But the Good News was so powerful, and the Christ so compelling, that the evil empire threw everything at Him to stop Him: wilderness temptations, storms on the sea, legions of demons rushing out of the tombs towards Him, political intrigue, angry crowds, religious condemnation, mockery from His siblings, an oppressive regime/an occupying military force, betrayal from one of His own, hand-picked disciples, and a snubbing by one of the inner circle. There was not a safe ‘corner’ for the Lord to hide: physical, emotional/relational, political, economic, intellectual and spiritual torment was everywhere. Then at His trials, the crowd who, of anything they would want was freedom from Rome, i.e. freedom to be autonomous and feel the favor of God again, succumbed to using the power of Rome against their Messiah. At the crucifixion, one of the other sufferers mocked Him as well, disregarding his own lowly status as a thief and trying a last-ditch effort to elevate his bruised self-esteem and family’s reputation. When we are part of the disenfranchised, the disinherited, we are tempted to do what we can to make ourselves feel better and elevate our status by any means.
Christ said there’s a better way. Our circumstances don’t define our heavenly status. “Blessed are the poor...Blessed are those who mourn...” In many ways, an apt description of Job’s situation after Satan set about tempting this righteous man. And in time of Christ’s ministry, imagine living a life where everything is controlled by someone else: the ruling class, the government, the wealthy...and there’s very little opportunity to advance your status and take care of your loved ones. Christ lived in a time when it was “All for the Best” (Godspell):
When you feel sad, or under a curseWe, simplistically, say that He died for our sins—and there are scriptures with this exact phrasing. However, the Hebrew Scriptures had opportunities for forgiveness: the various offerings, including scapegoats, and confession (Ps. 32). We were given plenty of options for removing our guilt. We were not given anything to reduce our shame, our ‘sinful nature,’ anything to tame our spirit that would want to ease the pain we live with. Greed, envy, pride live inside us; once we gained the knowledge of good and evil, we’d want to use all of this knowledge to help ourselves.
Your life is bad, your prospects are worse
Your wife is sighing, crying,
And your olive tree is dying,
Temples are graying, and teeth are decaying
And creditors weighing your purse...
Your mood and your robe
Are both a deep blue
You'd bet that Job
Had nothing on you...
Don't forget that when you get to
Heaven you'll be blessed..
Yes, it's all for the best...
Some men are born to live at ease, doing what they please,
Richer than the bees are in honey
Never growing old, never feeling cold
Pulling pots of gold from thin air
The best in every town, best at shaking down
Best at making mountains of money
They can't take it with them, but what do they care?
They get the center of the meat, cushions on the seat
Houses on the street where it's sunny..
Summers at the sea, winters warm and free
All of this and we get the rest...
But who is the land for? the sun and the sand for?
You guessed! It's all for the best...
Christ knew that more rules, more attempts at living under the Law written by Moses, wouldn’t help us. Not only did He have to teach that there was a better way, He had to show it. So He suffered through all that was thrown at Him. And then when Satan thought he had won, that he had beaten the curse of the woman’s offspring crushing his head, Christ showed that even when evil throws everything we can still win. His resurrection proves it. Hallelujah!
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