NOTES for Mar 1:12-15

The Lord was tempted in the wilderness for forty days in order to be entirely like us. Thus, when we begin to complain that the Lord cannot understand this because He has never gone through it, He can answer us: “No, I am here now, with you, in the trial in which you now find yourself. If you are undergoing temptation, know that I went through it and overcame it; you were created in My image and likeness, I created you, I love you, I died for you on the Cross and rose again, and therefore you too can emerge victorious from temptation. I showed you an example; I overcame temptations, and I overcame death.” The Kingdom of God is very near; it is within us to the extent that we make room for it in our heart. Fasting is a time when we can clear space within ourselves, carry out a thorough cleaning, and take out the trash; then much more room will remain for God. Then God will come, proclaim the Good News of Salvation to us, and become King in our heart, for a kingdom is what belongs to the King, His own personal domain.