Lent is a period full of symbolism. At its outset, we are reminded of our own mortality on Ash Wednesday. In some churches the crucifixes are covered with veils.

The liturgical use of the colour purple calls to mind the purple robe that soldiers placed on Jesus shortly before the crucifixion.

And for forty days we take a sacrificial action to recall the 40 days spent by Jesus in the desert. Although, if we’re looking at the 40 days specified in the Bible, then we’re probably not talking about a precise period of time.

It’s unlikely that the writers of the Gospels ever intended us to take this number quite so literally. A literal view of scripture can often lead you down a wrong path. It is even possible to argue that this reading from Luke contains a warning about literal interpretations of scripture. The devil tries to use a literal view of scripture to convince Jesus that if he throws Himself from the highest tower then the angels will catch him.

So, if we’re not taking the 40 days as a literal passage of time, what else can it mean?

In Hebrew imagery, the number 40 represents a period of transformation, renewal or change.

What we are doing, therefore, in this Gospel story is looking at the nature of Jesus’s testing rather than at its length of time. By using the term ’40 days’, Luke is using Jewish numerical teaching to make a point. We’re given an understanding of how this period spent in prayer represents the great events that will come afterwards.

The story of Christ in the desert isn’t the only time that we have the number 40 making an appearance in the Bible.

The whole world is subjected to 40 days and nights of torrential rain during the flood in Genesis.

The Hebrews in Exodus spend 40 years wandering in the Sinai Peninsula in a time of testing when they had to put their trust in God.

Moses and Elijah, those two hugely significant prophets whom the disciples see alongside Jesus at the Transfiguration both spent 40 days fasting in the deserts.

Prior to the invasion of Canaan, spies sent by the Israelites spend 40 days in enemy lands.

Goliath taunts the Israelite army for 40 days. The whole army is tested and fails the test of courage.

Ninevah is given 40 days to repent after it is visited by the prophet Jonah.

Deborah helps bring peace to Israel for ’40 years’.

According to the book of Kings Solomon reigned for 40 years.

The section of the temple before the inner sanctuary was 40 cubits in length.

And Jesus spends 40 days with the disciples after the resurrection.

When we put this Gospel story into connection with other books of the Bible, we begin to get a much bigger picture. That we are told how Jesus retreats into the wilderness for 40 days tells us about how connected he is to all the scripture that had gone before him. Jesus is, after all, the culmination of God’s promise to all people.

Jesus’s time in the wilderness represents his own preparations for the mission he is about to embark on – the salvation of all people who ever were or shall be. 

According to Luke, Jesus returns from the desert “filled with the power of the Spirit”. In other words, this desert place has been a site of good things.

Amen.

Rev. Iain Grant
Assistant Curate