The Forty Factor

Luke 4:1-2

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

The Bible is full of "40"s.

There were 40 years in the wilderness for the children of Israel, 40 years reign of Saul, David and Solomon, 40 days and nights flood, and, of course 40 days fasting by Jesus in the wilderness. Forty seems to be the length of a biblical generation and a time of completeness.

For me, the age of 40 seemed to usher in middle age.

Back to the Bible:

The spies were in Canaan for 40 days.

Elijah fasted 40 days.

40 days were given to Nineveh to repent.

It seemed to take 40 days or 40 years to get much of what God purposed done in the lives of people. Today, we have Rick Warren's "40 Days of Purpose" as a propellant to spiritual growth.

After His resurrection, Jesus was with the disciples for 49 days, instructing them and fellowshipping with them in preparation for their lives of ministry and evangelism.

So, what is it about this 4o day period in Jesus' life?

1. For one thing, He deprived Himself. He set aside the natural desire and need for food to sustain His body and during that time He was tempted.

But the temptation of that time was not recorded. We already know what it was. He went into the wilderness strong and at a high spiritual moment in His life. During that time, He chose not to eat. He deprived Himself of food. We can all imagine that sort of temptation. It is the temptation to break the commitment, break the fast, rationalize it away.

After all, it is a rather extraordinary thing to do. Surely this is not required. We need food.

You can come up with your own responses. For the first two-three days, the body will inform the mind of many. It is in those days of a fast that the stomach is still used to food; it growls with discomfort and cries out to be fed.

But those were not the days of deepest temptation. He was still strong. He was still nourished. He has enough nutrients stored up to sustain Him and the voices were controllable. He could ignore the pangs. His temptation at that time was to avoid the greater temptation.

After a few days, the pangs ceased. He was still actually doing something good for His body. Periodic fasts are healthy and promote cleansing. Beyond a few days, we enter into a weakened condition. Extended fasts are not for everyone physically, but Jesus was up to the challenge. The hunger pangs ceased. He may even have felt some euphoria, even times of heightened spiritual awareness. The afterglow of His baptism must have warmed His heart. His Father was very near and He knew it. As long as He did not engage is intense physical exertion, He was OK.

Note: For more information on therapeutic fasting see Dr. Saul's web page: Doctor Yourself.

Concerning this period of deprivation, it is important to note two factors:

• He was full of the Holy Spirit. At His baptism, the Spirit of the Lord had come upon Him in an extraordinary way. He had always been the Incarnate One, but here He was walking the path of an obedient believer. In order to live and we are called to live, He had to draw from the same well that is offered us. Jesus lived the Spirit-filled life that we are called to live. The power that flowed through Him is the power that He offers us. Do not wander off into the wilderness of fasting or temptation on your own. Go in the power of the Holy Spirit.

• He was led by the Holy Spirit. He did not move on His own intuition as holy and in-tune as that was. He did not go on a whim or a challenge. He was led. You may be thinking even now about how inadequate you are compared to spiritual giants you admire. You may be convinced that the secret of their power is found in some spiritual methodology or practice. Indeed, God may use those practices in our lives, but they alone are not the secret of power. The secret is to be led by the same Spirit who fills us. His is perfect timing and perfect methodology and it is customized to individuals and groups of believers such as churches for particular times and needs. God may call you or your church to a concentrated period of fasting, spiritual seeking, or even testing for particular need or opportunity. As the Spirit leads, heed, but don't go off on your own.

The time of temptation is most often associated with the time of spiritual intensity. It is not to be taken lightly. Nor is it to be accomplished in our own strength. The forty factor here is the perfect timing of God for our deprivation and deepening. He must be in charge.

2. He was depleted. There was nothing left to give. He demanded more of Himself than would be expected. At the end of 40 days, He was hungry. The human body can generally go 30 days without food, after which the hunger returns and the body begins to feed on itself. That is starvation.

Jesus went further with this discipline. He completely emptied Himself. There were no resources left. See Philippians 2 to understand how deep was His emptying. This was beyond deprivation. Jesus was now starving.

But it was the purpose of God that he be tempted. That is why He went into the wilderness in the first place.

Otherwise, He might not have fulfilled Isaiah 53:4-6:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He faced the worst so that we can face whatever we must. Hebrews 4:10 puts it this way:

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

This temptation was severe because of two factors:

• His weakened condition. The hardest part was yet to come and three great temptations lay ahead of Jesus in His weakened state. They would go to the heart of His self-understanding and deepest commitments. They would appeal to His lofty goals and essential goodness. Often, temptation does not come to us wrapped in obvious garments of greed, hatred, and envy. Satan appeals to something good inside of us - Good, but not God. Jesus' condition was weakened so that it was more difficult to be wary of Satan's wiles. You may be there right now - weakened by whatever has come your way. Your only strength is God, but that is enough.

• His weary consecration. For 40 days He had prayed and fasted. There was no more spiritual high to sustain Him, no emotional charge to spring Him forward, and no physical power to hold Him upright. He was weary. All He had was His Father's Word and the Spirit's presence. Yes, that Holy Spirit who had filled Him and led Him into the wilderness was still with Him. He does not abandon us when we are weary. He is no less present when we are less enthused. Our consecration may be weary, but in such moments, it is very real as we are upheld by the power of God and nothing else. You may be depleted in Spirit, feeling that the best moments of opportunity have passed. A few days or weeks ago, you feel you could have faced this trial, but now, there is nothing left. Don't be discouraged. Everything that counts is left.

Jesus gave His best resistance to temptation when He was at His weakest and weariness. Having deprived Himself, He was now depleted. It was then that the Word and the Spirit upheld Him and we have those same resources in our lives.

3. He was done. The 4o days were ended and it was time to eat. No question about it, food was necessary. Without food, He would now die. Some of us would be desparate, He was simply done. It was at this point where the choices He would make would be matters of life and death.

Are you desperate or are you just done?

If you are desperate, you are susceptible to the devil's shortcuts and tricks. If you are merely done, you have already made a choice: Live or die, it's God all the way!

Jesus made that choice. Nothing would short circuit His mission. Nothing would compromise His commitment. Nothing would keep Him from doing what He came to do.

But He could have died.

He came to die. This was not the way He had seen it, but He was ready. It was in God's hands. So are our lives. Two things come to mind:

• The test is real. Our needs are not imaginary. Our hunger is not all in our heads. Our desperation is based upon reality. We really are done. We could die, or go bankrupt, or be crippled, or be hurt in some way. And Satan will most likely show us a way out and it will not be God's way. We need to be ready for that, make a prior decision, and be filled with the Spirit in a way that transcends good feelings. We are in for a test. Some time or another, there will be a big test in our lives, perhaps more than one. We need to be prepared. Jesus has gone before us and He has showed the way.

• The trust is even more real. Jesus entered the wilderness trusting the Father and we can trust Jesus who has gone before us. Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." We can trust Him to save us or take us home. He will bring us through or carry us over. Andre Crouch said it this way:

Through it all, through it all;
I've learned to trust in Jesus;
I've learned to trust in God ...

I've learned to depend upon His Word.

That is what He leaves us with, a lesson and example of absolute trust. Jesus did not know how His next meal would come, but He knew that He was in the Father's care. And so are we. So are you.

Be not dismayed.
The Father knows your needs.
Be not swayed.
It is His hand that feeds you.
When come the tests of time
And all your strength is past,
You've only begun to climb,
This is God's chosen fast.
(c) 2006, Tom Sims