As the world remains gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic that has completely transformed our way of life and altered our priorities and filled so many with immense suffering, one can only look back to the to the life of Jesus, especially the time when he spent 40 days and nights in the desert at Mount Quarantania (Jabal al-Qarantal, according to Islam), located outside the boundaries of society, based on Judeo-Christian and Islamic writings.

Jesus lived during a time of illness as does the world today with every country and continent except Antarctica afflicted by COVID-19. “And verily, [God] raised Jesus… in a time when chronic illness appeared and the people were in need of medicine.”

His 40 days and nights fasting in the desert alone by himself – quarentyne, which by definition means “space of 40 days” and is characterized by “severe isolation” is analogous with the quarantines imposed on global society that include social distancing, social isolation, lock downs, and shut downs.

During his time in the desert, Jesus put aside physical needs and the tangible things of the world for self-denial, fasting (the equivalent of COVID-19 victims loss of sense of taste, smell and appetite) and asceticism. Consequently late into his fast Jesus suffered terribly and was tempted by the devil who urged him to make bread out of stones to alleviate his hunger,[1] to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple and who offered him all the kingdoms and material things of the world – the complete opposite of his spiritual objectives.

After fasting forty days and forty nights, [Jesus] was hungry. The [devil] came to him and said, “…tell these stones to become bread” [Matthew 4:2-3] to which Jesus replied, “[One] does not live on bread alone.” [Matthew 4:4]

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “…throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels… and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’” [Matthew 4:6] to which Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord… God to the test.’” [Matthew 4:7]

“[T]he devil then took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you…’” [Matthew 4:8-9] to which Jesus declared, “Away from me, Satan!” [Matthew 4:10]

During this period, it is likely Jesus felt scorched during the hot desert days, the equivalent of the intense 103°+ F / 39.4°+ C fever many COVID-19 victims suffer from, hypothermia during the desert nights from prolonged exposure, constant perspiration under the hot sun, and dehydration, also the equivalent of the violent shivering and chills many COVID-19 victims endure. At the same time, the interaction Jesus had with the devil can be equated to fever-induced phantasmagorical hallucinations many COVID-19 victims also experience – “Fever… terrible pain… diarrhea… hallucinat[ion]…”[2]

Considering a bat is likely the original source of COVID-19 with the intermediary species that passed it on to humans unknown, a Shiite narrative mentions, The people asked Issa (Jesus)… in ridicule, “Create a bat for us, and put a spirit in it…” Then he took some clay and made a bat and breathed into it. Then it suddenly flew between the sky and the earth.[3]

Add Isaiah 2:20 – “In that day people will throw away to the… bats their idols… which they worship” and another Shiite narrative “Woe unto you! What were your deeds?” to which a spokesperson for the afflicted villagers answered, “Worshipping the idol (al-Taghut) and loving the world with little fear and much desire…”[4] and the similarities to the pre-COVID-19 world are striking. Society in general exalted celebrities and athletes, and with the greatest period of global economic prosperity without a recession for the entire 2010-20 decade, exhibited an unquenchable appetite for material satisfaction. These priorities have figuratively been tossed to the bats as society has rediscovered true heroism – the often unseen and unappreciated that protect, heal and provide for their needs – and has recognized true worth is measured in the presence of loved ones, health, and our very life for “tomorrow is promised to no one.” [Psalm 103:15]

Also like us, who went to bed healthy one pre-COVID-19 night in mid-November only to awake the next morning in a COVID-19 infected world, the village spokesperson in the Shiite writing declared, “We slept at night healthy and entered into the morning in… a burning abyss[!]”[5]

It is for this reason Lenten requirements were cancelled since in reality as the world suffers from COVID-19, food and supplies shortages, locust plagues (across Africa and the Middle East including in parts of Israel, the holy land and China, where the COVID-19 outbreak began), social isolation through lock downs, and economic losses through furloughs, layoffs and a great depression-like reality while essential workers risk their health and lives on a daily basis, Bishops have declared – “People have sacrificed enough!”[6] Our own, individual, personal and figurative journey into the desert that in all likelihood includes prayer (or should) in this COVID-19 pandemic, as Jesus had done nearly two-thousand years ago is a sacrificial act far greater than mere abstinence, the giving up of an item or behavior during Lent, and fasting.

Ultimately, based on Christian and Islamic teachings, Jesus raised the dead and healed the sick: “so he brought from [God] the like of which they did not have (Issa – Jesus), and that by which he lent life to the dead, and he cured the born blind and... leper[s]…”[7]

“But when the sun was setting, all those who had people sick with various diseases [were] brought… to [Jesus]. By laying his hands on each one of them, he cured them.” [Luke 4:40]

And like Issa (Jesus) gave life to the dead villagers who had succumbed to disease in the Islamic narrative, Jesus through Shiite narrations, 15, he gives life to the COVID-19 survivors and those recovering from this terrible pathogen.

“Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended to him.” [Matthew 4:11] This is certainly equivalent to those who have recovered or are on the mend from COVID-19 when the symptoms leave! And for some, the angels attending to their needs are the selfless and heroic healthcare workers who have put themselves in harm's way!

Therefore, on this Resurrection Sunday, when Jesus went beyond giving a temporary extension of days on Earth to the dead such as Lazarus and defeated death for once and for all so that all may have life eternal, let us rejoice! Let us never give up on hope, for there will be a post-COVID-19 era; the world will be healed through God’s selfless, unlimited, unconditional and eternal agape love and because we are HUMAN-strong such that no adversity including this pandemic is too great to overcome.