2 June 2014 - victory over the world

2 June 2014 - victory over the world

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived
when each of you will be scattered to his own home
and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.

Jesus is telling us something so that we might have peace in him.  Do we know what it is?  Or are we on Scripture auto-pilot?  Jesus speaks about his peace now and then so we take it for granted.  But he is saying something specific here so that we may have peace in him. 

At first glance it seems that he is saying that even though we are going to betray him we can eventually let it go because he is still perfectly united with the Father.  And, yes, he is preparing us for the eventuality of our sinful treachery.  He is showing us that the Father sends him to save us while we are still his enemies.  But he is doing more than that.  He is showing us the strategy we will need to survive trouble and hardship in the world.

In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Jesus is able to rely on his unity with the Father to carry him through any trouble.  He is able to rely on him on even amidst the anguish of the cross.  At the very moment when the world thinks it is conquering him Jesus reveals that the very opposite is true.  He commends his Spirit into the hands of his Father.  His perfect obedience to the Father's will in spite of the world insisting that he turn aside at every opportunity manifests his victory over the world.  That is why John tells us that the victory which overcomes the world is our faith (cf. 1 Joh. 5:4). 

We can share in his victory by sharing in his proximity to the Father.  The way we share this proximity is by the Holy Spirit.  Because this is so we need to stop living like the disciples in Ephesus.

“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

They need sacramental baptism and confirmation.  But most of us have already received these.  We have the power from on high which Jesus promises.  We therefore have the a profound proximity to the Father such that we can sometimes even speak his very words, just as these disciples experience:

the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

The point is that if we want victory over the world, if we want to be close to the Father, we can't neglect the Holy Spirit.  He is the source of the dynamic power that we need.  Without him we are going to resemble the rest of the world more than we resemble Jesus.  And the rest of the world, with misguided intention, is heading toward defeat, failure, and death.  Let's get off that path.  Let's embrace his gift of the Spirit so that we can rejoice in his victory.

God arises; his enemies are scattered,
and those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is driven away, so are they driven;
as wax melts before the fire.