Throughout the history of Israel, fasting was an integral part of religious life. Israelites would fast on several occasions. In Matthew 4:1–11, Jesus is led into wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil. In the midst of all of this, Matthew tells us Jesus had been fasting for forty days and forty nights. This moment is so important for Jesus. His ministry has just begun with his baptism in Matthew 3. Rather than run off to begin teaching, healing, and performing miracles, he fasts. He prays. He experiences the wilderness. Notice two very important truths. First, it is the Spirit of God who leads Jesus out into the wilderness. Second, notice that in the face of great temptation, the very thing Jesus does is fast.

I have recently become more aware of a way of living as a Christian that is far older than any ideas of mine on the subject. It is called the liturgical calendar. Basically, as I understand it, the church created a way to celebrate the life of Jesus throughout the year by means of different seasons, fasts, celebrations, and holidays. You probably know that as a part of this we have Christmas and Easter, but what I did not know is that throughout the course of one calendar year, the liturgy covers the entire life of Christ. The surprise for me was that there is a great intentionality behind it all. It wasn’t just the accumulated festivals and religiosity of the ages. Not only is there intentionality, but that intentionality is designed to where if you follow the calendar, you have over the course of one year recognized Jesus’s entire earthly ministry. I could talk more about this, and you can find a blog on it HERE, but what I really want to set the stage for is Lent.

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Ash Wednesday

Rediscovering Lent

Vintage Church of New Orleans

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