p/c Daniel Sealey via unsplash
Shakespeare notes the way in which “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose” (Merchant of Venice, I.3). This is what the Devil does when he tempts Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13). This is part of his much larger deceiving and perverting craft of simultaneously ruining good things and making evil things appear good. As Shakespeare again notes “O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”
It is the devil who, for instance, makes a violation of God’s instructions for kings of Israel (a military census) appear like prudence and wise leadership:
“Then Satan stood against Israel and urged David to count Israel. So David said to Joab and to the commanders of the nation, ‘Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan and bring a report to me that I might know their number.’” (1 Chronicles 21:1-2, LEB)
And while this whole pattern of satanic seeming-wisdom being exposed for the lie it is runs across the canon of Scripture, the events of Holy Week bring the charade into the most extreme relief.
A perfect man, who in his own body unifies Jew and Gentile (read Jesus’ genealogy: there’s Moabite and Canaanite blood in his veins), is betrayed, arraigned, tortured, mocked, and slaughtered by a body of people who in themselves also unify Jew and Gentile (scribes, pharisees, Herodians, Romans, Jewish elders). Everyone becomes convinced of the man’s unprovable guilt, even one of his chief leaders. Despite not having any credible charge to bring against him they condemn him. The strength of their conviction is the only proof they need.
All of this they commit because they have bought some Satanic line which makes their conduct seem like wisdom. For example, the High Priest justifies their actions by explaining, “that it is profitable for you that one man should die for the people, and the whole nation not perish” (Jn. 11:50).
It is not unmeaningful that the celebration of Holy Week today is plagued by the same temptation: to listen to seeming cultural wisdom with regard to how we tell the story. Consider the following ways the voice of the devil might sound:
“Oh we don’t want people to be freaked-out or made uncomfortable by the ugly truth of Good Friday —quick let’s just rush to Easter already.”
“We can’t have things run that long…”
“We want to make things relevant to our secular culture.”
“How can we make this fun for non-believers?”
“We need to grow, sheer numbers are what we’ll count as meanginful.” Or, conversely, “Big churches are wrong, we just want to spend the easter weekend with a small group of my closest friends.”
Compose your own! Here’s the internal logic: the Devil will always suggest that you appeal to one idol or another in order to be effective.
Trust me, I feel the pressures of church leadership this week, and I know the temptation to, one way or another, make this week primarily about * Event Planning * instead of worship and witness.
This week our primary task is to proclaim the good news of the Gospel: when we proclaim it to God our proclamation is called “worship”; when we proclaim it to our friends, family, and neighbors our proclamation is called “witness.”
Neither worship nor witness are things we accomplish by appealing to the idols of the earth, or placating the unrepentant renters of our Master’s vineyard.
Bonum certamen certate!