forty days later

Look, there on the mountains  the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!  (Nahum 1:15)

Cut in to a picture of a pair of feet. They are dusty and cracked and very brown. One of the toenails is growing out from being hit by something – a rock or root. The sandals are ordinary and have been worn to the point that they will need to be replaced before long.

They are standing on a piece of rocky ground. There are stunted plants around, some prickly pear. A scorpion scuttles by not far from the right foot.

Bring the picture out a bit more and there are the legs visible from about mid calf down. The clothes are dirty. It has been a long time since the one wearing them has had them laundered. They are also ordinary, nothing fancy. Just utilitarian sandals and clothing.

The hands are visible now. Like the feet, they too are cracked and dirty, and very brown from the sun.

The face comes into view. Unkempt, tangled hair, cracked lips, burned face, emaciated features, yet there is a serenity in his eyes that is at odds with the rest of him.

That serenity was not there forty days ago. Forty days ago, he had been baptized by John the Baptizer, they called him. Forty days ago, the Spirit of God came to rest on his shoulder like a dove. The Lamb of God John had called him, who came to take away the sins of the world.

Forty days ago, the full knowledge of who he was flooded over him.

And it scared him to death. Or at least he thought he might die from the enormity of it all.

Forty days ago, he had stumbled into the wilderness in a daze. He had gone home, gotten some water and took off. Mary kept calling after him, asking what was wrong. But he couldn’t talk.

Forty days ago, he was afraid. Now he knew what he was going to do. Now he had reached the acceptance of his mission.

Forty days later, he emerged from the desert a different man. Forty days ago, he was a carpenter who had felt the hand and call of God on his life from a very early age. He had always known there was something special he was to do. He figured that maybe he was going to be a prophet or something like that, but he was thirty years old and God had still not called him out.

Now he knew. He was the Son of God, the Messiah.

He figured he had sat around long enough now. He had better get busy. First, though, he would talk to his mother. He had some questions.