Solemnity of Christ the King (Year C) November 20, SM 5:1-3; PS 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5; COL 1:12-20; LK 23:35-43

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1 Solemnity of Christ the King (Year C) November 20, SM 5:1-3; PS 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5; COL 1:12-20; LK 23:35-43 In the first book of the Bible the Devil is depicted a serpent, or a large snake. The Book of Genesis describes Satan this way: Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. (Gen 3:1) The Devil is so subtle, in fact, that he doesn t typically come straight at us when he tries to sever our bond with Jesus but rather, he chips away at our faith and confidence in Jesus...little by little...relentlessly. The serpent defeated Adam and Eve by getting them to question God s love for them. He made Adam and Eve think that God was their adversary rather than their Father. He promised them that if they would disobey God s command, then they would be like God (cf. Gen 3:5). By causing Eve to doubt God s love, the Devil made her forget that God had created her and Adam in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27) from the start. The Devil made her believe that something she already possessed God s image was something she had to strive for to take...for herself. And the rest, as they say, is history! Human history to be exact, because we continue to forget the truth of who we are...and who God is...constantly. And the clearest proof of this is...sin. Sin is, at bottom, our attempt to replace God s law with our own will. And this is not only a violation of God s law. It s also a violation of his love. The Devil, as we have noted before, is a divider. And his weapon of choice is...doubt. He succeeded in his subtle attack on Adam and Eve by creating doubt in their minds, and then exploiting that doubt to get them to rebel. He tried the same tactic against Jesus first in the desert after Jesus baptism in the Jordan River and then again on at Calvary, as we heard in today s Gospel. He did it directly in the desert indirectly at Calvary. Neither tactic worked because the Devil didn t acknowledge the truth of who he was up against. Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus resisted the lie, obeyed his Father s will, and defeated the Devil. In so doing, he changed death from a Dead End Road into the Doorway Into His Kingdom. 1

2 Taking a closer look at how the Devil came after Jesus first in the desert and later, as he hung on the Cross we see a consistent thread running through the Devil s temptations. When he tried to convince Jesus to turn stones into bread to ease his hunger; and, later, when he tried to get Jesus to jump off the high balcony of the Temple to show off his divine status; he started his temptation with the same words: If you are the Son of God... (Matthew 4:3, 6) The Devil s pride blinded him and made him think he could sidestep Jesus divinity and defeat him through his humanity. He behaved as though he were dealing with just another son or daughter of God like Adam or Eve the only difference being that this one this Jesus seemed more secure in his identity than were Adam and Eve. But, what the Devil refused to honor in Jesus, was the very thing St. Paul proclaimed in a verse of our 2 nd Reading: He is the image of the invisible God... (Col 1:15) Jesus repelled the Devil s attacks, not by trying to take him on directly, but rather, by taking refuge in his love for, and trust in, his Father. Luke s Gospel tells us that:...when the devil had ended every temptation [there in the desert], he departed from [Jesus] until an opportune time. (Lk 4:13) We find that opportune time in today s Gospel passage. As Jesus hangs on the Cross the Devil speaks through the mouths of the religious leaders, the soldiers and a criminals crucified next to Jesus. They way we can tell it s the Devil speaking through the religious leaders and soldiers, in particular, is because of one word: If....the rulers...sneered at him and said, He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God. Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, If you are King of the Jews, save yourself. (Lk 23:35-37) The criminal who berated Jesus, likewise served as the Devil s mouthpiece, spewing words designed to cause Jesus to doubt his own identity as God s Son. Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us. (Lk 23:39) 2

