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         Feasts and The 3 Temptations of Matthew 4

This time of year, Spring is at hand and I can hear the frogs and see the trees budding.

I start to think about Passover and Communion Celebrations....

Today I was reading a comment about The 3 Temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4.

Just as fast as I could think about it, I recognized there was a connection with the 3 Feasts of God.

First a little background about The 3 Feasts God gave Israel as Yearly Celebrations.

There are three harvest seasons in Israel like many countries in that latitude. Farmers can grow

3 crops on their land. First, at the start of Spring, they can harvest winter growing barley. In the early summer, they harvest wheat. In the fall, they harvest the olives and the grapes.

These three harvests have celebrations and 3 High Sabbath Feasts. One for each harvest. See Leviticus 23 for example. First in the Spring, comes Passover and The Celebration-Called The Feast of Unleavened

Bread. Second, is The Feast of Pentecost in the early Summer. Third, comes The Feast of Tabernacles in The Fall.

With this background about The 3 Feasts, lets tie in the 3 Temptations in Matthew Chapter 4.

The 3 Temptations in Matthew reflect the 3 Feasts

1. "Make bread from these stones-" connects with Passover/Unleavened Bread. This is the start of The Harvest Season. Without Jesus giving Himself There would be no New Covenant. No body of Christ. We have new life, only because Jesus purchased us from bondage and our stoney heart of sin.

Without Jesus as The Living Bread, we would have no Sacrifice for sin and no acceptance into The Family of God. He is the Chief Corner Stone and foundation for eternal life. If Jesus had given in to the devil, we would still remain in the sin and death cycle we inherited from Adam. Jesus was tempted

like we are yet He did not sin. Unleavened bread is likened to getting sin out from our lives. See 1 Corinthians 11.

The New Birth provides a new spirit to live in our once stony heart. read John 3.

More on the tie-in between Turning Stones into bread and Communion. The first part of Communion is Taking the Bread which Jesus gave representing His Body. One reason Jesus came as a natural man, was to reclaim this Earth and redeem each person who accepts His offer for salvation.

By rejecting the devil's temptations, Jesus also defeated all those years of slavery mankind had lived in sin and death. Jesus lived as our perfect example and died as The Perfect Passover Lamb. The One our Father chose to cover His house.

Jesus refused to do it as the devil tempted. Jesus was on His way to die for our salvation. Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word from the mouth of God. We take the broken and unleavened bread and consume it. It represents all Jesus did, is doing and will do, to help us live The New Life. That is the beginning or first connection contrasting The Stoney Hearts we once were and us being made into living bread.

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