More on scandal and evil and Satan in the context of Jesus knowing exactly what was going on along the way. I have included parts of this previously. Before the Passion - Jesus warns his disciples that he is about to become a scandal to them. They will all scatter (passive accomplices of the persecutors). Jesus knows that scandals are mimetic from the start and they become more so as they are exacerbated. They become more and more impersonal, anonymous, undifferentiated, and therefore interchangeable. In Gospels the operation of scandals are the same thing as demonic and satanic possession - characterized by a process of transference. Girard uses Peter again. When Jesus speaks of his suffering at the hands of others - Peter is scandalized. Peter's ideal is the same as ours - worldly success. Peter tries to turn his own desire into a model that Jesus should imitate. This is how Satan operates. All who join a belligerent crowd act more or less like Peter. It is the last sentence here that hits home. Have you ever been part of a 'belligerent' crowd - by simply going along with what is being said or done - by simply being quiet and not speaking on behalf of another way? I know I do. Usually I don't give it too much thought at the moment. I simply go along. It is after - during a time of reflection - that I can have feelings as deep as shame. In some ways, doing or saying nothing is how the violence of the world has continued from the beginning of time. Jesus will be the one who acts contrary to that endless circle of oppression, despair, fear, threat, and deadly silence. Jesus is to be the one we mimic. That is the saving way of life that is real and is set before us. It is part of the promise that God defeats all that evil through the cross. The way of Jesus - the way of resisting our need to keep safe or uphold the ways things are done at the expense of people - was and will be a scandal. It is the way that the powers of the world will point out as being revolutionary. And yet, Jesus is revolutionary - but a non-violent one that exposes the various ways we can embody violence and calling us to turn around and follow his lead. Connection: We do not have to be part of the crowd that persists with the ways of Satan's rule. We do not have to be liars who fall in line with the Prince of Lies. We are told we are indeed able - by the power of the Holy Spirit - to be truthful - to be a light in the world. That is what Jesus leaves us - this Spirit. It is always going to be enough - just as it was for Jesus. As you walk with us, O God, remind us again and again that your Spirit walks with us and most often is bidding us to follow the pull of that inspiring life that was Jesus. This is what we ask again and this is our hope. Amen. |
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