Into The Wilderness

PARRC Research, Inc.

Omega Files Report:

What If: Hypothetical Essays

And Fictionalized Accounts

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Into The Wilderness

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"Jesus, the only begotten Son Of God, knew that it was time to begin His mission on Earth;

He knew from the stirrings in His immortal soul that the most important time in the history of

man was about to begin.

Upon His shoulders would rest the fate of mankind; in Him would be fulfilled the Law, and

the prophets.

He, the Lamb of God, must be found worthy. He, the Counsellor of future generations of

the Church, must be tempered in preparation for what was to come.

He would be called many things; The Rose Of Sharon; The Lily Of The Valleys;

The Messenger Of The Covenant; A Man Of Sorrows.

Among His names would be Faithful And True; The Prince Of Peace; The Light Of The

World, and The Bright And Morning Star.

He, the Chief Cornerstone of the faith of generations to come, the Chiefest Among Ten

Thousand, must be tested.

For the sake of mankind, and so that all sin may be forgiven, he must walk into the Valley of

Shadows. Alone. Only the Rod in His Hand. The Rod and Staff Of God Almighty.

The Lion Of Judah must not be found wanting. The Forerunner of us all, and for us all, must

be successful.

He must leave that valley, whole and tempered, as a Daystar of truth and power--or not leave

it at all.

The Wilderness. A barren, God-forsaken place of dry, sun-baked days and cold, starless

nights.

He was to be our Shield Of Faith--the Sceptre out of Israel. He was prophesied from time

immemorial, and had come to this place of desolation, a nexus in His journey to the cross.

He could go two ways: one, toward temptation and destruction; the other, toward

resistance and everlasting life--for us all.

The Shield, of burnished, elemental righteousness, must be polished in the next forty days: to

a brightness that would outshine the sun, and banish the darkness of sin forever.

Or man would sink forever into the quagmire of evil prepared for Satan--and ruled by this

most hideous of creatures.

The Wilderness. Where death and destruction waited for the smallest of opportunities.

Where temptation and evil degradation lurked in the rocks and quarries of this void terrain.

Where Satan waited.

Patiently. Malevolently. Hatefully.

Jesus raised up His head, after His baptism. He looked fully into the eyes of John, who had

been born so that his uniqueness could qualify him for this act of the baptism of the Son Of God.

Then He looked then toward the desert which served as the entrance to the no-man's land

which would be His home for forty days.

Inclining His head further, he saw the Spirit of God, hovering dove-like over Him. Then

the Voice:

"BEHOLD: THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED."

With a silent blessing to the name of His Father, He squared His shoulders, left the river,

and walked straightaway into the noonday inferno....

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Ten days. Ten days without food. Ten days with very little water.

His body started to dehydrate from the daytime heat. At night, He shivered in the cold.

He reflexively twitched, knowing that at the finalization of His slightest self-protective move,

angels would come to comfort Him--and Satan would instantly have won.

Satan waited, his hideous persona obscured by shadow. He waited until the lowest juncture

of Jesus' resistance: then, like the serpent he was, he would strike into the heart of His

weakness.

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Fifteen days.

Blistered feet and sunburned skin were the result of His trek so far, only the Staff of God to hold

Him upright. The nights, as well as the days, had taken their toll on Him.

His Divine self was far removed, consciously by Jesus, and His human self suffered mightily.

He dragged on across the Valley. His stomach, long ago dissolved into a knot of pain, then

numbness, weakened from lack of nourishment, causing His whole body to shake convulsively

from time to time. His limbs were drained of strength, as His blood sugar dropped, and His

body began to feed upon itself for nourishment.

Scorpions crept about His feet as He walked; His human self did not notice their presence, nor

that they moved away, allowing Him to pass unbitten. The mercy of God was sustaining Him in

small ways, without His knowledge.

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Soon, around the twentieth day, He reached the end of His strength.

There was nothing left to go on. He collapsed to the desert floor, cracked from the incessant

heat, and it scratched His skin from its serrations. He lay there, unsure as any human,

somewhat afraid, terribly hungry and thirsty. The little water He was able to squeeze from cacti

was far from enough.

