The Gospel of Matthew centers on Jewish traditions highlighting the divinity Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us who brings the Kingdom of God to earth. It portraits Jesus as a new Moses, who is the Son of God at birth by belonging to the lineage of David, and fully fulfills the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. As Moses, Jesus left Egypt, crossed through the waters of Baptism and entered the desert for 40 days. Matthew 4:2 tells us "And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he at last felt hungry."
Today God would like you to enter to the desert with Him to that place of solitude but also that place of search and encounter. Today He wants you to silence your inner noises to meet with His Word. The ancient name of fasting comes from the verb "stare" which means to be vigilant. We could say that this fasting of Jesus in the desert, more than a simple abstinence from food, is a method of self-control that allows Him to open up to a closer relationship with the Father, through prayer. We can interpret this hunger of Jesus as a hunger to fulfill the Will of God since He is perceived as vigilant, strong, full of confidence and wisdom, when He is tempted by evil after days without food, as His sustenance came from God Himself and His Word. Today God is inviting you to follow the footsteps of Jesus into silence, giving you the chance to get to know Him better through the Scriptures, and thus from His Love acquire the necessary tools to recognize what can distance us from Him and fight for the establishment of the Kingdom of God among us.
May the Lord open our hearts to His Eternal Love 🙏💕🕊️
