Desert Drifter's Greatest Adventure Yet

I am greatly saddened to hear of the passing of my favorite hiking content creator on Youtube: Andrew Cross, otherwise known as Desert Drifter. For similar reasons to why I also like Steve Wallis as a content creator, I primarily enjoy Desert Drifter's channel because of Andrew's relaxed vibe. His passion for exploration is infectious, and I highly recommending his channel. It's amazing how quickly he rose to Youtube stardom! At the same time there's no mystery to it if you watch his incredible videos. Though I never knew him personally, I know he is the type of person I would have enjoyed hanging out with. His sense of wonder is charming to behold. I can only imagine the next-level wonder he is experiencing as of yesterday, March 4, 2025.

Andrew's wife Evelyn released a video on his channel several weeks ago about a terrible car accident that Andrew was in. He experienced severe brain trauma and strokes. Many people including my mom and I had been praying for his recovery. Though his condition seemingly stabilized for a while, it was announced that he took a turn for the worse. His family made the agonizing decision to take him off life support and place him into the hands of his Heavenly Father. He passed on shortly thereafter.

Evelyn's recent video gave me great hope and comfort - to know that both she and Andrew are believers in Christ. Because of this, I know Andrew is with the Lord Jesus Christ. Though we are grieved by the loss of him on earth, he is in a far better place. The accident seems like a senseless waste, but I'm actually jealous. I wish I could be called home to Christ as he was. I have confidence that is the reason he passed so suddenly in the way that he did. Though in my view, he could have had a great impact by continuing to live with us here on earth, God had other plans.

There are never proper words for situations like this. We do our best to comfort ourselves and those hurting most with spiritual sentiments, but it always feels insufficient. But in this case, we have more than mere words. We have most excellent promises from the most trustworthy Source possible.

If Christ is not risen from the dead, then no one has hope. If Jesus is not who He says He is, then everyone is dead in their sins. Yet those of us who hope put our hope in Him and believe everything He says about Himself and about our future in Him. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life!

I recently understood a new angle when I read that verse recently. It's worth reviewing the entire passage in John chapter 11...

The Death of Lazarus

¹ At this time a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² (Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.) ³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”

⁴ When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So on hearing that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two days, ⁷ and then He said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸ “Rabbi,” they replied, “the Jews just tried to stone You, and You are going back there?”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? If anyone walks in the daytime, he will not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.”

¹¹ After He had said this, He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.”

¹² His disciples replied, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get better.” ¹³ They thought that Jesus was talking about actual sleep, but He was speaking about the death of Lazarus.

¹⁴ So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

Jesus Comforts Martha and Mary

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already spent four days in the tomb. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, a little less than two miles away, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him; but Mary stayed at home.

²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask of Him.”

²³ “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her.

²⁴ Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. ²⁶ And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

²⁸ After Martha had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside to tell her, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” ²⁹ And when Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him.

³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him. ³¹ When the Jews who were in the house consoling Mary saw how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. ³² When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you put him?” He asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they answered.

³⁵ Jesus wept.

³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷ But some of them asked, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept Lazarus from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸ Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” Jesus said.

“Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”

⁴³ After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴ The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth.

“Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.

I don't believe Jesus wept because he was overcome with emotion regarding the death of his friend Lazarus. Yes, Jesus is human. He is capable of experiencing grief, sorrow and other human emotions. But He is also God.

Jesus clearly had a bigger picture of the events surrounding Lazarus' sickness than anyone else. He knew that Lazarus would die. He predicted it beforehand. He even intentionally delayed long enough so it would happen. Why? Because He desired the glory of God more than the comfort of men. God had a bigger plan in this.

What good could possibly come from letting Lazarus die, when Jesus had the power to easily heal him? That's what Lazarus' sisters were certainly thinking, and many of us short-sighted people also think throughout history, especially when we have to face trials, suffering and loss ourselves. And yet, thanks to the death of Lazarus, we have some of the most beautiful hope-filled verses in the entire Bible. So hopeful are these words that they have been recited by pastors and priests at a huge percentage of memorial services and funerals. I believe this truth was so important, that Lazarus had to die twice for the story to be recorded for our benefit many centuries later.

