“Forty” is a
significant number. In Scripture, it's used more than 145 different times. For
example, the rain during the Great Flood lasted forty days and forty nights
[Genesis 7:12]. Each time Moses went up
Mount Sinai, he remained there for forty days and nights [Exodus 24:18, 34:28].
The Israelites wandered in the desert
for forty years [Joshua 5:6]. After His
resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples for forty days before ascending
into Heaven [Acts 1:3]. And there are
many other uses of “forty” throughout the Bible. Interestingly, forty is even significant
within human nature, in that we develop within our mother’s womb for forty
weeks before being born.
The “forty”
that we commemorate today on the first Sunday in Lent is the forty days and
forty nights that our Lord spent in the desert being tempted by the devil while
He fasted and prayed [Matthew 4:1-11]. Forty
is used to symbolize a time of testing, purification, trial or probation. For that reason, it should also be seen as a
symbol of your entire life here on earth. In Saint Matthew’s version of Jesus’
temptation in the desert, he specifically uses the wording “forty days and
forty nights.” Saint Bede, in
commenting upon this, points out that this period of time not only symbolizes
our entire lives, but the “days” represent the many graces and blessings we
receive, while the “nights” represent the crosses we endure.
As we begin
our Lenten journey, it’s important to once again apply the lessons of Jesus’
time in the desert to our entire lives. I
can think of two lessons we can take from the passage quoted above. First, we see that Jesus was “led by the
Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” This teaches us that Jesus not only endured
temptation, He confronted it. He wasn’t
afraid of the devil and didn’t fear his attacks. Instead, He willingly faced those temptations,
being led by the Spirit, so as to not only overcome them in His life but also
to enable us to confront, in our lives, every temptation by the power and
initiative of the Holy Spirit. We must
never be afraid to confront temptations directly and confidently when the Holy
Spirit is in the lead.
A second
important lesson is that Jesus voluntarily fasted during this time in the
desert. This illustrates the importance
of the virtue of temperance in life. If
we see this period of forty as a symbol of our whole lives, then we’ll
understand that temperance must always be part of our lives. When we experience the joys and blessings of
life (the forty days), we must certainly celebrate them. But we must always do so with a certain
self-denial, in that we must never allow the passing things of this world to
become the primary satisfaction we seek. Saint John of the Cross teaches that we can
even become overly attached to spiritual consolations. Conversely, when we experience the crosses of
life (the forty nights), we must also practice a certain self-denial, in that
we must not allow the difficulties we endure to discourage us or to distract us
from seeking out and fulfilling the will of God. Fasting, meaning our acquisition of the virtue
of temperance, must lead us always through the ups and downs of life, helping
us to keep our eyes on the truths God has revealed to us and rejecting the lies
of the devil.
My
temperate and courageous Lord, You confronted all temptation with courage and
strength. You fasted throughout the forty days and forty nights so as to teach
us how to navigate the ups and downs of life. Please give me the virtues of
temperance and courage, and bestow the Holy Spirit upon me so that I may follow
You into the desert of my own life. Jesus, I trust in You.
No comments:
Post a Comment