Artists throughout the centuries have tried to depict this time in the desert. William Blake, 18th century English painter, gave us this portrayal of Jesus' (right) interaction with Satan.My favorite, however, comes from 19th century Russian artist Ivan Kramskoy. Here is the painting he gives:
I like Kramskoy's because, unlike other depictions such as Blake's [see many other works of art on Christ's temptation here], I can actually see the suffering in Christ's face.
Today is our 40th day of the dollar-a-day fast, and it has been difficult. But Jesus ate nothing at all during his 40 days. I can't even begin to imagine that. He must've been weak, gaunt, physically drained.
Still, even in physical weakness, Jesus responds with a powerful passage from Deuteronomy 8: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." John Piper comments on Jesus' words in his book A Hunger for God. He writes:
"The aim of fasting is that we come to rely less on food and more on God... Every time we fast we are saying with Jesus, 'Not by bread alone, but by you, Lord. Not by bread alone, but by you, Lord.'"
As I press through this final week, I live by my Lord alone.
2 comments:
You know Im finding this 'only water' fast to be harder than other fasts Ive done, I guess because if Im really honest, Im a coffee addict. So, a few headaches later and Im now a week into it. Im now beginning to get some energy back..in some ways this one has been harder for me than a food fast. (cuz I still drink coffee on my food fasts!)..haha..I think Ive been tagged by the Holy Spirit...
I do remember a sort of detox period. Adjustment is one of the harder parts, I think, but it levels off after a bit.
Keep on keeping on. It's worth it.
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