40 days: Jesus follows Moses' fast

During Jesus' 40 day fast in the wilderness he was constantly tempted by Satan (MT 4:1-11, Lk 4:1-13, Mk 1:12-13)

He rebukes Satan's temptations by quoting from Deuteronomy.

1) Man does not live on bread alone. Deut 8:3
2) Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Deut 6:3
3) Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Deut 6:16

I'm intrigued to think of the hours Jesus spent studying scripture before his ministry began. Likely there were only a few copies of the Torah in Nazareth, and it wasn't sitting on his bedside or on his iPhone. Likely he needed to go to the tabernacle for his study. After a long day's work in his carpentry shop, dirty and sweaty from the labor. Or early in the morning, tired and sore from yesterday's toil. Because Jesus emptied himself of his divine power in becoming a man (in a sense) he had to learn Scripture the same way we do: years of study, meditation, memorization, prayer, and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was led by the Spirit to the wilderness. Did Jesus know he would be there 40 days?! The parallels between Jesus and Moses are striking and not coincidental. In Deut 9: 18-29 Moses describes his 40 day fast before the Lord on the mountain interceding for Israel so God wouldn't destroy them because of their rebellion and sin. While the proverbial ink was still drying on the 10 commandments God wrote with his own hand (Deut 9:10) Israel was crafting and worshipping a golden calf idol. God's anger was enough to bring Him to the brink of blotting out their names from under heaven (Deut 9:14).

But Moses put himself between the people and the wrath of God, pleading, mediating, interceding for 40 days and 40 nights for them to be spared. And they were. The work of one mediator saved a whole nation.

Jesus' life, death and resurrection served the same role. The work of one man made salvation possible for the whole world. He stood between God's wrath and the sins of all people, everywhere for all time.

I think that Jesus' 40 day fasting in the wilderness must have included truckloads of intercession for a fallen world, as Moses interceded 40 days for the rebellious, fallen nation of Israel.

And because Jesus mediated between God and Man, we have the sure hope of heaven.

Applications:

1) How often do I labor in prayer for the fallen people around me? My friends, family and co-workers? How much have I fasted on their behalf, pleading with the Father for mercy? Right now, praying even 40 minutes for the eternal soul for somebody I love is a stretch. If I'm honest, most prayers last closer to 40 seconds. On a "good day". And prayers for my enemies would mostly be clocked under 40 milliseconds.

2) In my hour of temptation, I need to have the Word of God firmly planted in my mind and heart. Like Jesus, I need to feast on the Word each day as a store of energy for the times when I'm starving in the wilderness.