He had reached the end of His road.

The sun beat down mercilessly. His skin, blistered and burned from the rays, chafed against

His tattered robes. He ached from head to foot. He wanted to give up. He could not move a

muscle.

Then Satan made his first move.

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"Nazarene."

Waiting for the full effect, seeing that Jesus sat up slightly at the sound of his voice.

'Art thou hungry, Nazarene?' Satan mocked, voice a nauseating whine.

'Since Thou art the Almighty Son Of God, it befits Thee not to lay prostrate, as any

common human, defeated by the elements of thine own creation. Get Thee up, and at

least pretend to be God.'

Jesus painfully looked toward the familiar voice. The horrific visage that confronted

His eyes immediately identified His mocker.

Eyes burning in the sun, fighting to focus, Jesus looked at His enemy.

'I implore Thee, Nazarene, if Thou be hungry enough, feed Thyself; I would not see

Thee suffer.'

Jesus fought back anger, and hatred, His divine self sanctifying and keeping

sacrosanct His nature and sinlessness.

Jesus still felt an intense desire to remove this foul thing from His presence.

The inability to suppress these dark emotions was tantamount to failure.

He must remain spiritually perfect. He must not even, at this point, allow

righteous anger.

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'Counsellor: art Thou still sentient? Canst Thou not hear? Does Thy belly speak

louder than Thee of Thy plight? Thy limbs, poor frail things, bereft of Thine

encumbrance of Godliness, fail Thee for hunger:

Surely Thou couldst turn even the stones around thee into the sweetest of bread

to assuage Thy overpowering hunger; do so, and end Thy Self-imposed

suffering.'

Jesus' body locked into a rictus, galvanized by Satan's words. The weakness

that penetrated His bones was replaced by the suffusing Spirit Of God. He

raised His head first; then got to His knees, and finally, agonizingly, to his feet.

He shook back His head, steeling Himself, overcoming His human frailty as Satan

watched, amazed.

Then He spoke: 'Satan, thou fool! Knowest thee not that thou art thine own greatest

adversary? Knowest thee not the folly of thine own ways? Hast thine own evil so

corrupted thee as to blind further even thine already blinded eyes?

Let mine own reply to thee be a prose which thee might best appreciate:

carry it like a stone back to thine own recesses, till thou wilt come again, burdened

and defeated by it:

MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE: BUT BY EVERY WORD WHICH

PROCEEDETH FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.

In this, Satan, find thy binding fiber, and the fulfilling of prophecy, anathema to

thy very being.

Leave me.'

Howling and hissing, he reluctantly retreated, back into the sulphurous recesses

of this gate to hell, his home....

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Twenty five days. Days of silence. Only the unrelenting sun of the day, and

penetrating cold of the nights for companionship.

He found the isolation and loneliness unbearable, but He knew that He must cross

the wilderness of this valley, so that others might safely cross it after Him....

He sat, in the heat of the day, still, saving His energy. He moved mostly at night

now, the exertion combating the cold, while the rest during the day combated the

heat.

His hunger was a dull ache, deep in the pit of His stomach. He long ago had lost

the power of independent locomotion; His movements were now entirely dependent

upon His staff, dragging Himself through the sandy, rocky terrain. Now he sat, and

soon He had a visitor.

A vulture, with red gleaming eyes exactly like those of Satan, watched Him from

close by. Waiting to pick His bones clean.

Overhead, patiently, the buzzards flew, gathered for the feast.

Then--the vulture spoke: 'I will have Thee, Prophet; soon--very soon now.'

It was the voice of Satan.

Jesus raised His Right Hand, and the shadow from it fell upon the unholy bird

in the sunlight. It screamed, and shot past Him, close enough to brush His cheek,

careening away, shouting curses, then straight up, scattering the buzzards.

The feather that he left behind, laying on the ground, hissed and melted into a

semblance of liquid, burning into the rock like acid.

Jesus rose, asking His Father for strength, and walked away, seeking another

abode for rest until the sun set.....

