All the kingdoms of the world for Christmas

I thought that while I have a little spare time before the Xmas celebrations I should write a Christmas blog entry. It's just speculation....

What was the voice of Christ like? How did Jesus tell his stories and parables? Was he expressive when he talked? Did his eyes sparkle?

How did Jesus tell the story of his encounter with the devil in the wilderness? The source of this gospel account, if it is to be believed, could only really have come from one person.  Jesus must have sat his disciples down and told them what happened when he went walkabout in the wilderness.

How do you approach a subject like that?

“You have no idea what happened to me when I was in the wilderness...”

“What happened, Lord?”

“I encountered the devil himself...”

And did Jesus smile?

Or maybe, sitting around a fire one night Jesus waited for his disciples to ask him. That would, perhaps be more in character. A little more enigmatic.

“What happened, Lord, when you were in the wilderness?”

“I tell you the truth – my answer will make your ears tingle...”

Then, as Jesus told the story about how he had been tempted by the devil, how did the disciples react? How would anyone react to something like that? As he told them that the devil had offered him all the kingdoms of the world if he agreed to certain terms.

Perhaps the disciples were afraid of some horrific twist. Were they scared that Jesus had sold out? That he had made some kind of pact with their enemy?

But the source of the account must have come from Christ himself, if it is all true. Imagine you were listening to him telling that story. A story about an encounter with the devil and visions of the world and the way Jesus had resisted the devil. There must have been sighs of relief as he told of how he had refused to give in to corruption.

How would you react to a story like that told by a man like Jesus? Would you have questioned further? Would you have believed it? Would you question if evil personified exists – or if it is some kind of psychological projection from within? Or believed it was some kind of allegory? Or hallucination?

Perhaps we have no opportunity to know what the voice of Jesus was like or how he told his parables and stories. But today, we do have a choice whether to believe those accounts or not.

And if Christ looked straight at you as he finished his account, would his eyes sparkle brighter than all the kingdoms of the world?