Decisive Encounters

Well, for that He would have to force human liberty, use the strength of divine power. Doing so would be possible, but it would transgress the ethics of the Creator, who wants only free subjects. It would be to succumb to the methods of Satan, upholding that he is right. It would be to acknowledge failure of the divine plan and to justify the accusations of the devil, yielding before him, which would amount to worshiping him.22

Jesus sees the cunning trap and once again replies like a man of faith:

I worship only God and I serve only Him.

The third great temptation of Jesus is the temptation we all encounter when we say to ourselves:

Obtain whatever you want at any cost. The end justifies the means.23

The three temptations attempt to make Jesus separate Himself from divine will, leaving aside His human condition, and to use His divinity for personal gain.

But the account of these decisive moments in the life of Christ clarifies what temptation truly consists of, also for us: it is the struggle with a dangerous desire that challenges us to exercise our freedom on the fringe of divine will.24 In the face of that challenge, we can resist or surrender. But to desire what is unsuitable and to be tempted is not yet to fall. To sin would be to let oneself be captivated by desire in a game of capitulations that has all the ingredients of erotic seduction, that is, one is tempted when lured and enticed by one’s own desires.25

Every temptation contains one of these elements: giving in to a compelling urge that prevails over reason, succumbing to the irresistible desire to see something improper come to fruition, or acting in a way that puts one’s will above all.26 For this, we do not need to look for occasions: they present themselves. We are at war with the worst of ourselves, in a corrupt world, and our daily life is in the middle of the greatest conflict.27

Jesus has been tempted as are the best believers,28 as a mere mortal, overwhelmed and sensitive.29 But He has overcome temptation, remembering that He is also a Son of God, and that if He seeks His help, the latter will never allow Him to succumb.30

Nothing defeats temptation better than the decision to turn to God.31 Because, at the end of the day, it is about choosing between the will of God and ours, behind which the devil always attempts to camouflage himself.

After overcoming this decisive moment, exhausted, at the edge of the abyss, Jesus relishes the incomparable joy of victory over temptation: ephemeral, momentary, as all of ours,32 without witnesses, but heroic.

Having prevailed over the assaults of the enemy latched on to God, the Teacher surfaces stronger, and consequently, more capable to overcome his next assaults.33

The enemy has fled. “Now you can hear the full depths of the desert silence. It isn’t the quiet before the storm, or the silence of the end of the world, but a silence that only covers another, even deeper, silence.”34

Upon putting the backpack on his shoulder to leave the desert, headed toward other struggles, Jesus has already decided that He will be a Teacher, and that He will dedicate Himself to teaching other mortals, one by one, the difficult art of surviving in a besieged world.

He knows that, to carry out His plan, He will have to face new dangers.

What He still ignores is that His first followers are already waiting for Him.

1 . In the biblical world, deserts are places suitable for transcendental encounters. Great spiritual leaders such as Moses and Elijah spent some of the most decisive periods of their lives in the desert. Following their example, throughout history thousands of men and women have renounced the world seeking spiritual enlightenment or communication with heaven in a withdrawn life.

2 . Jesus usually withdrew himself to deserted places to pray, at times including at night (Matt. 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12, 9:28).

3 . See Roberto Badenas, Encounters (Madrid: Editorial Safeliz, 2000, pp. 13-27).

4 . Mark 1:11; Matthew 3:17; Luke 3:22.

5 . Mark 3:20-21; 6:4; John 7:5.

6 . Luke 4:24; Matthew 13:47.

7 . Giovanni Papini, The Story of Christ, Madrid: ABC, 2004, p. 47.

8 . See, for example, the case of the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:4).

9 . These forty days of solitude in the desert remind of other biblical periods of quarantine, always experienced as periods of test: the forty-year exodus in the desert from the city of Israel, which took it from the slavery of Egypt to the promised land; the forty days Moses waited at Sinai before receiving the revelation of the divine law (Exod. 34:28); or the forty days Elijah spent refuged in the desert until finding the strength that would allow him to face the wrath of queen Jezebel (1 Kings 19:8).

10 . Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in his parable titled “The Grand Inquisitor” acknowledges “only one who can appease their conscience can take over their freedom” The Brothers Karamazov, Madrid: Cátedra, 2006, p. 410).

11 . Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Safeliz, Madrid: 2006, p. 68

12 . The account of the temptations of Jesus in the desert is found in the Gospels of Matthew (4:1-11), Mark (1:12-13) and Luke (1:1-13); but only Matthew and Luke give details about the temptations. Luke varies the order of the last two. Here, we follow the order of Matthew given that the latter was a direct disciple of Jesus, and his account presents them in a clearly progressive order. (cf. Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 74-77)

13 . Regarding the meaning of the biblical fast, which does not always or necessarily imply not eating or drinking, see Isaiah 58:5-11.

