Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13
The conversation in Luke is a spiritual debate. The suggestions were legitimate suggestions! Earthly sustenance; making sure that God loves you; material satisfaction and using all this power to care for others.
But the instant fix is not going to be part of the toolkit of the newly baptised Jesus. Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He is hungry, he has fasted for 40 days, and the rocks around him start to look like loaves of bread. And he is tempted - we can only be tempted by what we see as possible for us to have and good people are tempted by good things - to turn a stone into a loaf of bread.
Why not do it for himself and for others? What a gift to bless a hungry world! There were plenty of people on the breadline in Jesus’ world.
But was this his task? He turns and challenges the tempter, “one does not live by bread alone”. Jesus is hungry and lives among people who are in need, yet he says there is something even more essential than food for life.
Food is basic for our survival, but the temptation to only deal with the physical needs and ignore our deep spiritual needs is great.
When I was active in Women’s Refuge we provided a place of safety. Emergency food, shelter and clothing were the first needs. But those who came needed to deal with the constant fear which was not going to vanish overnight. This is a spiritual struggle and those who could not trust anymore had to learn to trust again to live. Often everyone in their lives had let them down.
So where could they find the bread which fed their emptiness?
And where have we found it and what have we shared?
Rev Margaret Anne Low
The conversation in Luke is a spiritual debate. The suggestions were legitimate suggestions! Earthly sustenance; making sure that God loves you; material satisfaction and using all this power to care for others.
But the instant fix is not going to be part of the toolkit of the newly baptised Jesus. Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He is hungry, he has fasted for 40 days, and the rocks around him start to look like loaves of bread. And he is tempted - we can only be tempted by what we see as possible for us to have and good people are tempted by good things - to turn a stone into a loaf of bread.
Why not do it for himself and for others? What a gift to bless a hungry world! There were plenty of people on the breadline in Jesus’ world.
But was this his task? He turns and challenges the tempter, “one does not live by bread alone”. Jesus is hungry and lives among people who are in need, yet he says there is something even more essential than food for life.
Food is basic for our survival, but the temptation to only deal with the physical needs and ignore our deep spiritual needs is great.
When I was active in Women’s Refuge we provided a place of safety. Emergency food, shelter and clothing were the first needs. But those who came needed to deal with the constant fear which was not going to vanish overnight. This is a spiritual struggle and those who could not trust anymore had to learn to trust again to live. Often everyone in their lives had let them down.
So where could they find the bread which fed their emptiness?
And where have we found it and what have we shared?
Rev Margaret Anne Low
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