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Oh my soul just leaped at this question, I am not a Bible scholar, but I believe within, that Jesus after hearing about His dear friend John's imprisonment, that He firstly went to grieve, then His Father had shown Him that He now was to begin His mission, and that these days were spent in talking to His Father, just as we perhaps talk to our very own in times of great stress. What He was about to face......ohhhhhh; I can only pray that we all could loose ourselves in such a manner talking to our Father.
The Bible does not go into a great deal of detail about the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert. However, we do know that He fasted during that time. This would have been an exercise in both spiritual and physical discipline, in which He would have depended on the Father to care for Him, and also through which He would be able to identify with the material hardships of humans who do not have enough food or other necessities required to meet their daily needs. We also know that He did not just go into the desert on a whim, but that He was led there by the Holy Spirit. As at other times during His ministry, this therefore would have been a divinely-planned time of communing with the Father in prayer, and it would have been especially important because it took place just before He was to begin that ministry, and it also occurred just after Jesus' baptism, in which He had received witness of the Father's pleasure with him, and in which He also identified Himself completely with sinful humanity, even though He Himself had no sin, and therefore had also had no intrinsic need of baptism. (As John the Baptist had said to Him, "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?") I would say that Jesus used this time to contemplate in depth upon His upcoming work of salvation, and to prepare Himself for the multiple ways in which Satan would attempt to cause Him to fail to achieve the goal of that effort -- providing for the redemption of believers through His sacrificial death and resurrection. And, in fact, of course (as you noted in your question), Satan did indeed tempt Him in multiple ways at the conclusion of His time in the desert, including tempting Him to rely on His own miracle-working power to satisfy His hunger, rather than trusting in the Father's ability to provide for His needs.
What was Jesus doing in the desert? Wow! What a great question that just popped up out of nowhere! Then I realized it had been on eBible for several years, I just hadn't seen it. I believe Jesus was communicating with His Father but not about His earthly mission, that was long established from eternity. Proverbs 8 clearly states that Jesus (Wisdom) was brought up before anything was, and He was a daily delight to the Father. Jesus knew the plans of the Father to make His great Holy Name known. This began when They started creating things. I believe that Jesus was thanking His Father in advance for His disciples that were hand-picked. I believe He was praying for them that they would see the light of truth in their darkness of heart and minds. They would be open to the light presented to them. I believe that Jesus prayed for the Pharisees and priests who would be blinded by ambition and position. I believe that Jesus was praying in advance for each person He would touch with His hands, healing them, raising them from death, releasing them from darkness, and setting them free from bondage. I believe he was praying for me, because as I read of these accounts in scripture, I see myself! Bound in chains and circumstances that I need to be loosed from, only a touch from my Saviour's hands can loose me! Or how about the little woman who came and begged the Lord for her little girl? Jesus called her a dog! Yet, she continued speaking with humility until Jesus marveled at her... said there was no greater faith than hers. I want to be like her! No matter what the situation looks like.. Jesus You are still holy! Yes, I believe Jesus was praying for me too! I refuse to subscribe to false theories that Jesus was a weakling and had to overcome fears. He could not have been the PERFECT SPOTLESS LAMB of God that was required for the Passover sacrifice had there been any weakness or fears in him. We as Christians need to stop repeating this falsehood straight from the pits of hell! Lucifer is the father of all lies, this whopper must make him the happiest! The Son of God, the Great I Am, the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, Jesus of whom all of the family of heaven is named was fearful? What about the hymn he sang on his way to Gethsemane? It was a hallal praise hymn. Hallal means to be clamoring foolish, to dance in a circle wildly! Does this sound like someone fearful? Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, excited to do the will of His Father! In Isaiah it plainly states that it pleased the Father to bruise Him. For the pleasure of the Father, why? Because the Father is sadistic? No! For me! So I can turn from my sinfulness, bow my knee and praise, bless, thank and worship Them now and forevermore! Be blessed, Ms. Lena
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