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In His travels, during the next few days, He came upon an old, wild dog--

weather-beaten and worn beyond compare, and it went with Him, and kept

Him company.

It walked with Him, keeping step as a companion, across the valley.

Jesus looked at his new friend and wondered which of them looked worse.

One evening, as Jesus tried to sleep, His senses, Divine, were aroused to a

menacing presence. He roused up, looking around, seeing nothing.

He looked over at the dog, sleeping.....or was he? He was not breathing.

As Jesus watched, the dog's head rose and turned toward Him. The eyes were

red as flame, like the vulture's. A hellish laugh came from the creature, and it

charged, closing for the kill.

Jesus raised His Right Hand, and froze the wild dog, supernaturally, in

mid-leap. He spoke to Satan: 'Release this animal, and get thee behind me,

Satan: with My victory, your doom, is a-borning.'

The wild dog, released from the demonic possession, ran frightened into

the night. Thus, Jesus lost His only companion during his long journey.

He sat up the rest of the night, praying, asking for strength.

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Then came the thirtieth day.

Thoroughly weakened by hunger, dismayed by the length of His trek, and

lonely beyond compare in this desolate place, Jesus sat in the

relatively safe confines of a small cave that evening.

Without warning, Satan came, his horrific voice piercing the night.

'Nazarene.'

Jesus looked out into the darkness; two red eyes, hovering in the

night, glared at Him with malevolent hatred and mockery.

'Mere man, Who would be God, wilt Thou not answer?'

Jesus sat silent.

'Hast Thou lost Thy voice, healer?'

Silence.

'Art Thou afraid of me, carpenter's Son? Does Thy human heart fail thee now,

in this, Thine hour of testing? I, Satan, who would be Thy master,

seeks audience.'

Jesus, who had been convening with His Father all these days since

Satan's last visit, looked down again at His feet. His strength was

sinking with each passing day, even though his spirit was growing in

power and purity.

'IMPOSTOR!! SATAN, WHO IS THY MASTER, DEMANDS AUDIENCE!!'

Jesus finally answered. His voice was as quiet as spring rain, yet as

forceful as a raging hurricane. Its serenity chilled Satan to his hellish core, and

its implied power drove him back two steps.

'KNOWEST THEE NOT YET, LUCIFER, OF THY DOOM? AS I SIT HERE,

COMMUNING WITH MY FATHER, KNOWEST THEE IN THY HEART THAT I AM.

I AM, THAT I AM. AND I AM FROM EVERLASTING. NO MAN, NOR BEAST,

NOR SPIRIT, NOR FLESH, NOR PRINCIPALITY, NOR POWER, NOR ENEMY,

NOR FRIEND, IS MY MASTER. I WAS, I AM, AND I WILL EVER BE. I HAD NO

BEGINNING; I HAVE NO ENDING. KNOWEST THEE NOT YET, SON OF THE

MORNING, OF THY DOOM?

THY DOOM SITS HERE.

NOW.

INVIOLATE, AND INCORRUPTIBLE.

KNOWEST THEE NOT YET, ADVERSARY? IN BRIGHTEST DAY AND IN

BLACKEST NIGHT, YOUR EVIL WILL NOT ESCAPE MY SIGHT!'

Satan recoiled against the sure truth and knowledge that Christ presented;

whirling around and around in an insane rage, flinging himself to the ground,

behaving much like those whom he and his minions often possess.

Jesus sat, serenely, watching the unholy tirade. Sadly, knowing how Satan used

to be, having watched all the glory fade to corruption.

Collecting himself, Satan approached Jesus again: 'Since Thou art not afraid,

Nazarene, come Thee out of Thy abode, that I might converse with Thee a moment.'

Jesus, knowing the plot a million years ago from omniscience, rose and came

out of the mouth of the cave. Brilliance suddenly assailed His eyes as the

nighttime was lit as brightly as day.

'Nazarene, thou standest upon this mountain, and looking down, viewest in a moment

all of mine kingdom.

