30 My Monologues with Jesus in the Wilderness (Mt 4, Lk 4)

30 My Monologues with Jesus the Tempted  ( Mt 4, Lk 4)

Dear Jesus,

As you waded through the bubbling, cool  clear, fresh, flowing waters of River  Jordan where you had your baptism,

the heavens were opened,

the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove,

and the proclamation from your Heavenly Father was heard affirming and  acclaiming you as,

"my beloved son."

It was so Solemnly and Personally reassuring for you as a genuine Human Being as well as the true Son of God, right, Oh, Lord?

Dear Jesus,

For sure, it must have been a very loving and caring filial experience of fellowship with your Father, Wasn't it, Oh, Lord?

Isn't it the First time your Father spoke up publicly and validated your Sonship?

You must have felt elated and rightly proud of your Father as you have always  been right, Oh, Lord?

Dear Jesus,  

Yet, this joyful experience of your Baptism as well as the Heavenly Affirmation of your Divine Sonship is in marked contrast with the sombre solitude and the trying times in the Wilderness where you fasted for forty days, and was tempted  by the devil.

Right after the feasting experience of your Baptism, you were led by the Spirit to the wilderness and you started fasting for forty days as you "eat nothing during those days."

You must have had some sort of an access to a Wadi or to an Oasis for potable water, didn't you?

Dear Jesus,

As a boy, I was awed to know that you could go on without food for forty days in one stretch!

Oh, boy!  Unimaginable!  Indeed! for a mind of a nine year old boy!

My Grandmother used to say to us kids with a voracious appetite, "Don't gulp down and binge like little brats, look at Jesus who could stay forty days without food! But you, kids can't even stay away from food for a mere forty minutes!"

How right she was!

Dear Jesus,

Yet another thing, as a boy, I marvelled about your Forty days sojourn in the Wilderness was your courage to spend those dark nights out in the open "with wild animals" around. It was real scary for a nine year old boy even to imagine so!

Oh,  Dear Jesus,  

I used to wonder where you spend the nights!!

In a hut or in a cave, or out in the open?

Or was there an Essene Community around offering you a night shelter?

Wasn't it real dark at night?

Did you have some sort of fire providing you warmth and light?  

The blistering hot days and the cold nippy nights of the wilderness must have been real tough, weren't they?

You did have a Full Moon and a New Moon within those forty nights, right? The starry skies as well as the moon-lit nights must have been a relaxing as well as refreshing experience,wasn't it? Except for the noises of the birds and beasts, and the howling wind,  I guess, it must have been very calm and quiet.

I used to imagine about the Peace and tranquility you enjoyed all through the forty fasting days.

But it wasn't that easy at all, as the devil kept bugging and egging you on, right?

Humanly thinking, it looks odd that your Father didn't even make a single supportive appearance as you were constantly tempted by the seemingly persistent devil. May be, He was so sure that you can and will handle the situation single handedly on your own, right?

After all, you are His own son, so to say,  the chip of the old block, Aren't you?

Your Father was so right,

You did handle the devil so well!

Dear Jesus,

One more thing which impressed me about you  as a boy was your fearlessness of the devil!

The night, the darkness, and the devil were stuffs which we kids were scared of.

But you were undaunted indeed!

As a little boy, one of my favorite quick prayers before going to sleep was for the protection from darkness and devil!

In your case, it was  just the other way around.  The devil  was scared of you!

Dear Jesus,

As it is narrated,

You were "led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Right?

So, as per the narrations, the very purpose of you being led by the Spirit into the wilderness was to subject yourself to be tempted, right?

To get strengthened and be fortified for your ministry?

I had been often tempted to think that you ventured into the wilderness primarily to  communicate with your father and be in communion with Him and the devil made use of the

time to tempt you and deflect your communion with your Father!

Dear Jesus,

Why weren't you tempted at your Baptism where you got your cousin, John the Baptist, to baptize you.

There you were surrounded by JB, your cousin and some of his followers, and above all you had your all loving and a caring Father vouching for you, right? You were almost on cloud nine!  

What more one needs to be tempted by the devil to make you feel puffed up and be proud?

Dear Jesus,

Again, I wonder:

Why were you not tempted in the Temple?

Remember, when you were in the Temple or in the Temple precincts on several occasions, the Jewish leaders were amazed by your integrity, by your authority, and by your eloquence, weren't they?

This would have provided the devil with a very suitable background to tempt you to be proud, right?

