Lent
March 4, 2017
Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written,
“One does not live by bread alone, –Matthew 4:1-4
What is the purpose of fasting? Does it change our focus? Does it make us appreciate more what we have? Does it help us understand better the plight of those who do not have enough food? Does it prove to us that we are capable of self-discipline? What is the purpose of fasting?
Jesus is challenged by the disciples of John the Baptist because Jesus’ disciples did not fast. (Matthew 9:14-17) He first replies weddings are times for celebration; the time for deep contemplation in the absence of the bridegroom would come. He then shares the familiar metaphors regarding sewing unshrunk cloth on old cloaks and putting new wine into old wineskins. What does that have to do with fasting?
Jesus projects the coming of a seismic shift of great proportion regarding human relationship with God where the world would never be the same again and he was the catalyst of that happening. We are acquainted with geological transformations of large magnitude where the earth changes dramatically. Located in south central Oklahoma, the Arbuckle Mountains are the oldest known formations in the United States between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. They contain a core of granite and gneiss that date back at least 1.4 billion years*. To make a scientific explanation very short and inadequate, at some point in history these mountains were turned on their side. The change is apparent from one’s car windows driving through the area on the interstate. Once such an event happens, the earth is never the same again. The coming of God incarnate, Jesus Christ, changed the world.
The answer to all the introductory questions above is “Yes.” Fasting changes our focus, makes us appreciate what we have, helps us understand the plight of the hungry, and proves we are capable of self-discipline among other things. This ancient spiritual discipline did not lose its value in the coming of Jesus. It is now being applied in a world turned upside-down by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Fasting is now a vehicle for traversing through Christ’s spiritual landscape of love.
Prayer: God, as we fast in whatever manner fits our situations during this time of Lent make us mindful of the force of your love in coming to the world to open new windows of faith for all. Amen.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbuckle_Mountains