Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. Luke 4:1-2
“Fasting was the commandment that was given to our nature in the beginning to protect it with respect to the tasting of food, and in this point the progenitor of our substance fell…And the Savior also, when He manifested Himself to the world, in the Jordan, began at this point. For after His baptism the Spirit led Him into the wilderness and He fasted for forty days and forty nights. Likewise all who set to follow His footsteps make the beginning of their struggle upon this foundation. For this is a weapon forged by God, and who shall escape blame if he neglects it? And if the Lawgiver Himself fasts, who among those who keep the law has no need of fasting?”
Isaac the Syrian (c.613-c.700) in Homilies 37, in Ascetical Homilies, 172, as recounted in Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way by Father Matta El-Meskeen (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press) 231.
Isaac reminds us that humankind, in the beginning, fell with regard to the tasting of food, and that our Savior, after He was baptized, fasted forty days and nights before His ministry began. Think about it. Where the first Adam fell the second Adam picked things up.
Jesus testified that we don’t live on food alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We are not sustained by physical things but by spiritual truths. We learn this when we take the journey of fasting. We learn that we don’t need this or that after all.
Fasting forty days and nights in Lent (not counting the seven Sundays which are feast days) is not a modern fad but an ancient practice that goes back to the early church for a reason. It’s a weapon forged by God to save us from ourselves and our own appetites.
What does this have to do with generosity?
Saying “No” to some things does create margin in our lives for generosity, but that’s only part of it. The other part is learning to say “Yes” to the things of God so that our living, giving, serving, and loving reflects distinctly “Christian” generosity. We look like Christ in the world.
May our fasting this Lent help us our curb our fleshly appetites so that the Spirit produces the fruit of generosity in our lives for God’s glory. Amen!