At once, this same Spirit tried to push Jesus out into the wild. However Jesus remembered the scripture that said "For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity." and so he knew that only Satan would tempt him into the harsh desert.
Instead he continued on to the temple, where all "anointed" people should go. When he arrived he was welcomed by the scribes and pharisees having just been ritually cleansed. There he spent the remainder of his days studying the scrolls and debating the Sanhedrin on the finer points of theology.
On his death bed he looked around at the wealth he had amassed through the temple tax system and the many scrolls he had written, which had been copied many times and distributed widely. His family and disciples were all around him and he wondered, "what kind of life would I have had if I had gone out into the desert?"
*** This Parable was inspired during a time of reading Mark 1 in which the Spirit Drives Jesus into the desert to be tested. The verb used in the original language is the same kind that would be used to describe a kidnapping or strong armed robbery... Jesus is forced into the desert!
I wanted to play with the idea that we are all offered the choice of what kind of life we will live. We are all offered our "Best Life Now," but perhaps what we consider our best life is less than a shadow fo what God is offering.
This parable also pokes at our interpretations and our taking scripture out of context.
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