14 . Regarding the incarnation of Jesus, see Philippians 2:5-8.

15 . —Well, a wallet fell on a subway seat: and with plenty of dollar bills. These rich people have money in abundance and you, poor wretched soul, breaking your back at the service of these exploiters for a wage of pittance. No one sees you. Take the money it contains, which might not be much for the owner. What’s more, it serves him well for being careless. Based on your need of this money at this time . . . who knows if it is God himself who has placed that wallet there, close at hand, in response to your prayers?

16 . Matthew 4:4, citing Deuteronomy 8:3; the verb form of the Greek perfect gegraptai denotes something that “has been written and is still in force.” Jesus nourishes his contact with God through the Sacred Scriptures. His key to defeating, his “magic formula” is: “Gegraptai: It is written, or God teaches (in the Bible).”

17 . Psalm 91:11-12.

18 . “and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory . . .” (Hag. 2:7-8, NKJV). Divine glory in the Bible is always associated with the presence of angels.

19 . —We are alone, silly. Don’t be straitlaced. No one will enter. My wife is traveling. We crave it. Why should we rely on what some papers say to share what our bodies desire? What difference does it make that your husband believes you to be only his, if the only thing that matters in life is the present pleasure?

20 . We notice that the tempter appears in these temptations in a subtle progression, in an increasingly more personal and direct way. The first attack appears as a mere protective insinuation on the part of the peiradson, the tempter (Matt. 4:3). The second bursts in like a clear deceit from the diabolos, the infiltrated, “the one who gets in between” since that is the word’s original meaning in Greek (Matt. 4:5). His third assault will expose him as Satan, name that the Bible quintessentially gives to the enemy of God (Matt. 4:10).

21 . “The Lord [. . .] is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9; cf. John 3:16-17).

22 . The essence of the temptations of the desert is not to make bread from stones, to plunge from the top of a tower, or to kneel before the devil, but to benefit through improper ways, to impose something on others by means of force or to yield to the corrupt methods of despots. It is more a problem of means than ends, because, as Ghandi would say, “the ends inevitably come out of the means.”

23 . The executive position that remains open in the corporation appeals to me more than anything in the world. I know very well what I can do to get my boss to give it to me. If someone finds out, maybe they will consider me a typical social climber who flatters his superiors in order to prosper. But what’s at stake is my future. This is my time, and I will not let it go to waste.

24 . Aside from these temptations that Jesus told his disciples about, we are not aware of the others, and we can only imagine. “The last temptation of Jesus” was not the one attributed to him in any film or novel, of succumbing to the weaknesses of the flesh, although he was also tempted in that. Jesus was young and he certainly did not lack charm.

25 . The apostle James (1:13-15) explains that sin is born (or is “given birth to”) at the end of a process that begins with the enticement of temptation, and it materializes in consummated facts. Given our sinful nature, the more we move closer to that denouement, the closer we are to committing the irreparable.

26 . 1 John 2:16 Calls these seductive elements “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” Innumerable forms of seduction lie in wait for us and incite us to make mistakes that distract us from what is truly important and separate us from God.

27 . “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). “It has been said that the devil’s last trick was to spread the report of his own death . . .” (Giovanni Papini, The Story of Christ, p. 50)

28 . The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in everything just as we are but that he never sinned (Heb. 4:15). Hence, we must not confuse temptation with sin.

29 . “Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own lives; and for them it has little interest. But within the domain of every human heart [. . .] the enticements which Christ resisted were those that we find it so difficult to withstand [. . .] the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world and upon the love of display which leads to presumption. These were the temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily overcome us.” (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 68)

30 . Since we are fallen beings, our victory lies with picking ourselves up each time we fall, and better yet, in not falling again. The only way to defeat temptation is how Jesus defeated it: with the help of the divine power.“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb. 2:18).“Jesus revealed no qualities and exercised no powers that we may not have through faith in Him” (Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, p. 433). “For unless He met man as man, and testified by His connection with God that divine power was not given to Him in a different way to what it will be given to us, He could not be a perfect example for us” (Manuscript 21, 1895) Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. Washington: 1955, Review and Herald publishing association. “With the same facilities than man may obtain, withstood the temptations of Satan as man must withstand them.” (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, June 9, 1898)

31 . “Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means.” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, ch. 11)

32 . Luke 4:13 states that the devil left him “until an opportune time.”

33 . “Temptation once resisted will give power to more firmly resist the second time; every new victory gained over self will smooth the way for higher and nobler triumphs. Every victory is a seed sown to eternal life.” (Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, 1889, p. 120)

34 . Amos Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness, Madrid: Ediciones Siruela, 2007, p. 376.

1

The Meeting

The peacefulness of the afternoon falls upon the hollow of the valley. The shadows stretch their embrace through the crossroads of the ford and slowly ascend the steep hillsides. The chirping of the cicadas begins to subside; and from the ponds—behind the oleanders in bloom—the croaking of frogs rises in clear notes.

