The Good of Giving UpSmakprov

Satisfied Hunger

When a friend invites you over for dinner, the first way to compliment them is to come hungry. Hunger involves a kind of pain. Your stomach might rumble; your head might ache. Saying no to salty snacks and sweet treats all afternoon might wear you down. Do you keep delaying your gratification until dinner? That depends on whether you trust your friend to cook something good.

If you sneak a PB&J before heading out the door, arrive fashionably late, and pick at your food, you likely did not trust the host to satisfy you at their table. You assumed dinner would be bland, meager, or both. What an insult to the host! But if you showed up at their door truly hungry, pining for dinner to start, going back for seconds and thirds until you’re stuffed—and in some cultures belching out your satisfaction—you have truly honored your friend. You came hungry and you let them satisfy you. In all likelihood, it will not be the last time you sit at that table.

Jesus has given us an open invitation to come to His house and be satisfied on Easter Sunday and beyond. That is why He referred to Himself as the Bread of Life who satisfies our hunger and the Living Water who satisfies our thirst (John 6:22–58; 7:37–39). His invitation reminds me of Isaiah’s call to “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1). Those who embrace the forty-day journey of Lent have done so because they trust Jesus is telling the truth about Himself: He is a feast for hungry people. And He was telling the truth about us: we are hungrier than we know.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. (Isa. 55:2)

Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. (John 4:13–14)

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Rev. 2:7)

And so we trekked out to the wilderness of Lent, unsatisfied on purpose, clinging to the promise of something better than the world could ever offer. So we put one weary foot in front of the other, fueled by the hope of Easter. And one glad morning we find that the journey is over. Lent has come to an end.

O God, you led your ancient people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night: Grant that we, who serve you now on earth, may come to the joy of that heavenly Jerusalem, where all tears are wiped away and where your saints forever sing your praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord.1

When we come hungry to Easter, Jesus is ready to satisfy us with a heavenly meal. The fast is over, and dinner is served. We are nourished by Jesus as Scripture is read, as the gospel is preached, as songs are played, and as communion is served. And the feasting continues in our dining rooms well after the service is over.