Lesson Five - We are Prepared before Temptations
And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights,…
Such fasting as Jesus imposed on himself was of prayer, self-examination, contemplation of the work put before Him. It was for seeking direction of God for each circumstance as God would permit Him to know. It was of drawing on the wisdom of God to prepare for the battle ahead and for meditating on the Word of God, the weapon available to him for dealing with the enemy’s strategies. It was like a long revision before a major examination. Did Jesus, being the Son of God need to do this? We can safely conclude here that since He did it He needed to do it. The first lesson here is that if you become a son of God, on this earth, you are not exempted from the battle of faith. In fact your battle of faith is just about to begin. You must be prepared for taking part in the work of redemption and hold on to the end. You should prepare to go through what the Master went through, and the best example you can have is how your Master went through.
The second lesson is that of fasting’s virtues: Fasting involves depriving one’s self of physical provision in order to amass spiritual provision through communion with God. During fasting, naturally, you set yourself apart from some ordinary activities and become relatively quiet. You are therefore able to meditate on the Word of God for long, place and receive understanding of petitions. That is fasting makes us pray better, learn to accept the will of God better, and also to learn what power is derived from God the author and sustainer of life Himself rather than from food or other physical gratifications.
Whereas in this place Jesus was living fasting and prayer, in the instance of healing the lunatic, Jesus explained that prayer and fasting affords the children of God greater efficiency in dealing with the forces of darkness (Matt. 17: 14-23).
Moses fasted for forty days at receiving the Ten Commandments, Elijah fasted for forty days after being fed of God by ravens, and it seems the Apostles were in the habit of fasting (Ac. 13:2-3). The injunction of the Lord to us in tumultuous times is: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”(Ps 46:10)
Did the fasting help Jesus against the tempter? Or did it rather weaken Him and made Him vulnerable to temptation? To answer this question effectively, imagine yourself in a situation of need because you are deliberately seeking a spiritual objective. And contrast it with another situation where you are just accidentally in need. When are you morally weak?
Such fasting as Jesus imposed on himself was of prayer, self-examination, contemplation of the work put before Him. It was for seeking direction of God for each circumstance as God would permit Him to know. It was of drawing on the wisdom of God to prepare for the battle ahead and for meditating on the Word of God, the weapon available to him for dealing with the enemy’s strategies. It was like a long revision before a major examination. Did Jesus, being the Son of God need to do this? We can safely conclude here that since He did it He needed to do it. The first lesson here is that if you become a son of God, on this earth, you are not exempted from the battle of faith. In fact your battle of faith is just about to begin. You must be prepared for taking part in the work of redemption and hold on to the end. You should prepare to go through what the Master went through, and the best example you can have is how your Master went through.
The second lesson is that of fasting’s virtues: Fasting involves depriving one’s self of physical provision in order to amass spiritual provision through communion with God. During fasting, naturally, you set yourself apart from some ordinary activities and become relatively quiet. You are therefore able to meditate on the Word of God for long, place and receive understanding of petitions. That is fasting makes us pray better, learn to accept the will of God better, and also to learn what power is derived from God the author and sustainer of life Himself rather than from food or other physical gratifications.
Whereas in this place Jesus was living fasting and prayer, in the instance of healing the lunatic, Jesus explained that prayer and fasting affords the children of God greater efficiency in dealing with the forces of darkness (Matt. 17: 14-23).
Moses fasted for forty days at receiving the Ten Commandments, Elijah fasted for forty days after being fed of God by ravens, and it seems the Apostles were in the habit of fasting (Ac. 13:2-3). The injunction of the Lord to us in tumultuous times is: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”(Ps 46:10)
Did the fasting help Jesus against the tempter? Or did it rather weaken Him and made Him vulnerable to temptation? To answer this question effectively, imagine yourself in a situation of need because you are deliberately seeking a spiritual objective. And contrast it with another situation where you are just accidentally in need. When are you morally weak?
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