Dear Jesus,

The devil tempted you neither at the Baptism nor in the Temple Precincts as you were in high spirits, right?

It was not at all a vulnerable time to strike. Though the Devil at times tempts us humans to be proud and haughty when everything goes well for us as in the case of our First Ancestral Parents and of Job. But the devil loves to  tempt us the humans when when he finds us in the most vulnerable of times, when we are under great physical or emotional or spiritual struggle and stress.

Dear Jesus,

While you were in the wilderness, the inclement weather, the loneliness, the prolonged fast and above all your quality concentration in prayer-filled Reflections, all these factors propelled you into a struggling, tense frame of mind.

From the human point of view,it was a very vulnerable time, right, Oh, Lord?

And strike, he did!

While the iron was hot!

hoping, to make a kill!

But he failed  and failed miserably!

Dear Jesus,

You were "in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan." Right?

As per this narration, one gets the impression that you were being tempted all through the forty days and not just the fag end.

Sure, towards the end of your forty day of fast, the devil came up with Three specific Temptations, right?

Dear Jesus,

What was wrong in turning the stones into bread? Remember, you had completed your forty day fast following  the traditions of Moses and Elijah. So the persuasive suggestion of the devil was not meant to interrupt your fast. After the long fast, you were hungry and there was a legitimate physical need and a desire to satisfy the hunger, right? To turn stones into bread and thus meet the physical needs of hunger was neither wrong in  itself nor was a sin in itself, right, Lord?

But it was an undesirable shortcut to satisfy your immediate need of hunger at the expense of you of your planned view of carrying one's cross.

Dear Jesus,

You know it all, don't you?  

I am someone who looks for shortcuts and quick fixes. If there is anyway out, I would be eager to explore and exploit it for my selfish gains. Often, that's me!

In my eagerness to ease my hunger, I wouldn't mind to turn any available stones into every attainable bread of instant satisfaction!  For example, instead of reading, reflecting and trying to apply to my own life and thus preparing a homily or so I have often had recourse to ready to deliver sermons which would certainly serve the purpose and get the applause!

That's just one of my minor shortcuts ways of turning the stones into bread!

How I wish to keep on working for a strong will and firm resolve!

Dear Jesus,

The devil  wanted to dare God to rescue you diving down from the pinnacle of the  Temple playing on your pride and presumption.

But you didn't fall in the trap.

Then again,  I am very quick to jump into situations and problems without much prior preparations and with much presumption. I presume that my fellow men and women and even You would be there with a safety net to hold me unhurt!

I do have a tendency to depend  entirely on others to meet my emotional needsfor security. What I need to learn that I have to earn it rather than presumptuously expect or demand it.

Dear Jesus,

Finally, the devil took you to top of  "a very high mountain and showed (you) all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor" and tempted you with authority, adulation, power, position, and pelf. But you didn't fall for it either!

Finally, finding himself unsuccessful, the devil left you, "until an opportune time."

Dear Jesus,

Numerous are the occasions when I have been attracted to undue and unearned adulation and admiration,especially as a young ambitious priest, pastor, and teacher. I have used crafty, cunning as well as clever means to attract attention exclusively to me and to me alone!

In hindsight, I feel ashamed of my many maverick ways to get attention glued on to me!

How i wish to fight off the triple temptations of physical, emotional, and psychological nature which the devil had played on you!

Dear Jesus,

As you know, unlike with you,  the devil has succeeded many many times with me.

I have succumbed to him several times!

I am deeply sorry for yielding to the temptaions.

Yet, in no way, I want to give up my struggle to keep fighting him off.

I know he will keep coming to me whether I am in the "Paradise"  of success or whether I am the wilderness of failures.

I know he will keep coming at every "opportune time."

May the memories of your successful struggles continue to inspire me, May they continue to strengthen me to keep on fighting him off!

Dear Jesus,

I want to spend some time in silence with you in the Wilderness!

Amen

JoAchen

Saturday, February 21st, 2015

joachenmonologues@gmail.com

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PS
Dear Reader,
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations. They are my devotional meditations mainly meant for my personal renewal and spiritual growth. They are a part of my, 'Prodigal Priest's' journaling on my Pilgrimage to the Home of our Heavenly Father. You are welcome to share them.
Dear Reader, I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours.

I plan on uploading a Reflection each on 7th, 14th, 21st, and on the 28th of every month. If you do not want get these Reflections via email, please send a note and your email id will be deleted from the mailing list.

Thank you!

My  Lord and My God!