Violent Good [Lent 1; St. Matthew 4:1-11]

There are only two labels the Church uses: Jesus and not-Jesus. There is only one line drawn in the Church: the cross of Christ. There is only one message: the Gospel. In this aspect, the Church is very intolerant and extreme.

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”

By this we know that only in Faith will a person enter heaven, because if Jesus, His cross and His Gospel, is the only way, then there is no hope unless Jesus gives us entrance. For it is our Lord Who is the only God: one and true; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Apparently, violence is inherent in the system, then. Jesus is thrown out, violently, into the wilderness to suffer under the devil. Jesus then becomes violently hungry and then is violently tempted, even as He is urged to take His own life in verse 6.

Then for the rest of His life, Jesus is threatened with death and many seek to murder Him. All on account of the hard lines He draws between salvation and condemnation. So coming to the end, Jesus is handed over to the Gentiles to suffer and die, making this the way of Christianity.

But this isn’t good, is it? I mean suffering, temptation, and death wins no one for the cause. If you were St. Peter or St. Paul and you were called to “begin” Christianity, would you really be all hopped up about it if you knew that there would be suffering involved?

Let’s face it, the answer is no. If you were told that there would be no gobs of money wrangled from the devotees of Christ and that your life would be way worse because people will hate you for your belief, you would never have joined the Church.

Ask Sts. Peter and Paul. Both were violently persecuted and both were violently killed and yet Christianity spread on its own. Our honorable Commander in Chief, President Obama, says that no religion produces violence, suggesting that any kind of suffering is wrong. But here we see Christianity, simply by existing, creates a violent reaction in the world.

I’m sure, what Pres. Obama wants to say is that he wishes no religion would ever produce violence. However, what he meant was religions don’t cause violence and when we talk about Christianity as being one of those, we reduce Jesus to a moral teacher who was tragically killed by this violence that no religion produces.

Repent. You also think that all religions are peaceful. That there is nothing in any of them that is worth fighting or dying for, because they all just teach the same thing: be excellent to each other. It’s horrible that Jesus had to die, but you can all get along if you just focus on love.

Jesus creates the one, true religion of Christianity, but suffering and death do not go away. You must deny yourselves and die to sin. Jesus shows us this, not just by hungering and being tempted, but by suffering and dying Himself.

Much to the chagrin and angst of Pres. Obama and the rest of the world, suffering does produce good. As St. Paul says,

 

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces… hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”(Rom.5)

 

Indeed, Jesus’ own sufferings produce the salvation of the entire world! Just as its true that “if there is no Jesus, there is no salvation” also “if there is no suffering, there is no resurrection” or anything else having to do with forgiveness. Jesus came to suffer and die and three days later rise again.

Other religions came to dominate the world through violence or intolerance, but God became man in order to enact violence and intolerance upon Himself, on the cross. The major difference between Christian suffering and the worlds suffering is that the world, and all false religions, believe that violence needs to be imposed in the name of god.

Christianity believes and has faith in the fact that violence needs to be imposed on Jesus, Who is both God and Man, for the salvation of the world. This is not a moral code or a “let’s all just get along” religion. There is no monetary, social, emotional, psychological, or physical benefits to being a Christian.

It is the simple fact that the one true God has fasted, hungered, been tempted, suffered and died, just like us, but without sin. That Jesus takes on the sin, death, and violence in this world and, instead of oppressing others and forcing them to submit, allows Himself to be crucified, submitting to the Father’s will.

Therefore, anyone who wishes to talk about violence in Christianity, must talk about Jesus. Anyone who wants to talk about oppression, intolerance, and conspiracies must first discuss Jesus: His person, Word, and work on the cross.

Any topic regarding religion must be about Jesus, because He claimed to be God and He claimed to forgive the sins of the entire world. This is what is referred to as Christology. You’ve heard of “theology”, but I tell you that all theology is Christology. Meaning, whoever wants to discuss sin and grace, Law and Gospel, Christ and man, in a manner befitting a Christian must for the most part, discuss nothing else than God and man in Christ.

Violence in Christianity is limited to one man who is also God. If you want to say that Christianity is spread by violence, or uses violence to spread its message you would only be correct in talking about Jesus. Christianity spreads only because of the violence done to Jesus on behalf of all people of all time.

 Christianity exists and your faith saves you because Jesus suffered and produced the greatest Good: that of the reconciliation of God and you. It is only through Him that you are saved and it is only through His suffering and death that we do enter with Him into glory.