Even though I never felt as though I was in danger today, I would be lying if I said the thought of mortality did not cross my mind. How true it is that we do not know the day or hour that our Lord will come and make us give an account for our lives. While we do not know the time, we do at least know that Jesus Christ claimed to be God, and that belief in His name could bring us eternal salvation. So why then do so many fail to believe in Him when it would seem reasonable to do so, if for no other reason then to hedge our bets; after all, we would seemingly have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I have a friend that said to me the other day that the problem he has with believing in Christ is that, while he agrees Jesus was a great moral teacher, he feels the same way about other religious leaders, such as Buddah. As such, he cannot reconcile placing trust in one teacher over another. I can understand his sentiment. On the surface, both preached non-violence and a respect for the dignity of all. Yet to place Jesus as an equal to Buddha is to ignore the fact that Jesus was willing to pour out His blood and take up His Cross- not just as an example of His teaching, but as a loving sacrifice for all humanity.
Jesus had numerous routes down which He could have steered His public ministry. He could have been purely a provider of physical wants, creating food for the hungry in return for their admiration. He could have been solely a miracle worker, winning crowds with a series of spectacular acts that excited and amazed. He could have been a political leader, rousing the Jews to rise up from under the oppression of the Romans. In fact, all three of these alternative paths were offered to Jesus by the devil during His temptation in the the desert. (Mt 4:1-11) He was asked by Satan to make rocks into bread, to jump from the top of the temple and land unscathed, and to accept kingship of all the world. Yet Jesus refused each of these, knowing that only the Cross had the power to save mankind.
The problem with all of Satan's tests were that they would only render temporal results. The bread would be eaten, and the next day the people would be hungry yet again. The crowds would be entertained by miracles, yet their appetite for more and larger ones would only increase. Jesus could have ruled an earthly kingdom, but, like the Romans' kingdom, it would not have escaped death's grasp. Prior to Jesus, humanity had many human prophets of God who preached to the people. They were heard but not listened to, treated as curiosities rather than carriers of God's will.
Jesus was able to not only bring God the Father's Word, but also its visible manifestation here on Earth. He came with the word of God which is infinite love, yet He also displayed that love on the Cross: His outstretched arms embracing saint and sinner, servant and sentencer. He came with the word of God which is nourishment, yet he also provided that nourishment in His own pierced flesh and outpoured blood for the life of the world. (John 6 is a must read!). Satan tempted Jesus because he knew, and he knows, that the Cross is the only way to salvation. Satan's temptations did not deny that He was God, but instead tried to appeal to the pride of His human nature. Jesus passed the test, as Saint Paul wrote:
Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)It is in the Cross that Jesus destroyed death forever. The Lord said, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (Jn 3:16-17)
Imagine, eternal life is ours for the taking! The devil today is desperate to prevent us from claiming our eternal reward and, to do so, He tests us in the same way He tested Jesus: through our human pride:
He tells us we don't need God, that we are capable of controlling own bodies and satisfying our own desires. If that is so, then why do so many fall prey to an addiction? Why do so many live lives of desolation? Why is the vast majority insatiable in their appetites for those things that bring destruction to the mind, body and soul?
He tells us we don't need God's Church by pointing out the faults in it and the people who run it. The Church, while run imperfectly by imperfect humans, is nevertheless the Bride of Christ: to whom else shall we go to receive the eternal nourishment found only in the Holy Eucharist?
And when we sin, Satan laughs at us, telling us we are far too pathetic for God's forgiveness; that mercy is beyond our reach and we might as well go on sinning. This lie is perhaps the most sinister of all, because it tries to cover up the meaning of the Cross. Jesus paid the debt of all our sins, and thus God shows complete mercy to all those who come and ask for forgiveness. It matters not whether we have sinned one time or one million times, all our within the range of redemption.
Therein lies the difference Christ provides in our lives. The Buddha offered ideas; Jesus offers ideas and Himself. The Buddha offered a way to live; Jesus offers a way to live and life itself. If another earthquake hit tomorrow, in whom would you like to put your trust: yourself, Buddha, or Jesus?
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