By Isaac Goodwin
Wanted to share something I’ve noticed while studying Jesus’ 40-day fast. Since Jesus is our model in fasting—a cool fact that’s revealed in scripture about His 40-day fast is that He was tempted during the 40 days AND after the 40 days. But the coolest part about His fast is the latter half of Matthew 4:2 and Luke 4:2. Matthew 4:2 (NASB): “And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.” Like 4:2 (NASB): “for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.” AFTER the 40-day fast, He THEN became hungry. He wasn’t hungry during the 40 days because He was so filled with the Spirit. He was so filled and provided for by the Father that He didn’t even feel the need to eat. He wasn’t hungry until He was done fasting. How to be so full of Him that we don’t even crave what we fast! We have no desire until after! Another interesting note is in the following verse for each passage—the devil tempted Jesus during the 40 days, but we hear nothing about those temptations. The temptations of Satan that are listed come AFTER Jesus’ fast when he BECOMES HUNGRY. Satan waited until after the fast to attack and bring the most challenging temptations. We don’t know what Satan tempted Jesus with during the 40 days when He wasn’t hungry—but we see Satan jump at the opportunity to tempt Jesus even further when He was hungry. When He seemed weakest and most vulnerable. We must always be on guard! As 1 Peter 5:8 (NASB) states: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The devil is always seeking to devour us and he attacks in our most vulnerable, carnal moments. How do we resist these satanic attacks and our flesh? By standing firm in our faith and trusting in the LORD that all our suffering will lead us to Himself. Suffering is guaranteed—through tests, trials, and tribulations—but He is with us and will establish us. We must humble ourselves (v. 7), cast our anxiety on Him (v. 8), and stand firm (v. 9). 1 Peter 5:9-10 (NASB) “But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
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WRITTEN BY
ISAAC GOODWIN Archives
April 2023
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