DAY SEVENTEEN:
Jesus then came to Galilee, to Jordan, where John was. Jesus arrived to be baptised by John, but John
clearly stated to Jesus that it should be he who would kneel to be baptised… Jesus reassured John, saying that the two of them were in this together. They were equals right here, right now, in their shared goal, and before their Father, the Lord, doing as He bid. Jesus went into the water, and as he broke the surface again, arising, the Lord appeared to Him, and to John, we can hypothesise, for when the Spirit of the Lord came unto them as though a dove would float down from the Heavens, He seemed to speak, perhaps, just to Jesus, to reward him kindly in saying well done, but, possibly, to more than just His son, because He spoke like a proud father making an announcement to an audience in a school hall, or a room full of visiting relatives… The Lord proclaimed; This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased… And, the Lord was able to say this to Jesus because of John, who was, at first, reluctant to see Jesus ‘lower’ himself in the asking of baptism by him. But John came to see that Jesus was right, by his trusting in Jesus, and his Father, both Jesus and John himself were able to fulfil the Lord’s wishes. By coming together in the name of the Lord, they achieved a very important step along their own and the planned path… And, to reward and reassure them, the sign of peace came to them; the Lord Himself, who is THE sign of peace, and in a form of this same sign, a dove… The Lord can bestow upon us the ultimate and only true form of
serenity, and when we trust in Him, and do as He can only prompt of us, we become a part of Him, and His
kingdom, His holy design. Suddenly, that serenity is like a sweetness in the very air we breath. It becomes accessible to us, because His kingdom envelops us. It is our safe-harbour, respite, and the most refreshing pool we can ever drink from. We can ‘tap’ (no pun intended!) into it, and get a sweet and reassuring taste of the haven and heaven that is the Paradise of His Kingdom… It is what awaits us. In His kingdom, EVERYTHING is made of this blissful serenity, and it can be our reward, our home to share with Him… Until then, we can live with the calming knowledge, in the midst of our own ‘kingdom’, that it is possible for us to carry and draw upon a little corner or taster of His Kingdom… It’s home can be our hearts, if only we invite it and Him to think of our hearts’ as home…
DAY EIGHTEEN:
Jesus was led of the Holy Spirit, His Father, into the desert, to endure a test of his faith, will, and readiness, for the trials ahead… He fasted there, for forty days and nights, in a place with no temptations, only that which came at the end of his ordeal, and was the real test he faced. He hungered, and suffered alone. The devil tried to take advantage of Jesus’ weakened state, tried to use Jesus’ barren situation to manipulate Him, with the purpose of turning Him away from the path that walked alongside His Father, our Lord… Jesus had ended up in the desert solely because His Father wished it. The Lord had/has a task for his Son. He needed to teach Jesus that He truly would be there standing beside Him, even when Jesus’ human failings left him feeling abandoned by this very same man, His Father. God wished to test his Son, so that Jesus’ strength, if He held onto his faith, would only replenish His resolve, and determination, His defences against the devil… For no one, not even the Son of the Lord, at this point, be invulnerable to the devil’s selfish needs, untouchable prey, unreachable players’ for his game… The Lord knew that Jesus would be His ‘case in point’, His proof, His example to us all, and so, the Lord also knew it to be vital that Jesus learn lessons relevant and invaluable to each of us on this Earth…