The quavering bleats of flocks returning to their pens slowly fade. From the bramble patches and myrtles arrive the humming sounds of bees, intent on the sickly sweet remains of the last berries. Below, beyond the murmur of the sugar cane fields and the quagmires bristling with reed beds and papyruses, the Jordan meanders, loamy and green.

Two young men wait impatiently, at the crossroads, under the precarious coolness of the willows.

They have arrived at this mystical place, following many other seekers of God. It could be said that at the bottom of this depression—steeped in history, the most sunken in the world, in the void left by major cities struck down by the divine fire1—the distance from heaven pains the most; consequently, the nostalgia of drawing closer to Him is felt the most.

From their precarious observatory, the travelers spot, mounted on the last cliff of the desert, the monastery thereon built by the Essenes, facing the Dead Sea, in order to always maintain, in the monks’ sight, the accursed effects of sin, and to distance themselves from it with their ascetic rites.

If Andrew and his friend were to decide, they could knock on its door that very afternoon and request their admission in the community, giving in to recent temptations. A novice of their age, proudly draping himself in his white robe, had extolled, with a serious frown and an ardent look, the purifying virtues of monastic spirituality:

To rid ourselves of evil, we must withdraw from the world. There is no possible salvation in Israel. Do not listen to its apostate clergy: it deceives you. We are the faithful remnant, those who live by the sanctity that the divine judgment demands. Your corrupt Teachers of the law do not hold the truth. The Teacher of Justice is the only one who teaches it. Keeping its precepts2 is the only path to enter into the kingdom of God.

The young man seemed to be very convinced. Yet, is it not that the kingdom of God can be accessed only by renouncing the risks of life in society? Is it not of cowards to flee from danger? His friends the Zealots, with whom they sometimes met in secrecy, stressed upon them almost the opposite:

We must impose the kingdom of God and build it ourselves, breaking by any means necessary the yoke of the idolatrous oppressor. We have to fight with our own hands, with our own strength, and even with our own blood if necessary, against the enemies of the Lord of hosts if we want the Messiah to come to free us from Rome and from all the evils.

Their friends, the Zealots, were also very sincere and fanatical, brave up to the sacrifice. One of them had died as a martyr, crucified for being a terrorist a short time ago.

Whom to follow? That is the big question that torments the idealist minds of the young travelers. Which path leads to salvation . . . that of a fight to the death against the adversaries of God, or that of isolation from the world?

Foolish dilemma, reply the Sadducees with haughtiness. Heaven belongs only to God. For mortals there is no more “kingdom” than what they get hold of for themselves. The Almighty metes out blessings and punishments in this life because there is no other. He rewards or sanctions according to His sovereign will, without us always knowing the reason for his decisions.

To which the Pharisees claim:

Grave heresy. The Torah clearly indicates the route to follow: God saves through observance of His law. Divine justice will inexorably reveal itself in the coming judgment regarding your conduct in this life. Your actions save or condemn you. After the inevitable death, the supreme Judge decides if the scales of your good actions, prayers, fastings, and charities, surpass the weight of your sins.

Perplexed at this crossroads of paths, the young men do not know what direction to take. That is why they have traveled from afar to here, the ford of Bethabara, driven by their uncertainty and by their absolute thirst, to hear the new prophet in person. Compelled by his message, they have answered his call:

Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens approaches, and demonstrate through your fruits the conversion of your hearts. Let God cleanse you of your past, being reborn, through baptism, into a new life. Only God can save us from ourselves and transform us through his power. I baptize you with water, to mark the breaking of a new birth, but He who comes after me will submerge you in the atmosphere of the spirit.

They have heard it from his lips. To quench their spiritual thirst, the restless travelers have to steer their course toward a new guide, and such is not the Baptist.

Are you not the awaited Messiah? his opponents had asked.3

No, I am not. I am but a voice calling in the desert to prepare the way for him. The Teacher who is to come is your guide. Moreover, He is the proclaimed Lamb of God, the only one capable of saving the world from its sins and of opening the gates of heaven for us all.

The clue does not seem very clear, but the travelers already know that the key to what they are seeking is not there, in the ford of the Jordan, neither in the caves of Qumran, nor in the temple of Jerusalem; and neither in the daggers of the Sicarii nor in the classrooms of the Teachers of the law. The course to follow will be indicated by the promised Savior.

Their restlessness is incited when the prophet points out in the distance, with his gaunt right hand, a wayfarer walking down the side of the mountain:

At last, there He comes. Follow him wherever He guides you.

Seized with emotion, the young men impatiently draw near to encounter Him. That man who approaches whistling, with an angular, sun-tanned face, is the Teacher whom they must follow.