3 There s another consistent thread in the Devil s assault on the Crucified Jesus. He tries to get Jesus to focus on self-interest instead of his true identity. He taunts Jesus by means of the crowd to abandon the mission his Father gave him to save sinners and, instead, to save himself. At least the criminal who reviled Jesus unlike the religious leaders and soldiers recognized his own wretchedness and challenged Jesus to save him and his fellow criminal. It s important to pause here and really consider what Jesus was up against at this moment. When I was attending a nominally Catholic university back in the mid s, my closest friend at school was a self-proclaimed atheist. I remember him asking me once: What s the big deal about Jesus Crucifixion? Thousands of people were crucified by the Romans. Well, at that time in my life, I was a poorly catechized cradle Catholic on the verge of becoming a college-age cafeteria Catholic, so I was not equipped to offer my friend a satisfying answer. But now, with an in-depth grasp of the Faith, it s quite easy...but also quite gutwrenching...to consider what it was that actually made Jesus s suffering on the Cross something far beyond the suffering that any human being has ever experienced...on a Cross...or anywhere else. No human being has ever suffered like Jesus suffered, because no human being could possibly assume the full brunt of the burden Jesus took on...voluntarily! Consider this: In addition to suffering the torturous execution on the Cross the Romans, after all, were famous for making execution excessively painful and humiliating Jesus had many other burdens besides. For starters, he had to endure what we heard in the Gospel today the ridicule, taunting and mocking from people like the soldiers who likely had Jesus own blood splattered on their hands, arms and clothes and maybe even their faces after they had nailed him to the Cross. But that wasn t even the worst of it! On top of the physical agony and the verbal abuse, Jesus had to see his own Mother Mary seeing her slaughtered Son and standing among the bloodthirsty men who did it to him. But there s one more thing that made his suffering utterly beyond our ability to fully comprehend. 3

4 Before we go on, I d like to invite everyone here to take a moment and think about the sin from your past that you re most ashamed of the one that weighs heaviest on your heart. Now, imagine feeling the full weight, not only of that crushing sin, but also the sins of every person who has ever lived, as well as those who have not yet been born, but who will be born between now and the end of time. The worst sins of every human being including those of people like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin all...at...once! It was that burden all human sin that was so crushing something that only Jesus has ever experienced...because only Jesus God in the Flesh could experience it. And it was with all of that burden the physical torture, the verbal abuse, the humiliation, and every single human sin that made the words he uttered from the Cross one verse before today s Gospel passage utterly miraculous: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. (Lk 23:34) The religious leaders; the soldiers who nailed him to the Cross; and those in the crowd truly did not know what they were doing...and whom they were insulting and killing. St. Paul said in his 1 st Letter to the Corinthians: None of the rulers of this age understood...for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor 2:8) But one person in today s Gospel did eventually realize the truth, and just before it was too late. And this man s words provide us with a way to counteract the doubts that the Devil plants in our minds about Jesus...and our relationship with him. While everyone else was mocking Jesus, the other criminal said: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He replied to him, Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. (Lk 23:42-43) This man switched from if to when. And it made all the difference in his life his remaining life on earth...and his eternal life in Paradise. That s a good lesson for all of us, especially when everything around us seems to be crashing down and closing in. While everyone else was relating to Jesus from a place of doubt and rejection from the place of if the criminal whose eternal life was assured by Jesus said when. 4

5 Remember me when you come into your kingdom. When we come face-to-face with serious difficulty or tragedy in our lives, it s natural to ask God, Why? But most of us know from experience that this question very often goes unanswered. And it is in this gap between God s will and our bewilderment, that the Devil attempts to plant doubt doubt that God loves us; doubt that God even exists. But just as the repentant criminal broke with the crowd and went from if to when clearly proclaiming that he believed that Jesus could and would accomplish what he promised so too, when we face the ups and downs of this life and are tempted to give up on God it is then that we would do well to change our Why? to a What? Instead of, Why did you let this happen to me, Jesus? Or: Why, when I try to live a good Catholic life does it seem to get more rather than less difficult? Instead of asking that kind of question which screams of doubt in God s love we could ask: What is your will for me in this trial, Jesus? What are you asking of me in the midst of this suffering? Just as the shift from if to when meant eternal life for a crucified criminal, so, too, the shift from why to what in our own lives can place us firmly in the Kingdom of Jesus here and now no matter what is going on around us...or inside us. Jesus Christ is King of the Universe, which means he is king of this world already. If we formally declare Jesus at every moment, and in every circumstance of our lives to be our King...here in the Valley of Tears, then we can have great hope and confidence in one day hearing him say to us:...today you will be with me in Paradise. (Lk 23:43) 5