Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
In order to know who is victorious over the world it would be helpful to first have some sense of what would constitute victory. We can easily understand that it is not the sort of victory the world would readily recognize. Believers in Christ are not promised military or political victory. They are not promised riches or power or beauty or health. Indeed, Jesus tells his followers that they must be ready to sacrifice any such worldly goods for his sake. Yet although there is no promise of worldly power for believers there is instead the promise of spiritual power. This power sets believers free from manipulation by fear and sinful desires. Thus we read the author of the Hebrews telling us:
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).
The Spirit begins bring about this freedom in our lives by the water of our baptism. It is strengthened in us by the Body and Blood of Jesus that we receive in the Eucharist. Gradually we let go of our worldly definitions of victory, or of in what a successful life would consist, and begin to take on a definition more like the one which we read Paul expressing to Timothy
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing (see Second Timothy 4:7-8).
It is this Christian definition of victory, of endurance and faithfulness to end, that John also celebrates in the book of Revelation:
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death (see Revelation 12:11).
Make no mistake. It is precisely by the cross that we triumph, that of Jesus, and then our own as we take them up and follow after Jesus, sharing his yoke. But at the same time, this is not a bleak or negative prospect. Jesus triumphed because he focused on "the joy that was set before him" (see Hebrews 12:2). In our first reading we see that John arrives at the same conclusion:
And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
We have the witness of the life of Jesus, fully human and divine, son of Adam and Son of God, who sends his Spirit on his Church to give us, not only confidence of the truth of our faith, but also the power to embody and live out his victory in our own lives. This happens primarily through the sacraments, where the Spirit again makes present the saving mysteries of water and Blood for us. Because we have this victory, we must not be content with a woe is me attitude of self-pity about the challenges in this life. When such dour attitudes tempt us let us listen again to the witnesses God provides and open ourselves all the more to the fullness of life we find in Jesus Christ.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.
No comments:
Post a Comment