After forty days of fasting and prayers Our Lord is tired and hungry. He has not yet begun His public life. Saint John the Baptist has given testimony that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is baptized by John and he retires to a desert place to prepare for His Messianic public ministry.
The fast is about over. It has been forty days. The devil has been watching Him, waiting for the last day, thinking then this Jesus will be most vulnerable. The devil, as far as we know from scripture, did not assault John the Baptist who lived his life in the desert fasting on honey and locusts. The demon knew that John was not the Messiah. He was not of Juda, a son of David, he was from Levi. But Jesus of Nazareth was of Juda, the kingly tribe, a son of David. The time for the advent of the Messiah, prophesied by Daniel, had come. The seventy weeks of years were complete: “Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished; and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed” (9:24). The anointing of the Saint of saints was by the Holy Ghost who effected the anointing in the fruition He made in the womb of Mary in the Incarnation. Messiah, is a Hebrew word, meaning “the anointed one.”
Forty days is a long time to fast. Imagine how weak Our Lord was in His body! How hungry!
There is a stench in the air. Satan approaches Our Lord. Jesus allows it.
How could Our Lord be tempted?
--Brian Kelly
To read the rest of Brian Kelly’s reflection, click here.
Image source: https://comeandreason.com/the-temptations-of-jesus-a-lesson-for-us/
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