He Became Very Hungry

HE BECAME VERY HUNGRY

Begin by taking a few breaths and paying attention to the air moving in and out of your lungs and mouth. Notice where you feel tension or discomfort in your body. To the extent you are able, try to relax, let the chair you are sitting in fully support your body, and release the tension as you breathe deeply.

a prayer to open

Here I am, Lord, in my tired, aging, hurting, wondrous body.

Open my heart to you now. You are my High Priest who knows.

Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”

But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.

After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,

‘People do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.

And they will hold you up with their hands

so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’”

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the LORD your God

and serve only him.’”

Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

In Jesus’ baptism, we see one of the most stunning moments of all time: the Father’s acknowledgment of Jesus as his Son, his beloved, and the affirmation of this truth by his voice and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Immediately afterward, Jesus’ body and mind are tested. He is hungry and thirsty and presumably very tired from not having eaten in forty days. He is alone. He is outside in the wilderness. The one who created all things and holds all things together is humbled by a limited human body.

• What do you think Jesus was feeling in his body during his time in the wilderness? Consider his hunger, the temperature, his aloneness, and where and how he slept.
• Reflect on the reality that God came to be with us in a body that would hunger and hurt and be uncomfortable and tired. What does this truth reveal to you about his love? What does it reveal about Jesus’ ability to identify with you?
• Reflect on the times you have been hurt, uncomfortable, or exhausted. How might your experience help you identify with and serve someone you know who is going through something similar?

Jesus Christ—

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace;

the one through whom and for whom all things were made; and

the one in whom I live and move and have my being—

you became flesh and made your dwelling among us.

And nothing—neither death nor life, angels nor demons, the present nor the future; not any powers, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation—can separate me from the love of our God, which is in you, Jesus Christ my Lord.