We Have Nothing to Offer the One Who Offers Us Everything

by Jared C. Wilson March 30, 2015

1. I'm a complete idiot.
2. My future's incredibly bright.
3. Anyone can get in on this.

—Ray Ortlund, The Immanuel Church Mantra

In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, first with that bread we're always hungering for. And Jesus is certainly hungry. But his eyes are not on signs but on the signified. Second, then, the Devil tells the Lord to throw himself off the temple and into the arms of the angels. Is this religious self-interest not the leaven of the Pharisees? Jesus, wary of this leaven, refuses. So the tempter offers Jesus the world, the leaven of Herod. And where Adam and Eve failed, Christ succeeds. He does not use the world's wisdom to persevere, for if he did, he would certainly stuff his face, take the plunge, and seek the greedy gain. Instead, the embodiment of wisdom walks by faith and puts wickedness to shame.

And he does all of this to save his stupid friends who cannot see it to do it themselves. It is for this reason that Paul begins his great gospel proclamation in 1 Corinthians 15 with, "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you" (v. 1).

Do you not yet understand? Is your heart hard? Jesus is specializing in complete idiots! He specifically prefers them. The future of those yahoos in the boat scratching their heads about the forgotten bread is, despite themselves, incredibly bright.
And because Jesus specializes in enlightening the foolish and strengthening the weak, anyone can get in on this.

If you look to Jesus, the bread of life, and ask him to satisfy your hunger, he will not give you a stone. He will give you himself. Let us then stop begging for signs and start beholding Jesus.

There is one great sign that you are loved more than you thought. It is the cross. And there is a still further sign that you will live in this love forever. It is the empty tomb.

Come, you who hunger, bring your nothingness and trade it for the abundant wine and bread of Jesus Christ.

(This is an adapted exerpt from The Wonder-Working God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Miracles)