JESUS: Did Jesus experience hunger while fasting for 40 days in the desert?
Probably not, and that is why the evangelist mentions his hunger only when the fasting was over. Jesus was so immersed in his union with God the Father that he did not feel the hunger. When we are far too involved in an exciting or distressing experience, we might forget to eat. However, surviving without eating continuously for forty days and nights is a miracle.
Moses and Elijah, who appeared with Jesus during his transfiguration (Mt 17:2-3; Mk 9:3-4; Lk 9:29-30), had observed a similar full fast for forty days and nights in their respective lives. Moses spent with God 40 days twice at Mount Sinai with no food. “Moses was there with the LORD for forty days and forty nights, without eating any food or drinking any water” (Ex 34:28). After the first session of 40 days (Deut 9:9), God gave to Moses two stone tablets of the covenant with Israel. God commanded Moses to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land after Moses spent another 40 days with Him (Deut 10:10-11).
At the direction of the angel of the Lord, Elijah walked forty days and forty nights, without eating, to the mountain of God, Horeb, which is the alternate name of Sinai (1 Kgs 19:8). The prophet had a theophany experience there, and the Lord commissioned him to go back to His people via Damascus, anoint Hazael as king of Aram, Jehu as king of Israel, and Elisha as a prophet to succeed Elijah. God promised him, “I will spare seven thousand in Israel—every knee that has not bent to Baal, every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kgs 19:15-18). Similar to the experience of Moses and Elijah, God the Father prepared his Son during those 40 days in the desert for the new covenant and assigned him to lead the people to Heaven, the new Promised Land.