Johann Quisumbing

An Adventure Story of Yeshua bar Yosef by JQuisumbing

“Wake up, Yeshua bar Yosef! You are sleeping the day away.”

Yeshua opened one eye just enough to peer at the one speaking to him. He knew to expect somebody, but what stood just outside his shelter was a sight that made him tilt his head up, blink his eyes twice so as to get a clearer look. There, standing yards from him was a tall figure of a person all dressed from head to foot in shimmering gold. It was so ostentatious, that even though he was feeling weak, the humor of it was worth getting up for. 

Yeshua slowly stood with an audible grunt, at the same time he grabbed the rake that he had made and leaned on it like a staff. Then, with a laugh, the golden person jovially bowed with arms spread wide, saying, “Well, good morrow to you on this fine day.” 

Yeshua couldn’t make this person out. The face was both handsome and pretty. Even the voice was indistinguishable between a male and female. He was hearing both. As he/she straightened out, he/she tossed his/her head back, causing the golden hood to fall back on his/her shoulders revealing long jet-black loches.  

In the back of his mind, he heard, ‘Behold, the Tempter.’ For some reason, he had another image of this being who was once the anointed guardian of that fabled garden. The Tempter noticed Yeshua staring.

“Ah, do you not like my garment? Maybe too garish for you? How about this?” 

In a blink of an eye, the Tempter’s golden robe was replaced by a pristine white toga. The long lochs of hair also transformed into the short cropped style of the Roman gentry and on his head was a golden laurel wreath, a coronet used only by an emperor.

“Ah, this is much better. The Romans do know their comforts.” The Tempter started to twirl around and around, showing off his outfit. As Yeshua watched, he felt deep sadness. It was not regret. For Morning Star had once been the beloved and trusted cherubim of his Father. His station was the highest amongst the spirits. Great things were expected of this creature, but he was not content. The Tempter desired much, especially his Father’s throne. 

Not wanting to watch anymore, Yeshua placed his rake on his shoulder and walked away. He stopped at that part of the canyon where he drew those lines many weeks ago. The patterns on the sand were mostly gone. Smiling, he picked a spot and started to draw. He was at it for about an hour, when the Tempter spoke to him from on top of a boulder.

“I have been to your house. Your family is well, at least, your mother and your sisters are good, but your brothers… well, they are not too happy with you. You left a lot of work for your brothers to finish on their own. I’m afraid that business will go down as the quality of work plunges because you’re not there anymore. Clients who look for you will not want to stay. I do hope that they will be able to pay this year’s taxes. And there is James. He was looking forward to going to Sepphoris, to train to become a Pharisee.”

Yeshua knew all too well what James desired. Originally, the Synagogue leader of their village offered to send Yeshua to learn under Simeon ben Gamaliel who would annually come to the Galilean capitol to teach. He never pursued it and James, who wanted it more, resented him for it. But he knew that he would get over it… eventually.

“Do you really think it will be worth doing? Moses thought he did and look what it got him. So he didn’t follow the instruction by the letter. He did stay faithful for the longest part of that 40 years in the wilderness and yet he was not rewarded. The look on his face as he stood on Mount Nebo, watching his people, the very people that he led out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery, march down to cross into the promised lands, was that of a man who felt cheated. And to add to the insult, he was granted a clear view of the land- the land that he was denied entry. Do you think that was fair? Do you really think that it will be better for you? Nothing to say?” 

Yeshua’s legs began to shake. He paused in his drawing, to rest his forehead on his staff. 

“Ah, yes starvation! Why are you killing yourself like this? This is what I was talking about. Why you had to forgo eating for forty days, is beyond my understanding.”

After a while, Yeshua started to smell bread baking, but he knew there was no oven near him.

“You must be very hungry. As I said earlier, I was at your mother’s home. Do you know what she was doing? She was baking your favorite bread. I really love it when your imma would blend barley into the wheat, adding in just the right amount of olive oil, then the yeast. Do you know that it is an art to know how long the bread needs to rise before going into the ovens? Well, your imma is one of them. When those breads come out of that oven… ah, the aroma… and when you pour honey on those steaming bread, oh glory!”

Yeshua again smelled newly baked bread, his mouth watered and stomach grumbled loudly.

“Come, Son of Adonai. You can do no wrong by eating. Look here…” Yeshua saw him pick up a stone from the ground and raised it. “You have the power to create worlds. For you to turn this stone into bread is child’s play. So, I say again. If you are the Son of Adonai, tell these stones to become bread.”

Then, in his mind’s eye, he was in a desert wilderness. The million or so Hebrews before him had been about two months freed from the clutches of slavery in Egypt. They had witnessed Adonai’s great power and deeds. They watched Egypt humbled by the ten plagues He sent to free them. And when Egypt came after them, their chariots were blocked by a great pillar of fire never seen by any man before. Even when cornered against the Red Sea, they saw the Lord’s breath part the waters so that the people may cross on dry ground. They saw all that Adonai had done all for them but yet they grumbled. How could a people be so stiff-necked and not see that the Lord shall provide for them even before asking? It is no wonder that the words of Moses rang clearly in his mind. ‘And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that…’¹

Then Yeshua heard the vaulted voice of his Father, “Speak!”

Yeshua stopped what he was doing and faced the Tempter with a knowing smile, then said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.’ ”²

The Tempter conceded this first round. He disappeared with no fanfare.

Footnotes: [1] Deuteronomy 8:3; [2] Matthew 4:4

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