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| Saint Thomas Aquinas - the "Dumb Ox" Chesterton's short book on Aquinas explains better than anything the revolutionary nature of his thought. |
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If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
The strong man isn't going to give up his house or his property freely. Rather, the strong man, who is the enemy, keeps humanity captive. Jesus comes from the Father to set us free.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (see Hebrews 2:14-15).
For freedom Jesus sets us free (see Galatians 5:1). From a genuine captivity he leads us to greater and greater freedom.
When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men (see Ephesians 4:8).
What is freedom? We really don't have the best sense of what it means. This world provides conflicting answers. It tells us freedom is license to satisfy the desires of our flesh. And so we don't even realize when we our held captive by fear and sin. We're like the Pharisees
They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (See John 8:33).
It is only at the extremes that we really have a sense for how sin is synonymous with slavery. It is the addict who hits rock bottom who knows it best. But we are all addicted in some way or other. We all need more freedom. We need real freedom, grounded in the truth. We see the ultimate truth of what it means to be human and to live excellence in Jesus:
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (see John 8:31).
How does Christ set us free from the enemy? How does he liberate those enslaved to the devil? What exactly is the strength Jesus has that is greater than that of the enemy? It is precisely the love by which he surrenders his life for us. Satan tries to claim for himself what is not rightly his. He exhausts his rights to sinners souls by trying to claim the sinless one. He himself accidentally causes the path from death, by which he held us in fear, to new life.
Christ is mediator of a new covenant:
since a death has taken place
for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant,
those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
Now that we have this freedom we must stand in it. We must live it consciously. The enemy tries to tell us we are still powerless slaves, but we are not. And the best is yet to come.
so also Christ,
offered once to take away the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not to take away sin
but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.
So let us sing a new song, joyfully awaiting our LORD's return!
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