Good morning everyone, as I sit here finishing up my breakfast after having fasted from breakfast till lunch the previous day I can’t help but think of Jesus. Specifically the 40 days in which he wandered the wilderness, fasting after being led there By the Holy Spirit.

Until now the question that always came to my mind concerning this was “why?”

That is, why was it that the son of God had to fast for such a long period before beginning his ministry?

Not much is known of Jesus’s early life outside of his birth, and when he was teaching at the temple in Jerusalem for three days at the age of 12.

He wasn’t only teaching in fact, but astonishing people more than three times his age with the knowledge and wisdom he possessed. With this being true, the question remains… Why did he have to fast for 40 days just after being baptized at the age of 30?

It seems like the answer to this question would be very complicated, but I don’t believe it is.

While walking the Earth, Jesus was subject to the same needs, desires and temptations that we are today.

Just like us, as a child he had the protection of his parents. He had them to teach him the ways of the world concerning right and wrong. This would suffice for his early years, but just like us… It wouldn’t be enough for the spiritual weight that would be placed on his shoulders in the years to come.

For this… For his purpose… For his calling… For his destiny… It wouldn’t be his body that needed to be strengthened, but instead his spirit.

We as humans often neglect strengthening our spirits and focus on strengthening our physical bodies. This practice results in a heavily fortified temple with a weak and crumbling structure.

Our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit of God. Our bodies also house our spirits… Our souls… The essence of who we are.

If the foundation of the temple is weak, if our spiritual bones are weak… The temple will fall.

As the only begotten son of God, Jesus knew this and it is something that we, they adopted children of God must learn.

Fasting weakens the body but if it is done with the right heart and frame of mind, it feeds and strengthens the spirit.

Why do I believe Jesus fasted for 40 days? I believe he did it for the same reason that we are meant to. That reason is to both deepen and strengthen our connection with and reliance on God.

“but Jesus is God… Why would he need to strengthen his connection with himself?”

Yes, Jesus is God, but he is also man. The human part of him had to first be weakened and taught where everything it needs truly comes from. It had to be taught to rely on things unseen. It had to be taught that there was more to life than food and fulfillment of tangible physical need.

Just like our flesh.

Also, just like our flesh, it had to be taught where true power comes from.

The flesh of this earth holds absolutely no power. It is only God that holds it.

In order for us to be his tools and the conduits for his power, we must first empty ourselves and understand our need to be filled with his Holy Spirit.

So why do I believe Jesus fasted for 40 days before his ministry ever began?

So that his flesh could learn exactly who it was. It belonged to.

So that his flesh could learn exactly who it was who ran the show.

So that his flesh could learn that it had a purpose greater than own.

And so that his flesh could learn who held the power to save the world.

There is a lesson that every fast teaches when it is done the right way and this is it:

All that we need comes from God. All that we are was made by God. All that we will be was written by God. All that we will do in service to him is done through his power and his power alone.

The needs of our flesh do not come before the needs of our spirits. Our flesh needs food, our spirits need God.

He can only work through people who remain spiritually fed. He can only work through people who remain in connection with him. He can only work through people who surrender themselves to him.

Fasting puts us in this state in which we can be used. It helps us connect with God so that he might empower us to do what he put us on this earth to do.

-MB