March 9, 2025
I speak to you in the name of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.
When I was a junior in my Catholic high school, we had a discussion in religion class that touched on the subject of good and evil. And while I don’t remember most of the discussion, I can clearly remember the priest telling us that evil wasn’t a force unto itself. Evil, he said, is the just the absence of good.
My sense from conversations over the years is that this is a widely-held belief. Maybe because it’s a comforting belief. The prospect of evil as a malevolent force working day and night to corrupt us– especially if it’s embodied in a being like the devil – is the stuff of horror movies. It’s far less terrifying to believe that if we simply do good, we can banish evil from our lives.
But this morning, I want to challenge this understanding of evil. Because in my experience evil is actually an incredibly powerful force. One that seeks to manipulate us through our own brokenness into doing things that bring death to other people, to ourselves, and to our relationship with God.
In our Gospel text this morning, Luke gives us a much more robust vision of evil. After fasting in the wilderness for 40 days and nights Jesus confronts Satan – the demonic prince of evil. And Satan tests Jesus – or “tempts” him, depending on the translation – three times. Each time, the devil coaxes to Jesus to use worldly models of power to demonstrate that he is God’s son. And each time, Jesus refuses.
Luke tells us that after this initial defeat, Satan leaves Jesus until an appointed time. And so during Jesus’ ministry – this unique moment in human history – Satan’s power is broken. Wherever Jesus goes, he showcases God’s ultimate power to defeat evil as he overthrows demonic power by delivering people from spiritual bondage and bringing healing and wholeness to those sick in mind, body, or spirit. And Satan leaves the story until the very end of Jesus’ earthly ministry – on Maundy Thursday, when he enters Judas to betray Jesus.
Delivering people from spiritual bondage and bringing healing and wholeness to those sick in mind, body, or spirit. That sounds pretty amazing. Truth be told, it sounds a lot like the Kingdom of God. And that’s no mistake. Luke portrays Jesus’ ministry – which starts right after he breaks Satan’s power – as proof that the “kingdom of God” is no longer only a vague future hope. The kingdom has actually been realized in Jesus the Messiah’s life and work.
In fact, if Luke were standing here today and you asked him “what is the kingdom of God like?”, he’d respond by telling the whole story of Jesus. In the life of this man, Luke would say to us, we see what the world is like when the power of Satan – the power of evil – is broken. In the very life of Jesus, we see what the world is like when God’s kingdom is present and flourishing among us.
Jesus’ time on earth passed with his ascension into heaven. We live instead in the Time of the Church – a joyful, tension-filled between-the-times existence, at the end of which God will establish justice. But in the meantime, evil’s power to corrupt and destroy God’s good creation has been restored. No surplus of good works can do anything to change that.
So we need to cling to the hope of the Gospel – the good news that Jesus’ coming reveals God’s unfolding story of redeeming and transforming the world. After resisting Satan, Jesus will return to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and proclaim that Isaiah’s famous prophecy is fulfilled in his presence. Jesus will claim that the Lord has sent him to preach good news to the poo r. To proclaim release to the prisoners. To give sight back to the blind and to liberate the oppressed. To proclaim the year of God’s favor.
This, my friends, is what the kingdom of God looks like lived out. It’s a message of hope for all people. This vision of God’s kingdom stands in direct opposition to the devil’s three temptations and the alternative mission they represent. An alternative mission that tempts us – in our brokenness – to limit God’s care or blessing to particular groups or nations. An alternative mission that tempts us – in our brokenness – to focus on wealth or power. An alternative mission that points not to the Cross, which is death followed by life. Evil’s alternative mission points only to death followed by death.
So how do we resist this temptation to misuse the power of the world? How do we turn our back on the power of evil and stay focused on the Cross? We need to remember that we don’t need to do anything build the kingdom of God. Jesus has already done that, simply by being with us. And in those moments when we live as his disciples – loving our neighbor as ourselves – Jesus is among us, embodying Kingdom Life and breaking the power of evil once again.
So as we journey with Jesus to the Cross this Lent, as we ourselves resist evil and all the betrayals it brings, put him at the center of your life. Remember that when we gather around Jesus’s awesome presence loving God and neighbor – then evil’s power is neutered. Because when we gather around Jesus, Jesus shows up, and the kingdom of God – that place where God’s promised justice and peace reign supreme – is with us, right here, right now.
Amen.