Kingdoms of sensations; principalities of fleshly fulfillment; counties of avarice;

domiciles of satiation.

Cities of perversion; fiefdoms of deviation, palaces of engorgements.

Dungeons of pain--so painful as to be pleasure; penthouses of pleasure--so

pleasurable as to be pain; corruption.

Pandemonium, Jesus--my capital city in my kingdom--corruption so deep and so dark

as to make even You forget who You are--these may be found in rightness and

plenitude in my kingdom.

Throngs of happy, demon-driven acolytes and slaves--there for your use, day and night.

Thou wouldest not be confined within the strict bonds of Thy law--Thou wouldst

be able to pursue thy human hearts' desire in abundance.

I speak now to Thy human half. Want Thee not the sensate abundance that I may

provide? Look upon them now, and decide; they art Thine, if Thou wilt but acknowledge

me as Thy God--and give up this futile quest.

What say You?'

Temptation, and the lusts of the flesh; greed, and the lust to possess;

overindulgence, and the lust for power; vanity, and the lust for perverseness;

all of the things that man fights against even today, unsuccessfully, Jesus looked at,

and His human self railed against. He must not bend to temptation; a moment's

weakness, and there could then be no redemption for mankind through Him; He would

no longer be the perfectly worthy vessel of salvation.

He must not recoil, however; He must not hide from His test. He looked deeply into

Satan's cup of demon-fueled vice and avarice, and experienced vicariously

the inherent weakness in man which allows him to fall prey to Satan's wiles. He saw

the momentary rationalizations that men experience, which allow them to do things

against their better judgment. He saw man, in all his need for salvation, and

tears came to His eyes. He saw pitiful man, poor suffering man, and wept for His

children, and their plight.

Looking up, He then saw the kingdoms which Satan could provide; not cities and towns,

but scenarios and theatres by which the lusts of the flesh could be pursued with abandon;

the preparation of stages whereby man could freely act out his perverse pleasures, with

Jesus as the headmaster. The kingdoms of Satan leered at Jesus, a profanity to His

holy eyes.

The deeper He looked, the brighter His eyes blazed with Holy indignation.

The more He saw, the more the righteousness raised up in His Spirit.

The totality of the anti-God kingdoms, and their addictions, finalized this one-act play.

Jesus had prepared well. His only response to Satan's scenes was revulsion,

and turning upon Satan, eyes brilliant now with the radiance of righteousness, the

red lust of hatred in Satan's eyes seemed to pale. Satan shrank back, sensing

rejection.

'NO! NO! It is NOT possible! NO MAN could withstand what I have just shown you!'

He shrilled at Jesus, 'ACCEPT! ACCEPT, AND FULFILL THINE HUMAN

DESTINY!'

Jesus answered in a voice laced with thunder:

'I AM NO MERE MAN, CHILD OF CORRUPTION--

I AM COME TO BE HUMAN DESTINY, IN THE FLESH: THAT MAN'S FUTURE

WOULD LIE WITH GOD THE FATHER IN HEAVEN--NOT WITH THEE IN

PANDEMONIUM:

I HOLD THE KEYS TO YOUR UNHOLY CITY! IT'S AVENUES ARE ALL CLOSED

BY MY WILL--AND NONE WILL TRAVERSE IT'S BYWAYS--EXCEPT BY ME!

YOUR 'THRONE' IS BUILT UPON BRIMSTONE, DEMON--EVEN THE BRIMSTONE

IS MINE!

I WILL NOT KNEEL BEFORE THEE SATAN, A FALLEN TOWER: GOD MY

FATHER ALONE IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP, NOT POWER, NOR DOMINION.

I WILL NOT KNEEL, FOR I AM THE DESTINY AND SALVATION OF MANKIND.

I AM GOD'S SON, AND THY ETERNAL ADVERSARY.

THOUGH MY FLESH WEAKEN HERE IN THE WILDERNESS, MY SPIRIT

SOARS WITH THE PURE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, UPON WHICH THOU

DAREST NOT LOOK.

