Jericho ...

We are traveling with Jesus; accompanying Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. He’s told us He’s going to die; then be “raised up alive.”

We’ve been in Jericho and are now moving through, up the mountain road, out of this unusual City. In reality it’s a lush, tropical oasis. Its spring feeds hundreds of gallons of crystal clear water throughout it and on to the Jordan River a few miles below. It’s a City fit for a Queen. One actually wanted it for her Vacation Palace. Kings aspired to build Palaces and places to play there. And some did. It had been, for nearly a hundred years, a virtual Resort. There were fruit trees everywhere; sweet scented Balsam Plantations; sycamores; feathery Date Palms; Cypress Flowers; gardens of Roses. Its climate is described by one historian as “perpetual Summer.” The pervasive fragrance of its gardens, in harmony with the soft strains of Jerusalem’s Temple music gently carried on the mountain breezes into the lavish valley, gives us the sense that it is fit for the King. There are Priests everywhere. Rumor has it that if they’re not on assignment they’ll rest and recreate in the gardens and baths of Herod’s Jericho. There are Hermits. Wild-eyed Contemplatives coming in from, or trudging out to, caves and shelters in the arid, barren hills off in the distance. There they lived the rigorous regimens of the Anchorite. Watching them now we remember that it was in that mountainous wilderness that Jesus spent 40 days fasting before he began the final, public 3 years of His Mission.

We’re reflecting now as the procession winds up the treacherous, 2500 feet to Bethany and the region around Jerusalem. Satan found Jesus in those desert mountains during his days of fasting, and searching the heart of His Father. The tempter, predictably deceitful, insisted as he always does, that Jesus would be best advised to pursue the true marks of Royalty – pleasure, power, prosperity – but Jesus would have none of it. There’s more to life than pleasure for the True King. Everyman’s life is enriched by more than pleasure. As a matter-of-fact true delight and enrichment come as one hears and takes to heart, “everything God has to say.” In the Kingdom of His Father the “test” of Truth is not that it pleases me. It’s that it pleases the Him. To pursue power is to enthrone and adore oneself. He would worship the Lord God; Him alone. He’d learned long ago that prosperity comes in simple delight with what each day – each moment – presents.

As we watch Him now, striding among the Pilgrims; the Royal Resort brilliant, fragrantly lovely, sun glistening on palatial parapets and lavish structures behind Him, we recognize the contrast. He’s “not to be served but to serve.” The Father revealed this clearly in those dusty mountains out there above the desert’s floor night after night 3 years ago. And today He walks on “worshipping Him – the Father – and Him alone.” “Pleasure,” will come; in His time; on His terms. All “Power” is the Father’s. It will be shared with Him. Yes, but when and how the Father determines. Prosperity: That too is the Father’s. It’s ALL His. The Paradise behind Him is adequate reassurance of that! Life lived Abba’s – Papa’s – Way would always be best. The resolute determination of His stride confirmed His certainty.

Dear Lord! May “our faith not fail!”