Matthew 4:2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
One of the things you might not know about fasting is that after the first few days, you lose the hunger pains. Those pains don’t return until you have used up all your body fat. Then the body starts to consume muscle and the hunger returns.
Fasting has some great medical benefits for those who do it. It causes positive metabolic changes, including resetting the gut biome. Or at least that is what I have read. But fasting is more than a “not eating” time. Fasting is about increasing focus on the LORD.
Jesus has gone into the wilderness, a parallel action to the Israelites leaving Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. Jesus was successful with the temptations, whereas the Israelites were not. The Israelites fell into temptation almost immediately, and they failed to withstand the temptation.
Jesus, on the other hand, stands against all three temptations that are included here in Matthew. These temptations parallel those of the Garden, good for good, pleasing to the eye, desirable for gaining wisdom. John later summarizes the categories of temptation in his first letter, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”
Our text tells us that Jesus is not in the muscle burning phase of fasting, a dangerous place to be. If he doesn’t break his fast very soon, He will have serious longterm physical effects, or even death. He must break His fast. It is time.
And it is at this point that one of the most basic needs of humans pops up. He is hungry. We know this need personally. Every new parent learns to recognize the sounds of the cries of their new infant, one of those cries being “I’m hungry,” or more accurately, “My gut feels bad so make it feel better.”
Jesus knows what His hunger pains mean. And so does the devil, the tempter who drives on the scene to enter into the longstanding battle, a battle that he has already lost. His first approach in his attempts to catch Jesus off guard is focused on physical hunger.
And this is exactly where Jesus is living. He is hungry. But Jesus doesn’t fall for it. He stands strong in the LORD.
Many people fall into temptation when they are hungry, tired, or bored. When do you feel the weakest? The devil has an index card with your profile on it. He knows your weaknesses. Do you?
It is important to know when we ourselves are weak. And we all get weak. Even Jesus got hungry. Jesus had the common hunger that we all had, magnified by about 120 meals! He had fasted for forty days.
I have a hard time resisting Apple Fritters. My greatest time of temptation is on Sunday mornings when I lead a small group at church right next to the Cafe’ which serves Apple Fritters. And guess what my small group got me for a thank you gift? You got it, an Apple Fritter. Thanks a lot, guys.
The Arnold Journey 