Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Old Friend?

Friends come and go in life.  When they go, sometimes it's a mutual and quiet parting.  Other times things end with a bang and a bad taste.

Every once in a while, after the dust settles, we run into these friends again.  When this happens, wounds may run so deep that it's hard to even look at the other person.  Or each one may be able to act politely toward the other, yet the whole time feeling the pain of something lost and irreconcilable.

Lately, I wonder how the tension felt between Jesus and Satan as they hung out in the desert together.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him...  (Matthew 4:1-3)
Aside from being hungry, hot, hungry, tired, and hungry...what went through Jesus' mind?

What went through Satan's mind?

Because centuries earlier - or maybe only moments, for eternal beings are not confined to time - Satan (then Lucifer) and Jesus shared the same stomping grounds.

Scripture indicates that Lucifer was a very important angel, high up in rank.  I can only imagine that he and Jesus (who is also God, creator of Lucifer) had some form of relationship; whether they were BFFs or had more of a commander-soldier status I don't know.

What I do know is they used to share heaven together.  And then Lucifer messed up and got himself kicked out.

Now here in the desert staggers Jesus - God Himself - humbled to human likeness in a land much less than heaven.  Beside Him is Satan, also from heaven but no longer belonging there, kicked out by the very one who straggles and stumbles in the earthly desert sand.

Did either one of them find this meeting to be awkward?  Did Jesus look into the eyes of His tempter and remember times past when the two of them laughed and joked together?  Did He not only experience and fight temptation that day, but also feel an ache in His heart of a dear friend now gone forever?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed reading this blog. Makes me think a lot. Its sad and also at the same time, one doesn't not want to be around people who are selfish and try to hurt. It would be interesting to know the exact story once we are all up there. I am sure God already knew about Lucifer's evil doings even before he created him. Maybe he just needed a friend for some time. who knows? M-

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