Lent 1- 2008

Holy Spirit, Come.  Be our guide as we travel these forty days of Lent. Come Help us to dust off our souls and lives and to take the time and expend the effort to do those things that bring us closer to our Lord. Amen 

There once was an old-time country preacher who got wound-up in his sermons. One Sunday, he really got wound up…and was really on a roll.

About 30 minutes into the sermon he said, “Brothers and Sisters, It’s gonna be a great day! Cause we’ve got the Devil.  We caught him, and we got him all tied up down in the basement.  But understand he ain’t so tied up that he can’t get loose and get you, Brother Jonah!”

That roused Brother Jonah out of his nap and he set straight up in his pew.

“Yes,” the preacher continued, “We caught the old Devil and he’s tied up in the basement.  But he ain’t so tied up that he can’t get loose and get to you, Sister Sarah!”  Sister Sarah squirmed in her seat when she heard that.   Now the preacher had everyone’s attention, everyone that is except little Billy Thompson.  “Yes, indeed,” he went on, “It’s gonna be a great day cause we got the Devil all tied up. But he ain’t so tied up that he can’t get loose and get to you, Billy Thompson.”

At that, little Billy spoke up, “Preacher, if he ain’t tied up no better than that …you might just as well turn him loose.”

It would be wonderful if we could say that we had the Devil all tied up but sadly it is not so.  The Devil has thus far defeated all our efforts to restrict

or control his activities and he remains free to wreak havoc on us as individuals and on the world at large.

I recently saw the movie, Luther, which faithfully recounts the life of the great Reformer of the Church. My favorite scene depicts Luther thrashing about in his small monk’s cell cursing the Devil and wrestling with his unseen adversary.  It is disconcerting and yet at the same time comforting…to realize that even a spiritual giant like Luther had to wrestle with the Devil till the day he died.

The same was true for Saint Paul who describes Satan’s assaults as a painful “thorn” in his “flesh” which despite all his prayers and moral struggles would not go away.

Perhaps most surprising of all, Jesus himself had to wrestle with Satan, as today’s gospel clearly shows us.

Even the Incarnate Son of God was not immune to the assaults of the Devil! 

As modern people we tend to sneer at the Devil and dismiss him as a childish myth.  But the great souls, the great saints, both past and present, know better than to be so foolish.

The Devil is very real and very personal and as scripture warns us he continually “prowls about…seeking someone to devour.”

He discovered as we learn from today’s gospel, that he could not

devour Christ, who successful resisted his temptations.  But he didn’t give up!

The Devil merely bided his time we are told “until a more opportune moment”.  That moment arrived when Jesus entered Jerusalem and the opportunity presented itself in the person of Judas.

That final week in Jerusalem, after Jesus made his triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, we are told that the Devil “entered into” Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 disciples and that he determined to go to the chief priests and betray Jesus into their hands.

If nothing else we can say that the Devil had perfect timing.  What better time to bring Jesus down than when he is riding highest!  And what better instrument to use for his destruction than one of the 12, his own trusted men?

Interesting to note, that the names of the disciples are still among the most popular male names: Peter, Andrew, James and John for instance. Thomas, Matthew, Phillip and even the occasional Thaddeus & Bartholomew. But no one seems to name their son, Judas!  The very name has become synonymous with “traitor”.

and YET there must have been a time when Judas was not like that.  Certainly Judas had shown promise, moral integrity and character, since Jesus chose him as one of the 12.  But that was before the Devil devoured him!

We can only speculate as to why Judas did what he did.  We are not made privy to his motives. Perhaps he was jealous of Jesus, or offended by the things he said.  We do know that Judas was the only Judean among the disciples.  The rest were Galileans.  He may have felt excluded because he was different. It has been suggested that he was only doing what Jesus wanted him to do…or that he only wanted to force Jesus hand.

Maybe he was greedy and simply wanted the money.  The truth is we don’t know, but whatever the reason Judas opened himself up and let the Devil in!

At the Last Supper, Jesus already knew what Judas would do. He announced to the twelve that one of them would betray him.  Had Judas repented at that moment, he would have received the full mercy and forgiveness of his master.

Instead he got up and left and went off to make final arrangements with the chief priests to deliver Jesus into their hands.

Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas identified Jesus with a kiss and he was arrested.  Thanks to Judas, the arrest took place in a secluded spot and under the cover of darkness in order to prevent a public out cry.

We know the degree of Judas’ regret.  He went to the chief priests to retract what he had done- but it was too late.

Even then if he had asked Jesus to forgive him he would have been saved – such is the savior’s boundless love and mercy even to those who betray him.  But Judas gave the Devil the victory and went and hanged himself.

This was the moment of great triumph for Satan and an unmitigated tragedy for his protégé, Judas.

Or so is seemed…three days late the situation would look completely different.

The Devil’s finest hour would become his ultimate undoing.

Christ’s victory would cast the Devil down from his position of power and bind him in the depths of Hell.

But the story is not over yet!  Scripture warns us that Satan may yet be unleashed upon the earth even though his final defeat is assured.

He ain’t so tied up that he can’t get loose and get you and me!

The devil still prowls around looking for victims to devour and as Martin Luther’s great hymn asserts, we dare not confide in our own strength to resist him!

That was Judas’ fatal mistake.  Thank God, the “right man” is on our side…Christ Jesus, the man of God’s own choosing. We must depend on him to win the battle.   Amen