"And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered" (Matthew 4:2). Of all the statements of the Bible that appear to be understatements, this one was a favorite of one of my teachers while at West Virginia School of Preaching. He was always quick to point out how simply the Holy Spirit worded certain passages, which, if mere men would have written them, they would have exhausted their vocabulary.

Another "understatement" that comes to mind is this one made by Peter shortly after Jesus' fame began to spread like wildfire in the region of Galilee, "And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee" (Mark 1:37). Remember what Jesus later said about the nature and power of his death: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32).

Truly, it is the case that all men seek after Jesus. Men, before the incarnation of Jesus, pleaded for a "mediator" (Job 9:33 NKJV) that he might "lay his hand upon us both." Jesus is the answer to that desperate call (Hebrews 7:25). Men hoped for centuries for One who could reign as King and intercede forever as Priest (Zechariah 6:13). Jesus is that Hope (Hebrews 8:1; cf. Hebrews 6:19-20). Many more have become confused (James 3:15-16), have had their spiritual eyes darkened through sin (Romans 1:21), have been bewitched by false teachings (Galatians 3:1) and cheated by empty philosophies, traditions of men and worldliness (Colossians 2:8). Jesus is the answer and satisfaction to all these.

All men are truly seeking after that which will relieve them of their perpetual insecurity; they are incomplete without Christ (Colossians 2:10). Every attempt to satisfy the flesh or the intellect in place of, and without knowledge of Christ, is a vain attempt to find fulfillment in life. Truly, even in the darkest places of the earth, all men seek for him. Our job (as Christians) is to see to it that they find him (2 Corinthians 4:3).