MY SPIRIT SOARS, IT'S WINGS UPHELD BY THE VERY DRAFT THAT YOU

MEANT TO BRING ME DOWN: YOUR INTENTION WAS TO CLAIM HEAVEN,

AND INSTEAD YOU HAVE INHERITED DOOM!

NOW IT WILL BE SAID, FOR AGES TO COME, THAT INTENTIONS PAVE THE

ROAD TO HELL!'

In an instant, Jesus flared to the brightness of the sun, against which the

brightness of the daylight of Satan's vision was near dark.

Satan stood revealed for a second, horns and hooves, howling as the light of

righteousness burned his scaly flesh. Screaming, he retreated into the netherworld,

promising to return, ever again.....

Nighttime again consumed the plain of the desert. Quiet was again the mantle it wore

as Jesus stood, looking our across the land. Slowly, leaning against His Staff,

He began walking again, ever onward, dragging His tortured body slowly....

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Thirty nine days. Thirty nine days since entering this land, which even though

appearing to be God-forsaken, still offered Jesus opportunity and location to

commune with His Father.

Nothing could separate Jesus from His Father; He knew then that the same would be true

ever onward for Him and His Church.

He had lost almost one-third of His body weight. He was not a huge man in the beginning,

although by no means weak, but now, He was frail beyond compare. The Staff had been

His only means of travel; without it to lean on, He never would have made it.

He also knew that God would provide the same rod, the same Staff, for His Church as

they crossed the valley of shadows, in their due time.

So it has been written, so it shall be done.

He was more of a complete spiritual being now; His perceptions of reality were

changing rapidly now. His priorities and values were now things tempered by more

than man's values and expectations--they were more in conformation to things truly of

importance--and most of all, of God's complete and total will.

His future-vision was perfect: some of the things He now saw filled Him with dread;

others with joy unbounded. He knew His mission with a clarity unsurpassed now, and

was almost across this desolation.

As He moved toward the rim of the valley, which would take Him up and out, He

heard a sound.

'Nazarene.'

Jesus stopped.

'O Thou impostor, thinkest Thou safe now, at journey's seeming end? Thou thinkest

thyself Messiah, which has come to save these pitiful vermin, who art naught more

than a blight in the cosmos. Thinkest Thee omnipotent, half-human? I, who sang

with the morning stars, think Thee not.'

Jesus answered, 'I created thee--AND the morning stars--from time immemorial,

Satan. Forgettest thou so quickly?'

'I see human man standing before me; omnipotent? Deferentially, I say Thee nay.

I see a carpenter's Son--and millions will doubt thee in the future as such; I will send

my armies to plant doubt in men's minds; they will be so confused as to not know

what to believe--and then I will have them, and You.'

Jesus quietly said, 'Send your armies, Lucifer; send my people doubt; cloud their

minds, test their spirits.

They are, after all, merely human, right?

I also will have an army: I will raise them up Myself--and they will make My way

straight in the wilderness--and make my people strong with clarity and truth.'

They will be My people--and they will be indomitable; they will answer the question

in the last days, Who Is On The Lord's Side?'

You will not have this world, Satan; in My Name, they will see to it."

'Nonsense! You will be forgotten 'afore long!

However, if Thou thinkest Thyself God, prove it now herewith: demonstrate Thy

power here and now, against mine, God-man.'

Jesus answered: 'Nothing have I to prove to thee, Satan: I be here still, beyond

all thy machinations. My divinity is manifest, and with it, testimony that as thou seest Me,

thou seest the Father.'

'Then, Nazarene, from the rim of the exit from this land of death, throw thyself

downward: surely wilt thou, the Son Of Man be saved from peril by legions of Thine

angelic minions.'

Jesus answered lastly: His voice was smooth as silk, His power complete.

His voice vibrated with unparalleled, yet restrained energy, terrible, irresistible,

reverberating throughout the valley, as His Divine Self became fully a part of Him.

