DAY 15- TROY HESTER

Day 17 – March 21, 2025

Out of the Wilderness – Matthew 4:1-11

Abundance.  Power.  Invulnerability.

We want those things.  We fear being hungry, having no control, being harmed.

Jesus wanted them too.  At least his human part did.  It is part of being human, and he was fully man.

Our fear keeps us alive.  But like any good thing, it can be perverted by excess.

In the wilderness, these fears can crowd upon you.  These wants can grow intense.

That is when temptation comes.  

It hides in reason, in flattery, in deception.

Jesus was hungry.  He hadn’t eaten for days.  The Tempter reasoned: Because he was God, he need not want.  But Jesus came to feel hunger as a mortal in order to know his beloved children fully.  He must have wanted to stop his hunger.  But he did not.  Instead, he fully experienced the hunger and thirst as many of the least of his children faced every day.

Jesus was hurting.  His feet and legs were bruised and bloody from stones and brambles. On the mountains, along the canyons, the danger grew even more severe.  It didn’t have to be that way.  The Tempter reminded him he could choose to simply not feel this pain, not to risk this harm.  But he did not.  His children felt pain they could not escape.  He wanted to know how his children felt.  Fully.

Jesus was frustrated. Even now he foresaw the future.  Many of his children would turn away; refuse his message; call for his death. The Tempter offered to help.  “Leave it to me.  I can MAKE them obey!  I’m only a means to an end.”

Jesus.

Refused. 

He loved his children so much. Loving someone means letting them choose. Even if they choose to turn away.

So Jesus refused the easy way out.  Instead, he gathered followers from the rabble, healed lepers, fed the hungry, challenged religious leaders, washed feet, bore lashes, carried a cross.

That’s our example.  

That’s our path.

That’s our standard to measure our feeble attempts against.  

That’s when we realize we are powerless to measure up without His grace, forbearance, patience, forgiveness.

All we can do is strive in that direction, and rely upon that grace.

PRAYER 

God keep me humble with your examples of perfect love. God keep me hopeful with your unfailing grace.

Amen

– Troy Hester