Matthew 4 : 40 Days in the desert
Matthew was writing to a jewish crowd and he wanted to show them that Jesus was the messiah. I believe that's what he's trying to say through the baptism and temptation verses. I did some research about baptism and washing in jewish tradition along with the symbolism of 40 days. To me, they both seem to say to Jewish people that at that time Jesus was being "born" into his ministry. He was accepting his annointing and his call, knowing that it meant that he would die.
Here's what one website has to say about the jewish symbol of 40:
Forty days after a child is conceived, the Talmud tells us, the soul
enters the body. Forty, therefore, is a symbol of birth, rebirth and
change. It is interesting to note that it was recently found that
neural activity does begin at 40 days after conception. This also
means that abortion is permitted in more instances within the first 40
days of pregnancy than during the rest of pregnancy.
For the same reason, ritual immersion is done in a minimum of 40 seah
(a unit of volume) of water. Note that the letter mem, whose name is
from mayim (meaning water or fluid in general), is 40 in gematria.
When God wanted to rebirth the world, it rained for 40 days causing a
flood. Similarly, the Jewish People were born during 40 years in the
desert.
Satan knew what was going on. He knew that this was the time that Jesus was accepting his human fate and his ministry. The nature of the temptation is interesting. The first two were to use his power and position for his personal gain. This pinned the divine self against the human self.
The last temptation, I once heard in a sermon that the devil offered Jesus the world. Jesus knew that the world was under the dominion of the devil and that he had to die to save it. Satan offered a way out. You can rule the world. You can end the suffering the world and not have to die. But Jesus knew that the world could only be whole when man and God were united as they were created to be. I'm not sure if this is the true meaning of the verse, but it strikes me.
Here's what one website has to say about the jewish symbol of 40:
Forty days after a child is conceived, the Talmud tells us, the soul
enters the body. Forty, therefore, is a symbol of birth, rebirth and
change. It is interesting to note that it was recently found that
neural activity does begin at 40 days after conception. This also
means that abortion is permitted in more instances within the first 40
days of pregnancy than during the rest of pregnancy.
For the same reason, ritual immersion is done in a minimum of 40 seah
(a unit of volume) of water. Note that the letter mem, whose name is
from mayim (meaning water or fluid in general), is 40 in gematria.
When God wanted to rebirth the world, it rained for 40 days causing a
flood. Similarly, the Jewish People were born during 40 years in the
desert.
Satan knew what was going on. He knew that this was the time that Jesus was accepting his human fate and his ministry. The nature of the temptation is interesting. The first two were to use his power and position for his personal gain. This pinned the divine self against the human self.
The last temptation, I once heard in a sermon that the devil offered Jesus the world. Jesus knew that the world was under the dominion of the devil and that he had to die to save it. Satan offered a way out. You can rule the world. You can end the suffering the world and not have to die. But Jesus knew that the world could only be whole when man and God were united as they were created to be. I'm not sure if this is the true meaning of the verse, but it strikes me.
posted by Sara at 12:40 AM
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