Question Response…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

We had a question regarding fasting in the comments from yesterday.  A question on Jesus’ fast.

For Jesus’ fast, the text is Matthew 4: 1-11  and Luke 4: 1-14.  In Matthew we are told…

Matthew 4: 1-2

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.”

And…

Luke 4: 1-2

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.”

I’ve taken a look at both texts and thought about it a little.  I can’t find any reason to not take the Scripture literally in that Jesus fasted an actual 40 days.  What I would pull from the text itself is the fast was most certainly Divinely assisted, the Holy Spirit directly lead Jesus.  Jesus fasted from food.  In one text it says days and nights and the other it says days.  The text does not say He did not drink water.

I think it also bears mentioning that Jesus’ fast is a mirror of Moses.

Exodus 34: 28

“So he (Moses) was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water.  And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”

In Moses’ fast, there was no food or water mentioned, but it’s good to remember that Moses was in the Presence of God the entire time.  Supernatural things were, by definition, happening.

So after Moses’ forty day fast, the Ten Commandments were delivered.  After Jesus’ forty day fast, the sermon on the mount was delivered.

Now, that being said, Daniel speaks of the physical difficulties he had with fasting and the strain it took on his body and also spoke of how the LORD upheld him with his Hand.  Our text with Jesus’ fast shows us that the fast had an effect on Jesus in that He was hungry.  Extreme fasts seem to produce extreme results, however, extreme fasts are presented through “extreme” leaders.  Truly exceptional, Biblically worthy faith and by Biblically worthy I mean worthy in the Eyes of God to be shared with the rest of creation, seem to drive the longer fasts we read of.  I also see no promise from Scripture about length of fasts.  I only see promises concerning the honesty of fasting, though it bears mentioning that length of fasts is an important thing that is listed about fasts I have found in Scripture.

I hope that helps!

Let’s shift gears a little bit.

So the supernatural.

Supernatural: (Adjective)

- Of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; of or relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit, or devil.

- Departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature; attributed to an invisible agent (such as a ghost or spirit)

Who feels uneasy about the supernatural?

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18; 5: 1-7

“Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.  For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.  Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.  So we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.  For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

There is a difference between the supernatural and the immaterial.

Immaterial: (adjective)

- Of no substantial consequence: unimportant.

- Not consisting of matter: Incorporeal.

There is an immaterial, natural component to creation.  An entire world of creatures, systems and processes, real things that have no material form.

There is a short verse that comes to mind…

1 Thessalonians 5: 19

“Do not quench the Spirit.”

When was the last time we asked ourselves if we have quenched the Holy Spirit?

So we can quench the Spirit.

Quench: (verb)

- Put out, extinguish; to put out the light or fire of; to cool suddenly by immersion; to cause to lose heat or warmth.

- To bring to an end typically by satisfying, damping, cooling, or decreasing, to terminate by or as if by destroying, eliminate; to relieve or satisfy with liquid.

I think this is a good place to start for the day.

Any other questions about fasting?

And happy waiting today!

:)