WHY did JESUS FAST for 40 days?

Welcome back DLM family. This week we're going to talk about Jesus' fast. Why did Jesus fast for 40 days? Matthew 4 verse 1 says, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. So the first thing we see here, is that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by Satan. Why is this important to understand? Because for the righteous requirement of the law, the eternal sacrifice, the man who can carry all our sin, needed to go through everything we do, trials, tribulations, temptations, but not sin. So Jesus had to go through all the type of temptations that we as humans do and not sin. Live a perfect life. And even today, many people are tested on how they handle certain temptations or trials. Some with no money, some with too much, some with health problems, and some with no food. Others with hormone issues. Now Jesus had no food for 40 days and 40 nights, which leaves no doubt, that Jesus at this point was very weak in His human state. Extremely weak and hungry. And you know most of us, when we get hungry, some people say hangry, angry, because we get more agitated, we get more frustrated in the flesh. So now the snake, Satan, the dragon of old, came to tempt Jesus. And these temptations now, are bigger because of the state that Jesus was in. 40 days without food. Remember Hebrews 4 verse 15 says, For we do not have a high priest, that's Jesus, who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every aspect, has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. One of the biggest tests for humankind is power. You can look at all the governments in the world. Look at what they are doing with their power. Now Jesus, of course, being 100% man, 100% God, He had to endure certain things, and not allow Him to use all His godly power. In other words, He limited Himself in many things, and here the same thing happens. Being extremely hungry, the devil comes, and he tempts Jesus with power. And the devil spoke the truth. Jesus could change it in an instant. Call His angels to give Him food, because He was so hungry, right? But that would go against the righteous requirement of the law. And what I mean here, is the righteous requirement for the law, for us to be safe, to be declared as righteous. So that Jesus could die in our place, taking our punishment for sin on Himself, while He had no sin. It is the same reason why Jesus didn't take away the pain He had to endure, the suffering He had to endure, and physically feel at the crucifixion. But He endured it as a normal human would. Verse 3 says, And the tempter came and said to Him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Now Jesus, being weak in His body, acted through the Spirit. And He said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. You see, the devil tried to use the Bible, the truth, wrongly. There's a lot of people who also do that today. They use certain Bible verses to fit in with their lifestyle. But Jesus, He answered the devil. He replied to the devil with the truth of God's Word. The meaning of truth. And He did that every time to overcome the temptations. You see, He lived and acted according to the Word, the truth, and not His feelings of hunger. A lot of people today act according to their feelings. They give in to their bodily needs, their desires. But we as children of God are different. We have the Spirit of God in us. And one of the fruit is self-control. So we can control ourselves, and not give in to our emotions. Actually, our emotions should join the Spirit. It is good to be happy, to have joy, all those things. But it follows the lead of the Holy Spirit. Now, why exactly 40 hours? It's a very interesting number, right? It might be compared to the 40 years, the Israelites spent in the wilderness, after being slaves in Egypt. And although God gave them food and water, they sinned against Him. Time and time again. But Jesus had no food for 40 days, and did not sin. So what the nation of Israel could not do, to try and obey the law of sin and death, Jesus did. Now, it's very interesting to see the last reply of Jesus. The last thing He said to the devil, when the devil tried to tempt Him to sin. Verse 10, Be gone Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. You see, Israel did not do that. They started to worship other gods, time after time. There would be a generation that worshiped God, the next one a little bit weaker, the next one more weaker as time goes on. The same as in our lives today. I mean, my generation still worships God a little bit. The generation before us, my parents, they even more, and their parents even more. But the new generation now, many people are more godless. And so it was the same for the nation of Israel. They did not obey God. They didn't stay faithful to Him. They started to worship other gods. But now through them, through men who cannot overcome the law by themselves, came the Messiah from the line of David. Judah, the tribe of Judah, the Messiah that was prophesied. God Himself in the form of man, came into our world, endured everything we endure as a human, suffered, went through temptations, as we do. He did not sin, and then He died for us on the cross. So do you understand? The trial that the Israelites went through, tested, will they worship God? Stay true to Him? They failed, time and time again, as many people do today. But Jesus the Messiah, He did not. And you see what is interesting about the number 40, it is usually used as a number for trials. A time of testing, like the nation of Israel in the desert, in the wilderness. God also caused it to rain for 40 days and 40 nights at the flood. Moses also spent 40 years in the desert, after he killed the Egyptian, before he took Israel out of Egypt. And then Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days. And 40 was the number of lashes a man was to receive, if he was guilty of a crime. Israel also served the Philistines for 40 years, before Samson helped them. Elijah also traveled to Horeb for 40 days and nights. And then, when we look at Goliath the giant, how many days did he tempt the warriors of Israel, before David killed him? You guessed it, 40. 40 days. Now, that does not mean that the 40 days, or 40 years of something, was just used symbolically in Scripture. When the Bible says it happened 40 days, or 40 years, that is what happened. But we do see that God used the number 40, and also used it in prophecies. For example, Jonah 3 verse 4, Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, Get 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. And Ezekiel 4 verse 6, You shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. 40 days I assign you, a day for each year. Now, it is interesting that God uses the number 40, as you also use the number 7. It's very interesting. But all we truly know about the reasons, for why he fasted for 40 days, was because the Spirit led him to do it, and to be tempted by Satan. And that it happened, before Jesus started his earthly ministry. Right after it, verse 17 says, From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So this time of being tempted, fasting for 40 days, prepared Jesus for his three year long ministry on earth, that changed the world forever. God might also give you trials and tribulations, so that he can work on you. He is the potter, we are the clay. So that he can turn you into what he needs you to be, to be able to handle what he has planned for you. Romans 5 verse 2 says, Through him we have also obtained access by faith, into the grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And James 1 verse 2 says, Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith, reduces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. He is the potter, and we are the clay. When was the last time you fasted? We need to look at the example left to us by Jesus himself, and the other men and women of scripture. Many of you probably do not know about Anna. Yeah, there's someone in the Bible called Anna. That's why a lot of people today are still called Anna, because from this name. Some of you are like, Who is Anna in the Bible? Read it with me. Luke 2 verse 36, And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years, from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was 84. So this was a woman who stayed true, faithful, who worshipped God until the end. Now she was 84, and this is what she did. She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting, and prayer night and day. Wow! You know, we are sometimes very quick to complain, and tell God, Why are you not answering me? Or why are you not giving me what I ask for? We humans complain about God, while we are not even willing to seriously fast, and pray to God, break through prayer about a certain issue, until he answers us. Keep on knocking, keep on asking, until he opens the door. And then when we pray, we sometimes pray with the wrong intentions. James 4 verse 2, You desire and do not have, so you murder, you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. This is especially true of the prosperity preachers, who just pray because they want to spend their health and wealth. They want to live in luxury. Verse 4 says, You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world, makes himself an enemy of God. Now, if you want to know why fasting is so very important, then watch this video here. I'll see you there. Remember to subscribe, and always remember, God loves you, and I love you too.