Story 8: Jesus in the Desert

Jesus was led by the Spirit, 

Yes, by God himself,

To meet face to face with the Bad One, 

Yes, the Devil of hell.

That Slippery Snake.

That Sneaky Sly Spider.

That Baddest Bad Guy.

The Fake, the Lunk, the Liar.

In the heart of deepest desert, 

Atop the sandiest sand dune,

Jesus had come to be tempted.

Whatever would he do?

Jesus got ready for the Bad One

In a most unusual way.

He didn’t eat and didn’t drink

For forty nights and forty days.

Hungry as the hungriest

Hungries could ever be,

That’s precisely when the Wicked Worm

Snuck up so sneakily. 

The first trick the Bad One tried

Was just to get Jesus fed.

“If you’re really God,” he said,

“Turn these stones to bread.”

Jesus knew that he could

But he knew that he shouldn’t.

If hunger could control him,

Then what on earth wouldn’t?

So Jesus said, “People do not live

On bread and water alone.

They live on God’s own words,

Which taste even better than chocolate-covered ice cream cones.”

“Drat!” sad the Rotten Rat.

His first flip had flopped.

But he had more tricks in his pocket

To bring Jesus to a stop.

They went to the top of the temple

And both looked to the ground.

“If you’re really God,” said the Bad One,

“Jump off, without crashing down.”

Oh, what a Trickster he was,

And bright as he was bad,

For he knew what God had said

But twisted it all by twisting a tad.

For God really did say 

Jesus’ feet would not strike a stone

And angels would protect him

Wherever he would roam.

But Jesus knew better,

Knew enough, knew the rest.

Jesus said, “God also told us:

Do not put him to the test.”

“Crumbs!” sad the Bad One.

His second sneak was snuck.

But he still had more tricks up his sleeve

To get our Jesus stuck.

Now they went to the top of a mountain.

The whole world there to see. 

“I’ll give you every inch,” the Bad One said,

“If you bow at my feet.”

Jesus was truly tired,

Hungry, thirsty, and the hottest a person can feel,

But he knew without a doubt

Before the Bad One he’d never kneel.

Jesus shouted, “Enough is enough!

Get away from me, you Nasty Newt.

God told me to worship only him

So that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

At last the Bad One went away,

Slithered back to his cave so dim.

And angels came to be with Jesus

To serve and comfort him.

Jesus won that day.

He passed the tough test.

And now the time had come

To face up to the next.

Back home he went

To save you and save me

From the Bad One’s traps

For all eternity.

And because Jesus was strong

The Bad One’s grip is all gone.

As it goes in all the songs

Jesus is my hero, always, forever, on and on and on.