Last night I read a verse about how Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. It reminded me of all of the other times in scripture where I have seen the number "40" and I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out the significance of "40".
Noah was in the Ark for 40 days and 40 nights
Moses hung out with God in a mountain for 40 days and 40 nights
Elijah was running for his life for 40 days and 40 nights
After Jesus' resurrection he showed himself for…….you guessed it, 40 days
So why 40 days and 40 nights? What does it mean?
You can do an internet search for the reason, and you will find out that there are speculations from every angle. I should know….I spent quite a bit of time doing just that.
Let me share a true story with you and then I will tell you what I think the "40" means.
In the14th century, Pope Benedict XI was looking to commission an artist to create some paintings for Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. He sent a messenger to Florence to see a painter by the name of Giotto. The messenger asked for a painting to present to the Pope. Giotto took a canvas, dipped his brush in red paint, and drew a perfect circle. He grinned and said "Here's your drawing". The messenger took the painting back to the Pope. The messenger told the Pope how Giotto had painted this perfect circle unaided. Giotto got the job.
In Mark 12, there was a teacher of the law that approached Jesus and asked Him what was the most important commandment. Jesus responded by saying, "…..love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength….and over your neighbor as yourself".
The messenger was expecting to find a painter that would present this amazing masterpiece on the canvas. The artist gave him a perfect circle. The simplicity of the painting demonstrated the artist's understanding of the most basic element of art wonderfully well.
The teacher of the law was expecting to get a long, amazingly deep response to his question from Jesus. And Jesus dipped His brush in the red paint and gave the man a perfect circle.
Jesus didn't respond with a long drawn out response.
I bet if I was to be sitting in a room with Jesus and I asked Him what the significance of the 40 days and 40 nights is in scripture, He would respond by asking me if I am loving God with all of my heart and all of my soul and all of my mind and all of my strength.
What do I think the "40 days and 40 nights" signifies? Who cares!
I can't even keep that commandment for 5 minutes, but I want to wander off and explore the secret meaning behind the "40 days and 40 nights". I spent several hours in the last 2 days thinking about the meaning……..and it dwarfed the amount of time I spent loving my Creator.
So the next time I go off on some mysterious trail in search of some secret message in the text, I will remember the perfect circle......and spend the rest of my time practicing the basics……Loving God and loving others.
