Prepare
Some things are better if you’ve prepared yourself ahead of time. Grocery shopping, driving directions, getting married… And the desert is also one of those places,where you’re better off knowing what to do and where to go for what you need
before hand, before you get there. A smart Boyscout would think twice about Jesus’ decision to go out into the desert with no food for forty days.
So maybe Jesus was prepared, but in different way. Now, my family used to go to the desert a week every year for Easter. I’ve spent many Easters out in the desert called Twenty-nine Palms, where a relative has a cabin. There are things in the desert that one just has to be ready for, ready at any time; rattlesnakes, scorpions, thorns, wind devils. Usually, we had it easy, we’d just find Easter Eggs hidden around the desert cabin. Yet Jesus was also preparing to find the actual Devil, the Satan, the accusers and temptors, within and without the wilderness.
Jesus was prepared to know the looks of the Satan. Or maybe it was mostly just how Satan talks with those long Sssss, mind you, even while quoting scriptures. Or, maybe this story is all just a trick of the eye, and wind that sounds like words. Now, for most people, going 4 let alone 40 days in the desert will cause illusions. And that’s even before you run out of food. But in this concept of illusion, Satan shows Jesus things that are actually just illusions. I’m saying that, in fact, the Satan that Jesus encounters in the desert and elsewhere is- just an illusion. His temptations were illusions trying to trick Jesus. Satan’s power is an illusion; Satan is deluded. Or maybe you think we should defend Satan? Satan has no ability to rule, to lead, and especially no right to bargain Jesus for some dough. What Satan offers are just mirages, not bread but stones, Satan doesn’t give the real thing, Satan’s power is an illusion. Yet, death is no illusion, especially if one is not prepared for their own death in some way.. right with God, and their neighbor, mind you… Death is not an illusion, but the power of death is. “Then the eyes of both were opened.” The power of death is an illusion, it is sin and separation.
But the power of God, is eternal life for all. God’s Word has the power for life even in the face of death, Romans 5 says. This is why we are given to the task of preparing ourselves constantly, for eternity, by learning God’s ways so that we will not be tricked by impostors, or fooled or ruled by ignorance when confronting a snake in the desert, or an enemy in the midst. Jesus was tempted to give up on life for death, but he wouldn’t do it, because he knew scripture in a way that Satan doesn’t. As the back of my Desert Survival Handbook says, “You were born with a strong will to live and you can maintain it in spite of fear, loneliness, cold, heat, dehydration, illness or injury—if you have the knowledge to deal with them.” God’s word has the knowledge for life, even in the face of death. This is why we must learn Scripture like Jesus, constantly preparing ourselves, for eternity.
That’s the thing, once we’re trusting Jesus Christ, there’s no gain through ignorance or blame; we must educate and learn to hear it when scripture is being twisted and turned. Satan quotes scripture too, but only to judge and tempt. And against even our better knowledge, humans continue to think they can find shortcuts in life for actually living and understanding God’s Holy Word. There are countless dead-end shortcuts to scripture that humans follow for satisfaction or power using just little bits of this verse and dashes of that Bible story. But really all they come up with are Dead Ending Illusions. Delusions, is what they are. Satan is delusional. Understand? Constantly, Jesus is pointing these people and places and things out, that actually don’t lead you anywhere, they are dead ends. Jesus points them out and refuses them, if only to show how much more awesome his promises really become. God’s word is for the power of life, even in the face of death, Jesus uses his word to save, even himself- this time. Jesus was prepared for this, and so are we, as we face death and even taxes, knowing and hearing that there is Easter at the other end of this Lenten desert crossing. Jesus prepares us to be ready for this journey, just as he prepared with scripture;
so are we, to “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”.
“Then the devil left him.” The promises and power of Satan are illusions, delusions of grandeur. The promises and power of God are truly an eternity prepared for good. Amen.
