reminder for us. After forty days of not eating a morsel of food or tasting a drop of drink, wandering in the wilderness alone, bread seems like a pretty reasonable suggestion. It wouldn’t have been difficult to convince most humans that God would want his beloved Son not to die in relative obscurity of avoidable malnutrition… and yet, Jesus says that bread wasn’t what he needed to truly live. His sights were set on something much bigger than the discomfort of his present situation.
There is precious insight found in the details given immediately before this exchange amidst darkness and Light: Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil.” (Find this account in chapter 4 of Luke’s Gospel). The original Greek here says that Jesus was led by the Spirit IN the wilderness for forty days. Not simply that he was led INTO the wilderness and then left to wander and wait.
He did not take a single parched breath or heavy footfall alone. He was there for a reason: a day for each of Israel’s forty years- tempted as humankind had been by the pain & fear of times of want, and by the allure of the power & comfort that come with empire. Fully man, he was tempted; fully God, he was not deceived.
This same Spirit now lives in us, brother and sister. Before you reach for the thing in this world that could alleviate your discomfort, pause and discern with intention what the Spirit has led you into distress to accomplish. I don’t say this to increase moral striving or to shame you for the times the temporal has won; I am right here with you. I say it to reassure us all that he is SO GOOD. The closer to him we can draw- the more we can recognize him working in even the most uncomfortable of seasons and know that he is trustworthy, the more we will know him.
Remember– he has not simply led you into the wilderness. He is leading you IN the wilderness. Reach out and take his nail-scarred hand. He is near, and HE is the bread of life.
