Reflection - Lies

By Steve Hall

Evil has chosen a new name: It is ‘Crown’.

It’s image is a head enshrouded by thorns.

There are numerous readings presented to us during the final four days of Holy Week. Most were chosen in ages past. There is one text from the Gospel of John, however, which is not among those presented for our consideration. Yet, if liturgical circumstances allowed for adjustments to the reading schedule, that particular one seems imminently appropriate to our time — both the time of remembering Christ’s passion and the present time of infestation. It is as follows:

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

The virus which has afflicted our present world was born in an incubator of lies. It first appeared in a city that was home to a ‘non-existent laboratory’ that was not doing research on germ warfare. Whether or not it was the spawn of that laboratory may remain a question; but what followed does not. Lie upon lie followed its emergence.

• It was described as a minor problem.
  
• The authorities had it under control.
  
• It could not be directly spread from one person to another.
  
• There was no reason to restrict travel abroad for citizens from the host country.
  
• Nor was there reason to restrict travel for those wishing to visit the host country.
  
• Only a limited number of people were dying.
  
• Medical assistance from abroad was unnecessary.
  

“ . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

The works of evil are characterized by, among other things, chaos, fear, confusion, anxiety, anger, despair, disorder and lies. Are any of these absent in this world suffering from this viral affliction.

Besides the mockery of Jesus’ torture implicit in its name and image, it’s mode of effecting death is likewise a mockery of the crucifixion. Essentially one dies from corona virus by asphyxiation. Essentially one dies from crucifixion by asphyxiation. This mockery is no coincidence. Neither is the timing of its emergence during the season of Lent and its growing strength as we enter Holy Week. Of even greater consequence is its presumed persistence into the weeks or months ahead. It would mockingly deny the reality of the Resurrection, of Jesus’ triumph over evil, of the establishment of the Kingdom. And finally we must acknowledge the viciousness of an evil which would attempt to deny us life.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53) Yet, because of circumstances both known and unknown, the Eucharist is unavailable to many.

It is Good Friday as this is being written. The words of Jesus on the cross resound in my thoughts: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The Psalm Jesus quotes could well be the Psalm for a suffering world. It goes on. “Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1) Our pain may not compare with that of the cross; but still, the distressful events of our day offer a semblance of what our Savior endured. Our cry, like his, is to know the presence of Our Father.

Our faith reaffirms that God is still in control. And we know that this affliction, which evil has brought to us, will, with the help of the Spirit, fail to separate us from the one who loves us. This disruption to our lives offers the clear opportunity to re-evaluate our priorities, to deepen our relationship with Our Father, to learn more of what He would have us know through his written Word, to strengthen and deepen our trust.

Deep down we also know that the world we left just a few weeks ago will not be the world we eventually return to. I expect that God hopes we will not try to restore it to what it was before, but rather that, with the guidance of the Spirit, we will build it anew, both individually and as a society.

The Psalm which Jesus began on the cross concludes with a different tone than the plaintive cry with which it is introduced:

“You who fear the LORD, praise him! all you sons of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.” (Psalm 22:23-24)

Let us pray that it becomes our personal conclusion as well.