40 Days

We hear in our Gospel today that Jesus was driven out into the wilderness by the Spirit – we aren’t told what form that Spirit took – but Jesus probably felt in His heart a strong desire to go out into the wilderness. A desire so strong that He couldn’t have refused it even if He wanted too.

Remember – that this story that we hear in our Gospel today takes place right after His baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. And what did Jesus hear then as He came up out of the water – “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Perhaps it was that experience itself that was enough to stir in His heart the desire to spend time alone with God – His Father.

I doubt if Jesus knew what awaited Him out there in the wilderness and I am certain He was probably afraid – and why not – we are told there were wild beasts there and He was flesh and blood just like you and me.

If you cut Him He bled, He felt the heat of the noon sun and the chill of the night air, and after a long walk He would be tired and hungry just like us. I am certain He knew his humanity well – but I think He was just starting to understand His divinity.

I think that is what drove Him into the wilderness – He hoped to discover out there – something more about Himself – something more about His Father’s plan for His life.

(How often have each of us been driven – by the Spirit – to discover something new about ourselves – about our relationship with God and His plan for our lives – God dwells in each of us because Jesus said “Remain in me as I remain in you” – and how we long to discover more about that God that remains in us – and perhaps no better way that through prayer and fasting.)

Even though Jesus might have been afraid – even though He might not have known what would take place out there in the wilderness or how long He would be there – Jesus put His faith in God His Father to take care of Him – He didn’t take any food and He went alone.

We know that Jesus was there 40 days and that while there He prayed and fasted, was ministered to by Angels – and that He was tempted by Satan.

Forty days is a long time – that number 40 comes up a lot of times in the Bible – it rained for 40 days and 40 nights when God wanted to cleanse the world and start over; Moses was on the mountain of God for 40 Days and returned with the Commandments; the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years; and after His resurrection Jesus spent 40 days on earth before His Ascension.

Forty days seemed like a long enough period of time to test a person’s resolve – whether or not they have the heart, the desire to see things though to the end – whatever that might be. And on top of those 40 days of prayer and fasting, Jesus was tempted by Satan – another test of His resolve.

Now we don’t hear in Mark’s Gospel today the nature of tests Satan used – be we know from the other Gospels that the tests were these:

1. After 40 days of fasting Jesus was hungry and Satan approached Him and said – If you are the Son of God command that these stones become loaves of bread. To which Jesus replied – “It is written that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

2. Then Satan took Jesus to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the temple and said to him – If you are the Son of God throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you lest you dash your foot against a stone. To which Jesus answered: Again it is written, you shall not put the Lord you God to the test.

3. And finally, Satan took him up to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said to him “all of these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me” to which Jesus replied “Get away Satan! It is written The Lord, you God shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.

These 3 tests tell us something about Satan – he didn’t know that Jesus was the Son of God – he probably thought that Jesus was just another man – and he hoped to create fear, doubt and anxiety in Jesus by saying “if you are the Son of God”. Satan tempts Jesus and us on a physical level – with Jesus we are told it was his hunger – he appeared to Jesus after the 40 days when Jesus was hungry – with us it might be some physical handicap, disability or desire. Satan tempted Jesus to doubt and test God and he offered Jesus power and riches.

Well we know too that Jesus with withstood these temptations and that the devil left him. Jesus’ strength came from his knowledge of scripture – Jesus defeated each temptation by drawing on His knowledge of scripture – quoting passages to resist the temptation – once again a lesson for each of us when we are tempted – we too should turn to scripture for the strength to withstand it. But we shouldn’t wait – we should turn to scripture each and every day.

We also hear in our Gospel today that after His 40 days in the desert John the Baptist was arrested – and Jesus started His ministry - saying, 'This is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel’. The kingdom of God had come in the person of Jesus.

So what does all this mean to you and me? Each of us must take time from our busy lives and spend time, quality time with God our Father – in prayer – in fasting – and in scripture.

And especially during this period of Lent – 40 days before Easter – we need to reflect on those areas of our lives – those temptations we face – that we need the grace of God to overcome these temptations.

Each of us, no matter what our circumstances may be, must put our trust in God to work out all things in our lives, we must bear the crosses He has given us bravely – knowing that somehow in those crosses are our forty days of wilderness – somewhere in those crosses our resolve is being tested – and when things get difficult and we are weak and we don’t think we can go on – it is then when we are weakest that we will be strong if we only turn to Jesus.