Luke 4:1-13
The story of Scripture, much like our lives, does not take a straight path. God desires a close and trusting relationship with his people, but to build this relationship, God must do more than call us. He must redeem us; that is, he must buy us back. We have wandered away from our original intention. We have stumbled on the path. We have fallen from the dignity where God placed us.
We know this in our relationships with each other. No relationship, however positive, is free of conflict, confusion, resentment and fear. To be in a flourishing relationship means to work at reconciliation - overcoming the obstacles.
Our reading yesterday was the mysterious interruption of evil and temptation into the garden. The Bible does not spend much time explaining the why of evil. It simply acknowledges its existence in our lives, and shares with us how God plans to overcome it. In the reading yesterday there was a 'proto-gospel'... that the son of Eve would crush the head of the snake.
In today's reading, we see that God fulfills this promise but allowing His Son to become a Son of Eve, one of us, and live in the same temptations we face. Jesus is tempted into the same suspicious, conflicted relationship with God as we have. He, unlike Adam, resists and restores the rightful relationship between humanity and God.
This is the great theme of Scripture - not only that God calls us, but that he reconciles with us as well.
Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you do more than call us. Lord, you stick with us, even when we fall short of that call. Not only do you start a relationship with us, but you fight for that relationship even when we wander. Thank you for being a God who has paid the price to stay in friendship with us. Help us to fight for reconciliation in our relationships too.
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