Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Steven Carr · 08-15-2006, 10:03 AM

What was Jesus trying to achieve by fasting for 40 days in the desert?

Apart from mortification of the flesh, of course.

Gamera · 08-15-2006, 10:05 AM

A separation of his prior everyday life and the beginning of his mission as the messiah.

Steven Carr · 08-15-2006, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamera

A separation of his prior everyday life and the beginning of his mission as the messiah.

What had been wrong with his prior everyday life, and why was cutting down on food any more useful than cutting down on , say, oxygen?

Nothing wrong with eating normally, is there?

God gave Jesus an appetite for a reason, didn't he?

Amaleq13 · 08-15-2006, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carr

What was Jesus trying to achieve by fasting for 40 days in the desert?

Apart from mortification of the flesh, of course.

Fasting for that length of time frequently results in hallucinations that the more fantasy-prone individual is likely to interpret as "spiritually significant".

Steven Carr · 08-15-2006, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amaleq13

Fasting for that length of time frequently results in hallucinations that the more fantasy-prone individual is likely to interpret as "spiritually significant".

That is the whole point of mortifying the flesh. It produces an altered state of consciousness.

But why would God made Flesh need to do anything special to have spiritually significant experiences?

Amaleq13 · 08-15-2006, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carr

But why would God made Flesh need to do anything special to have spiritually significant experiences?

Good point.

The ways of the Lord are often dark but never pleasant.

Solo · 08-15-2006, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carr

What was Jesus trying to achieve by fasting for 40 days in the desert?

Apart from mortification of the flesh, of course.

Actually, only Matthew says he was fasting.

Luke says: 4:2 for 40 days in the wilderness he was tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended he was hungry.

The wording does not suggest that Jesus was mortifying the flesh. Quite to the contrary, he was not hungry while contending with the devil.

Jiri.

Chili · 08-15-2006, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carr

What was Jesus trying to achieve by fasting for 40 days in the desert?

Apart from mortification of the flesh, of course.

I always thought that that was the flip side of the wedding in Cana where the party lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. This would be where Jesus was in close communion with heavenly things and thus abstained from worldly things. The temptation that followed was made from the 'top of the temple' from where Jesus could make the choice between enriching the old world or destroying the old world and go for the new world that he encountered at Cana of Galilee.

So I don't think that Jesus was hungry but it is more the case that fine-tuning is required to awaken 'the ancient' wherein we are eternal (lest we are deceived and return to our vomit or be snatched away by a false preacher).

Clivedurdle · 08-15-2006, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solo

Actually, only Matthew says he was fasting.

Luke says: 4:2 for 40 days in the wilderness he was tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended he was hungry.

The wording does not suggest that Jesus was mortifying the flesh. Quite to the contrary, he was not hungry while contending with the devil.

Jiri.

I do not see where you get that from.

Was he not eating spiritual food - mannah - and is there not here a direct reference to the Exodus?

Clivedurdle · 08-15-2006, 01:19 PM

http://www.familydevotionals.com/temptation1.htm

And actually the stories of the temptation are probably one of the better examples of how we are looking in the gospels at very cleverly concocted stories, something the Jewish people were very good at, as shown in Bible Unearthed about the Exodus story!

Quote:

esus' reply to the first temptation is taken from Deuteronomy 8:3. This verse is talking about the children of Israel. God allowed them to experience hunger in the wilderness to test them, as it says in Deuteronomy 8:2. Just like the children of Israel were tested though hunger in the wilderness, so was Jesus. What the children of Israel did not realize is that the depended too much on physical food, and not enough of the spiritual food that God had to offer them. Israel questioned God too much in the wilderness; they lacked faith. The times they should have been depending on God, they weren't. God let them know where all blessings and good things come from, by taking away their physical food and providing them with manna from heaven. But even when they received this manna, they did not follow God's instructions for measuring it out (Exodus 16).

Here Moses told them of God's instructions to measure the manna out in omers, which is 2.087 quarts by today's standard measure. Very straight forward; these were not very hard directions. But the children of Israel did not listen to God, and some of the manna later spoilt because of it. However, God did provide manna for forty years, according to Exodus 16:35. The children of Israel did learn that God is the provider of all things, and that we should put our trust in Him and His word to take care of us. In quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus is telling Satan that He trusts in God and knows that He will provide for Him when He sees fit.

08-15-2006, 10:03 AM	#1
Steven Carr Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: England Posts: 5,629	Fasting for 40 days and 40 nights What was Jesus trying to achieve by fasting for 40 days in the desert? Apart from mortification of the flesh, of course.

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08-15-2006, 10:05 AM	#2
Gamera Banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Palm Springs, California Posts: 10,955	A separation of his prior everyday life and the beginning of his mission as the messiah.

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