Forty Days

 

[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered on Ash Wednesday, the 2nd of March, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

The number 40 is seen quite often in our Bible.  It rained for 40 days and 40 nights as God washed the earth clean in the days of Noah.  Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah as his wife, and his brother Esau was 40 when he took Judith and Basemath as his wives.  The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, during which Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain with God.  Nineveh was given 40 days to repent or be destroyed.

And there are many more, but today we’ll look at another important 40.  For today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus spent in the wilderness praying and being tempted by Satan.  We don’t know all that went on during this time period, but we do know a little of how it began, of what Jesus did, and how it ended.

Please listen and follow along to what the Apostles Matthew and Luke saved for us of this event, beginning with Matthew’s Gospel account in chapter 4, verses 1 through 11, and ending with Luke’s account, also in chapter 4, verses 14 and 15, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

M4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

L4:14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

--Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:14-15 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, one of the most useful features of our Bible is that it provides us with a wealth of examples of what to do and what not to do.  If we carefully follow these examples, we can be seen as righteous in Your eyes.  This is especially true if we try our best to do as Jesus did.  Father, please help us follow the examples Your Son set for us.  Help us come to You for advice and assistance.  Help us spend more time with You in prayer and devotion.  Forgive us our disobedience and save us from ourselves, please, O merciful God.  In the name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Our scripture reading begins right after Jesus is baptized by John in the River Jordan.  So immediately following the voice of God from heaven declaring that, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”, God’s Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for the sole purpose of being tempted by the devil.  Jesus didn’t just up and take a stroll into the desert.  He didn’t just happen to meet up with Satan there.  No, it was all planned by God.

And I believe it’s purpose was three-fold.  I think one purpose is provided in the verses from Luke’s account.  News of Jesus went out through the surrounding region and the people glorified Him.  This gave Him the opening, so to speak, the start of His ministry, the spark that first brought the people in to hear His teachings.

And then I believe we are given a clue to another purpose in the last verse of Matthew’s account.  Once Jesus had resisted all that Satan had to throw at Him, the devil left Him alone and did not directly try to tempt Him again.

But I feel that the most important purpose of this event, for us today, is in the lesson it provides and the example Jesus set for us.  A good piece of that lesson is to understand that God does not always make things easy for us.  Sometimes He will lead us into situations we would have preferred to avoid, so that we can either learn from them or to perform a task He needs us to do.  And sometimes He lets us get into those situations on our own, so that maybe we won’t keep making the same mistakes over and over.  Should we blame God for this, for allowing us to be uncomfortable or be put on the spot?  No, because this is the only way some of us hard-headed people can learn.

And that leaves us with how Jesus handled the situation He was placed in.  Matthew, Luke, and the Apostle Mark all reported the incident in their Gospel accounts.  Luke and Mark make it very clear that Jesus was being subjected to the devil’s temptations for the entire 40 days, even though only the last of these are recorded for us.

Now I think we all know that none of us could have survived this without giving in.  After all, Eve was given only one temptation, with a few extra urgings, before she gave in and took a bite of the fruit that was forbidden to her and Adam.  If we’re honest with ourselves, I believe each of us could find at least one little temptation that we just can’t resist.  We each have our own vice that we cannot give up, one sin that we cannot turn from, our own personal irresistible temptation.  Some of us have many, and I’m talking believers and non-believers alike.  So no, we cannot resist all of the devils shiny, sparkling offers like Jesus did, because we are not God like Jesus is.  But we can still follow His example.

How did Jesus respond to Satan’s offers?  In each of the three separate temptations as recorded by both Matthew and Luke, Jesus answered the devil by quoting scripture.  Jesus rebuked Satan by repeating God’s own word.  How could He quote scripture?  By reading it and learning it, by spending time with God’s word until it became familiar.

This is something we should do.  We should spend more time studying God’s word that has been faithfully recorded and saved for us in our Holy Bible.  Would it be realistic to say that most Christians watch TV more than they read their Bible?  In other words, we’d rather be entertained than to make the effort to learn what God wants us to know and understand.  How many of us could quote scripture, or even just paraphrase a passage, if we were put in a position of needing to defend our faith?

There is one last point I would like to address, and it is one that this particular passage does not mention, but it is frequently reported in our Bible.  Besides fasting and being tempted over a 40 day span, I am willing to bet that Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer.

We can find instance after instance of Jesus praying to His Father God.  Prayer was so important to Him that He even gave us a model of how we can pray, too.  He, even though being God Himself, prayed more than any man.  As the cross loomed on the horizon, His spirit racked with anguish by what He knew was about to occur, Jesus prayed for strength, for protection over us, and that God’s will be done.  Isn’t it reasonable to think that He also prayed as He faced Satan head on?  And isn’t it reasonable that we should spend more time in prayer, too?

Today we enter into the season of Lent.  The cross stands just ahead, a stark reminder that we have been forgiven and shown mercy by God, even though we’ve done nothing, nor can we ever do anything, to deserve it.  And our Father commands that we be forgiving and merciful, too, in our dealings with others.

The cross also serves as a sign of God’s love.  God made a covenant with us and signed it with the blood of His own Son.  We acknowledge our end of that covenant by our baptism and our service to our Lord Jesus.  Part of that service is to repent, to turn from our sin, for Jesus called us to repentance while announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand.

To help us resist the temptation to sin, we can spend more time with God, both in prayer and by studying His word.  In a moment we will receive a symbolic imposition of ashes that I hope will be useful meeting both these goals.  My prayer is that this will last far longer than ashes on the forehead, and have a far greater effect on ourselves and others we encounter.

But first we will offer a confession of our sins and receive an assurance that we’ve been washed clean by the precious blood of Jesus.  In the name of our Redeemer, the Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.