Just like Thessalonians 4:13-18 offers hope to those who suffer loss, Jesus offers us the greatest possible hope. He IS. Do you know what that means? It means He is God, Yahweh.

Martha had faith that God could resurrect the dead. Read verse 22 again. She knows about the eventual resurrection of the dead. But she believes GOD will do that. She even believes Jesus can ask God for this "even now" and probably secretly hoped Jesus would ask the Father to raise her brother. It seems strongly implied in the text. Otherwise why would she say such a thing in verse 22? This is the new angle I hadn't noticed before... that Jesus was highlighting His own distinctive abilities and wasn't satisfied with the faith His people had in the Father alone. They need Him specifically because without Him, they don't have the Father either (1 John 2:23).

Martha lacked one thing only... she failed to see that Jesus Christ Himself had the power to do whatever He wanted. Yes, He could have asked His Father. But Jesus IS. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus the Son is submissive to the Father (especially when He took on flesh and "emptied Himself" - Philippians 2:5-11), but He also has the power and divine attributes of God Himself (Colossians 2:9-10, Hebrews 1:1-3, John 14:6-11, John 1). He is equal to the Father. Even the Pharisees recognized Jesus' claim of divinity (John 10:33 and others), and they eventually sought to kill Him for what they considered to be "blasphemy". Turns out Jesus was simply stating the truth, and they tragically missed out on God with us, Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23).

I believe the reason Jesus wept a few times in this passage is because He saw that most people around Him didn't believe in His nature and power. And those that don't believe die in their sins (John 8:24)... and this makes Him very sad! I have mentioned this before, perhaps on my blog, certainly in my journals. Nothing new there. You can see that each time Jesus weeps, it is after someone says doubting words. Anyone who doubts the Son and His nature and capabilities is lost.

It must have been devastating for Jesus to see even His closest friends and followers not recognize who He is (John 1:11). Even His twelve disciples didn't understand His nature fully until He was risen from the dead. Then the Spirit guided them into all truth. Without the Spirit, all flesh is dead and unwise toward the things of God (Romans 8:1-11). For the longest time His disciples wished that Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom and overthrow Israel's enemies because they misunderstood the prophecies. Thankfully, Jesus had bigger things in mind than political standing. He saw us in His future: a kingdom, church, bride and family that He would claim for Himself!

Please don't miss the truth of who Jesus is. He is the only way to the Father. The Father - God - saw fit to send His own Son. Any who reject the Son reject the Father and call Him a liar... for they reject the Way that He has provided (1 John 5:5-13). Please carefully consider this passage and understand who Jesus is and how important it is to know and trust in Him. There is no other way. We all need Him, and we are completely lost without Him.

I only learned recently through this tragedy that Desert Drifter's name is Andrew Cross. I was just a casual viewer and had not become acquainted with his personal life. I also didn't know before Evelyn's announcement that they are believers. Now I love to know those things. It makes me appreciate his videos even more with that bit of knowledge. And to know they are in Christ is everything. I'm so glad she shared that.

I chose the odd title of this website - Esotropiart - because crosseyed.com and other similar domains were already taken way back in 2001. Esotropia is the condition of being cross-eyed, and so it is for me a double entendre. I hope to always keep my eyes focused on the cross of Christ. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, we are provided the only Way to overcome death - through belief in Him. I encourage everyone who reads this to put your faith in no one but Jesus Christ. No one else can deliver from death, and by no other name can anyone be saved.

Andrew Cross is more alive now than ever before, more than all of us. If I am also in Christ, then Andrew is my dear brother, and I will see him someday. Perhaps he will permit me to join him for a hike to explore the places we will inherit together in Christ.

If you read this, please keep Evelyn and the rest of Andrew's family in your prayers.