LOVE's TEMPTATION
My mind and heart are so full this morning….full of a bitter-sweetness as I reflect, Jesus, on You…on Your life….on Your journey here. What rejoicing You and Your Father must have shared as You stepped into Your Jordan River, submitting Your body to the hand of John as You had and continued to submit Your heart to Your Father. As Your human form was laid beneath the water, how some must have rejoiced….how others must have shuttered. Your own Rubicon …..declared that day, for all to see, though they neither recognized nor understood what their earthbound eyes took in. But Your Father knew…..and understood. How He rejoiced….rejoiced in Your gift to Him….rejoiced in Your gift to those Your loving hand had already fashioned….rejoiced in Your heart…..until it overflowed, shouting His joy and pleasure to ears that were trained to hear Him….pouring forth His Spirit for eyes that were trained to see.
That joy and pleasure called You forth from those very waters of declaration….called You aside…to His side…..called You to a sweet communion with Him that no man could disturb. Man….that master tool of Your ever present adversary!
How often, in years now spent, Your adversary had attempted to hinder Your heart. How often he endeavored to blind Your eyes and deafen Your ears to Your Father. How utterly evident his failure now. So he stepped in…. himself.
As Your Father sent forth His ministering angels, did he seize his chance? Did he slip in among their numbers behind the sham of a servant’s heart? Was it the first time Your earthly eyes beheld him?
Did heavenly memories flood in? Memories of the two of you….standing together….beside the Father with kindred hearts? Did the memories tear at Your spirit filling you anew with a pain so raw it still caused Your soul to bleed in anguish? Did he appear beside You disguised as Your friend? Did he, too, shout hosanna….filling the skies with a feigned pleasure….breaking anew a Father’s heart? Kindling again a Father’s holy ire? A love-bound Father who could only allow Your love to do battle in a realm far beyond this temporal orb.
Recognizing his form…his comeliness….when did You recognize his heart? His heart, not full of empathy…but oozing enmity! Was it a new heartbreak…..a hope-filled pleasure shattered by a love turned self-ward? A love fully engaged against the very You-ness of Your being. Did Your soul silently cry with longing words that would not find utterance until torn from the fruit of a cross-ravaged body, IT IS FINISHED!!
Did You know, even then, that it wasn’t?
Did You see me…..crafted by Your master’s hand….called by Your name before time ever measured its first beat….calling You my Beloved….wearing the guise of friend….only to show myself reflecting the heart of Your eternal adversary….seeing me call into question Your love by my actions…..by my rejection of the liberty You purchased at unimaginable cost…..by allowing myself to be a sham for the heart of one still echoing his rejection down the corridor of the ages?
As I with love turned self-ward cause Your soul to bleed in fresh anguish, do I hear the whispered promise of Your cry in a time yet to come…. IT IS….TRULY…. FINISHED!!!
© DeAnna L. Brooks
8 May 2001
That joy and pleasure called You forth from those very waters of declaration….called You aside…to His side…..called You to a sweet communion with Him that no man could disturb. Man….that master tool of Your ever present adversary!
How often, in years now spent, Your adversary had attempted to hinder Your heart. How often he endeavored to blind Your eyes and deafen Your ears to Your Father. How utterly evident his failure now. So he stepped in…. himself.
As Your Father sent forth His ministering angels, did he seize his chance? Did he slip in among their numbers behind the sham of a servant’s heart? Was it the first time Your earthly eyes beheld him?
Did heavenly memories flood in? Memories of the two of you….standing together….beside the Father with kindred hearts? Did the memories tear at Your spirit filling you anew with a pain so raw it still caused Your soul to bleed in anguish? Did he appear beside You disguised as Your friend? Did he, too, shout hosanna….filling the skies with a feigned pleasure….breaking anew a Father’s heart? Kindling again a Father’s holy ire? A love-bound Father who could only allow Your love to do battle in a realm far beyond this temporal orb.
Recognizing his form…his comeliness….when did You recognize his heart? His heart, not full of empathy…but oozing enmity! Was it a new heartbreak…..a hope-filled pleasure shattered by a love turned self-ward? A love fully engaged against the very You-ness of Your being. Did Your soul silently cry with longing words that would not find utterance until torn from the fruit of a cross-ravaged body, IT IS FINISHED!!
Did You know, even then, that it wasn’t?
Did You see me…..crafted by Your master’s hand….called by Your name before time ever measured its first beat….calling You my Beloved….wearing the guise of friend….only to show myself reflecting the heart of Your eternal adversary….seeing me call into question Your love by my actions…..by my rejection of the liberty You purchased at unimaginable cost…..by allowing myself to be a sham for the heart of one still echoing his rejection down the corridor of the ages?
As I with love turned self-ward cause Your soul to bleed in fresh anguish, do I hear the whispered promise of Your cry in a time yet to come…. IT IS….TRULY…. FINISHED!!!
© DeAnna L. Brooks
8 May 2001
posted by brooklet | 12:28 AM
1 Comments:
I like that. I wonder if Jesus knew the price of the cross? I wonder if even God took a gamble on that. Was it a risk? I wonder.
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