'SATAN: THY EVIL HAS BLINDED THEE: I NEED NO PROOF OF WHO I AM. I

AM FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING. I HAVE NO BEGINNING, AND NO

ENDING. THIS INCARNATION THOU SEEST REPRESENTS THINE OWN EVENTUAL

DESTRUCTION, AND THE RIGHTING OF THIS COSMOS, WHICH IS MINE. I AM THE

ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE CAPTAIN OF SALVATION OF MANKIND.

I SHALL BE CALLED THE MINISTER OF THE SANCTUARY: THOU, AND ALL THINGS,

A'REST IN SUBJECTION TO ME: EACH BREATH THOU DRAWEST THROUGH THINE

CORRUPTED LUNGS IS DUE TO MINE OWN BENEVOLENCE, E'EN TOWARD THEE IN

THINE EVIL WAYS AND PURPOSES. THOU WILT COME TO DOOM DUE TO ME,

SATAN, AND ALL THY SERVANTS WITH THEE, BY VIRTUE OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS,

ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD.

I AM THE DAYSPRING FROM ON HIGH: IT IS TOO LATE: THIS SOJOURN IS

FINISHED, AND THY TESTIMONY HERE IS THRICE FAILURE, THE CONTINUATION

OF THINE OWN DOOMED AND UNHOLY LEGACY. THE SON OF MAN IS THY MASTER,

AND NONE ELSE. IT IS THE DAYSTAR THAT SHINES UPON THEE.

I AM A STONE CUT OUT WITHOUT HANDS, AND MINE OWN PROOF IS INVIOLATE:

I HAVE BEEN NEITHER CREATED NOR CAN BE DESTROYED, AND HAVE ALL THINGS

IN MY HANDS. THY TEMPTATIONS FALL UPON DEAF EARS, LIKE UNTO EMPTY

SHELLS UPON THE SHORE. THINE OWN DEMENTIA IS COMPLETE, AND UPON THE

BOOK IS THINE ENDING WRITTEN, AND SHALL BE COMPLETED WITHOUT

DETOURING.

I AM THE CHOSEN OF GOD, THE INTERCESSOR FOR MAN: MINE ARE THE KEYS OF

HELL AND DEATH.

I AM THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF FAITH: I AM THE SALVATION OF THE

DAUGHTER OF ZION, AND I AM THY MASTER:

THOU SHALT NOT TEMPT THE LORD THY GOD: BEGONE.'

Satan left, without a word--without a sound.

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On the fortieth day, Jesus limped upon His Staff over the rim that Satan would

have Him throw Himself down from, and out of the valley of the shadow of

death.

He had seen the fleshly temptations that led to the degrading of Sodom, and

of Gomorrah; His future-vision saw the same in Greece, and Rome, and other nations,

and their falls from prominence. Like Babylon, all fallen, by reason of their decadence.

One day, the same decadence would overtake a country, raised up by God Himself

faster than any other nation in history, and threaten its annihilation due to its being

the stronghold of Christianity, thus subject to Satan's attacks.

He had been tempered, by the hardships of starvation, deprivation, isolation,

and exposure.

He had been perfected by the communion, introspection, prayer, and fellowship

with God His Father.

He now knew with certainty, His destiny. For man, He was triumphant.

Looking back one final time before He began the road to His eventual death on the

cross at Calvary, he saw the many temptations and evils that He had traversed,

unscathed, like a bed of hot coals.

He thanked His Father, for Himself, and for His Church, which was yet to come.

For their sake, He had come here. For their sake, He had triumphed.

Turning His back on the barren lands, He walked with renewed vigor toward His

next task. Staff in hand, He would now gather His disciples, and begin the

foundation for what would be called His Church....

As He turned and left, behind Him, flowers now bloomed in what had been 'The Valley

Of Shadows;' in a wilderness; springs flowed, and life began anew....

'I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE........'

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This has been a "What If?" hypothesis. It may have happened this way, and it may not.

One thing is for sure: it did happen.

This hypothesis draws me closer to Him, in His suffering and sacrifice. Though it

may not have been just this way, you may rest assured that trial heaped upon trial was

not recorded in the Holy Book; the volume of which it could not contain.

It is my hope that this illustration keys your spirit, and strengthens your faith.

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