Falling into Sin

“After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.”

John 13:27a

What a chilling verse of Scripture, “Satan entered him.” Judas had planned to betray Our Lord. He went to the chief priests and asked what he might get if he were to hand Jesus over. Judas’ action was not one of those “on the spur of the moment,” last minute nervous decisions. He knew what he was doing — handing over his Teacher, friend, and Lord. And when approached by the Lord at the Last Supper, Judas remained silent, took the dipped morsel from Jesus’ hand, and left. This departure from Christ was the moment Satan entered him.

When we choose to do evil knowingly, we choose to leave Christ. And when we do so, we allow the enemy to influence our thoughts, actions, and even desires. That is what happens when we fall into sin. For Judas we are told that Satan entered him. For us, we might even say something similar happens to us — we listen to his promptings and walk away from God. We fall into temptation and we walk into near occasions of sin. However, unlike Judas who did not choose to return to Jesus, we can. We are still here on the earth, and we can still make amends, running back to the Lord and seeking His mercy and forgiveness.

Unlike the angels (good or bad), the effects of our decisions are not instantaneously definitive. We can look back, reflect, and choose to do otherwise. Even after an act has been committed we can still choose to reconcile and do penance. This is the gift given to us so that Satan might not enter into us. We will fall, and at times we may even choose to leave Christ. But we must always remember that Christ never leaves us, and He is right there when we choose to run back to Him. Let us fall not into sin, but rather fall in love with Christ so that it is God Himself, and not Satan, who enters into our entire being.

Seeing the Light

“I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”

Isaiah 42:6b-7

In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, we find four “Suffering Servant” songs where this mysterious servant speaks and God speaks to him. God seemingly calls this servant for a special mission, one that when reading today seems strangely familiar. “Set you as a covenant of the people.” Jesus is the new and everlasting covenant, by whose blood we have been redeemed. Jesus Christ is this Suffering Servant.

Jesus is the Light of the World who has brought light into the darkness, and He desires to bring light into the dark and hidden parts of our lives so that we might not live in shame, but rather allow those parts to bring about great fruit. After Lazarus died, who was then in the darkness, Our Lord went to him and called him out of the tomb. Lazarus was called from death to life, from darkness into light. The closed eyes of Lazarus were now opened again. And by this miraculous resurrection, the closed and skeptical eyes of many were also opened. Many also came to believe — light was brought into their lives, and their darkness was no more. But coming to see and living in the light brings its own consequences: persecution.

Because Lazarus has been raised from the dead, giving witness and credence to Jesus’ power and ministry, the people began to journey to see him. Who wouldn’t want to see a man who had come back from the dead? This caused some commotion and the Jewish leaders were not happy about it. “And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him” (John 12:10-11). Although Lazarus was brought back to life, his life is now at stake. Those who have been raised and have been touched by the light will always be the object of those in darkness. Those who have turned away from sin will always be a target of interest for the enemy. What is evil is always attracted to the good because evil is really the lack of something — that which is good.

Hence, as Christians we will always be persecuted and marked by the enemy and by all those who still sit in the darkness. But we must not allow that to stop us from shining forth the light of Christ that is within us. We must continue to bring light into the darkness of our world. We must also continue to allow the Lord to shine His light into our minds and hearts. Light conquers darkness, good triumphs over evil, and life always wins over death. Yes, as followers of Christ we may always be at the edge of darkness, but thankfully, we have the Lord, who is our light and our salvation. Indeed we have nothing and no one to fear, not even sin or death.

Suffering King

“Blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest.”

Luke 19:38

As our Lord prepared to make His final trip into the city of Jerusalem, He knew the hour for Him was quickly approaching. There have been several times when the Jewish leaders have tried to kill Jesus, but Jesus always escaped and walked away in the midst of them and we are told because “His hour has not yet come.” But now, as He enters into Jerusalem, His hour has indeed come, the hour to fulfill and complete His Father’s will, the hour to bridge the divide between heaven and earth, the hour to conquer once and for all sin and death. All this He will do not by fighting or shouting, but rather by suffering in silence.

This King who is to come is the One from God, the King who the Lord said He will send to shepherd His people and bring them together, this shepherd who is of old, this shepherd who is Himself. The Jews has anticipated the arrival of this Messiah for many years now, and some of them realized that Jesus might be the one. But they did not understand what kind of Messiah Jesus was. They wanted the restoration of an earthly kingdom where a son of David will once again be enthroned. But Jesus was much more than that. Jesus came to announce the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom that is not of this world, the Kingdom that is Himself. Hence, He will draw all peoples to Himself.

It is in His suffering and death that Our Lord, Our King, Our Prince of Peace brings about the salvation of the world. Our King and Messiah is one not as the Jews awaited, but rather one that was drastically different. Our King and Messiah is not merely another descendant from the line of David, but is rather God in the flesh. Moved with compassion for the suffering of His people, Our God took on our human nature so that He might take on our human suffering and transform it, giving it meaning and putting within it a redemptive nature.

May we who call ourselves followers of this King embrace our sufferings because Our King bore our infirmities so that our sufferings might not be for nothing but rather have even the saving and redemptive effects of freeing the souls in purgatory. Because our King and Lord suffered we now have eternal life.