But the wanderer is unaware that He is expected and continues without stopping.

Although His pace is steady, He does not appear to be in a hurry, and the young men do not have any trouble catching up to Him. Intimidated by His proximity, they do not dare to address Him and walk behind Him, feeling inhibited. They follow Him so closely that the traveler notices their presence, stops while smiling, and with a deep but welcoming voice, asks them:

What do you seek?4

The young men, taken aback, do not manage to reply, because they do not know how to articulate what they seek. They feel disoriented, confused, dissatisfied with their lives and wish to find a path that will give them meaning and make them happy. But they do not know how to put into words the object of their search.

The Baptist had given the traveling Teacher the enignamtic title of “The Lamb of God.” 5 Strange name that, like a key or a secret code, seems aimed at clarifying a mystery. However, they, at the moment, have few details to resolve the enigma.

The Lamb of God so far from the temple, apart from the altars, alien from the circle of priests and their sacrifices?

The lone traveler, who does not exude an aroma of either incense or smoke but of thyme and rosemary, repeats his question. And it has nothing to do with rites, clergy, or theologies: it has to do with them, with their lives, with their here and now:

What do you seek?

What they seek is undoubtedly not very different from what other serious young people search for at some point in their lives. They seek, beyond any immediate urgency, what they truly lack in order to direct their dissatisfied existence: a reliable guide, a lasting love, someone with whom to share life, a gratifying vocation, a faith, a project that will make them dream.

What do you seek? The traveler insists.

And they, who cannot envision what they seek, muddle through with another question:

Teacher, where do you reside?

They want to know where to find the Teacher when they need him. Their question is equivalent, in an indirect and possibly unconscious manner, to the answer: “Perhaps we seek you.” Because many times, without knowing, we seek something when in reality we need Someone.

The two friends wanted to know where they could listen to the teachings of the new rabbi recommended by the Baptist. They do not expect anything now nor do they ask for anything special. They do

not feel worthy of the personal attention from someone like Him. They want only to join the group of His possible followers. They hope that it will grant them access to the privilege that is enjoyed by the disciples of the few Teachers they know in their environment: to attend on a regular basis, after the day’s occupations, the place where the Rabbi shares His knowledge. They have so many concerns that, in a brief meeting, along the side of the road, they cannot receive what they yearn for. They desire to be alone with Him, to sit at his feet and receive his teachings.6

Their question is timid and respectful; it indicates, further, that those males are younger than the one whom they already call “Teacher.”7

Jesus understands their question well. He also knows that “to reside” is more than to stop for a moment. To reside is to dwell, to inhabit, to live in, or to remain. And He has no intention of staying there, by the desert. For that reason, he does not show them a place, but a presence:

Come and see.

That is, “Follow Me.”

To the surprise of the travelers, the new Teacher does not confine himself to any permanent domicile. He lives in the “come” and “see” of those who follow him. He is found coming and seeing: departing from where we are and discovering what we could not see. Drawing nearer to it and observing closely . . .

The traveler tells His road companions that in order to find what they seek, it is enough for them to come and see.8 If to come one must get under way; to see, one need only to open one’s eyes. The essence of their search entirely rests upon two action verbs, which he conjugates as two invitations: to approach him, and to keep the eyes of the soul wide open.

Additionally, God, whom they truly seek, can be found everywhere, even where most unexpected. It is not necessary to turn to sacralized spaces for that purpose, where some would like to demarcate the privileges of the encounter. Because there are people who soon after becoming aware of a place where someone once had a glimpse of the divine immediately take control of it and create upon it an oratory, a temple, a basilica or monastery, which they zealously keep under their own tutelage. To find him, you need only follow him. And that is what John and Andrew are doing.

With this warm welcome, with his intriguing message, and with the endearing enchantment of his voice, Jesus bewilders those who are accustomed to being guided through orders and prohibitions. He unsettles and disorients them, because the Baptist himself had incited them to the conversion wielding threats of axes and fire.9 Jesus proposes a transformation that goes in the same direction but through a different route, despite also using strong images at times. In this manner, a new era in the spiritual experience of these young men is ushered in. The speech from the Baptist served, at the time, to raise in them the fear of the divine judgment; but, to the new Teacher, what these young men now need is not to tremble in fear but to shudder with enthusiasm.10

He knows the depth of their thirst and what can transform their lives. That is why He invites them to follow Him, not with orders or demands, and not with resorting to the fear of punishment, but with a simple and cordial welcome, making them desire the adventures of discovery. His positive pedagogy arouses in these young men the urge to progress, advance, and grow.

The newly initiated Teacher has just come across His first two disciples.11

He has given up the easy routine of His profession as a craftsman to follow the difficult vocation of an educator. He has stopped building and furnishing homes to start building and furnishing minds, a challenging call that imposes on His spirit with all the force of that which comes from heaven.