January 3

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted and He was hungry.

Matthew 4:1-11

It was in the wilderness, that Christ endured deep agony of a fallen humanity. A hunger in his belly he had never felt and physical weakness that left him broken. It was in his most broken state, the enemy decided to attack.
The tempter approached Jesus at His weakest moment. He had 40 days and nights to tempt the Son of Man, but he waited until the final day. At this point, Jesus wasn’t just hungry, He was literally starving.
As a lion stocks his pray, Satan knew this was the moment he had been waiting for.
He lunged at him with an assault on his identity, “If you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread.” In other words, “If you are really the Son of God, then why are you experiencing such weakness?” Satan taunted, “Is not the Son of Man above weakness?” Satan wanted to plant doubt in Jesus’ mind about who He was using how He felt physically. Jesus responded with authority, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” To paraphrase, Jesus was saying, “The Son of man is not sustained by flesh, but by the Spirit.”
The tempter came at Jesus again, challenging him to do something really extraordinary. To perform an act that would surely glorify God and possibly “prove” his lordship. Satan declared, “If you throw yourself off the temple’s pinnacle and then command the angels to save you, that would be magnificent!” Jesus knew Satan’s motive was to get Him to yield to his requests. Even though He was more that capable of playing Satan’s game (and winning!); He remained submitted to his Father and refused to put Him to the test.
The tempter makes one final attempt to undermine Jesus’ authority and get him to doubt his identity. He takes Him atop a high mountain where he offers all he has-the kingdoms of the world. All Jesus has to do is bow down. Jesus knows the enemy has thrown all his cards on the table and the Lord calls his bluff declaring, “Away with you! It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only!”
Defeated, the enemy left Him and the angels ministered to Jesus.

Although God, Jesus put on flesh and dwelt among us. He was in fact tempted as we are. Yet, He relied on the words of God and the power of the Spirit and overcame.

Remember 3 truths from this passage during your fast:

1. Even though you feel weak, your authority and power in Christ is not diminished.
2. We do not fast to “prove” how spiritual we are or to make God proud. Our Father is already well pleased with us because we are His sons and daughters.
3. When the enemy throws all he’s got, do not give in. Submit to God and the enemy will flee from you!

-Lauryn