There are many villains throughout the Bible: Pharaoh
(against Moses), Goliath (against David) and Judas (who betrayed Jesus) to name
a few. But the villain of them all
is the devil—the angel Lucifer we now know as Satan.
While
many people recognize evil exists in the world, the Catholic Church has
consistently believed in the evil one.
Now it is important not to give Satan more credit than he is due, give
him too much focus or to be afraid.
But it is helpful to reminded he is real. In fact, one of his greatest works is that more people do not
believe in him.
We
must remember a few facts about Satan.
First, he is a liar. Jesus
calls him such and adds that he is the father of lies. He uses full-blown lies or half-truths
to twist what is actually true.
For instance listen how he talks to Eve: “Did God really tell
you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?...You
will not die.” He
instills doubt and cynicism and then lies to Eve. He knew that Adam and Eve wouldn’t die immediately by eating the fruit, but he knew this act of defiance
would introduce death into the human race. In his dialogue with Jesus he continues with his skepticism:
“If you are the son of God…”
Second,
Hollywood makes it seem like the devil only works in terrible ways—think of the
movies The Exorcism of Emily Rose or
the Exorcist. While these horrible events do happen,
Satan more often uses small daily temptations in his attempt to win souls. C.S. Lewis describes this in a great
way in his book The Screwtape Letters
in which a senior demon advices his pupil not to tempt a man with murder if
playing cards will do.
Finally,
he is patient. Mother Teresa even
said he should win a Nobel prize for patience.
Adam
and Eve faced the devil in the garden and lost miserably. Note that Adam and Eve could have
responded to his craftiness in three ways. When asked, “Did God really
tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?”
they could have responded, “Yes.
Leave us alone.” They could
have stood their ground, confident in God’s command. Or they could have cried to God—Who walked in the garden
with them—for help. Yet they chose
the last option—they did nothing.
Yet,
“…where sin increased, grace abounded all
the more.” Jesus—the new
Adam—also squared off with Satan and won.
How did Jesus do this? In
short, Jesus is God. No one
through human efforts can conquer Satan—we do not have the power to defeat this
powerful foe. Jesus could as
God. And Jesus responded to the
devil quickly and with confidence in the truth of the Scriptures. He did not fall for the gimmick of
Satan to test the Father. Finally,
Jesus fasted and prayed. In
another place the Gospels recount a time when the disciples tried to exorcize a
demon but failed. Jesus himself
cast out the demon and when his disciples asked him why they couldn’t drive it
out Jesus said, “This kind cannot be
driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.”
When
we are faced with the evil one’s temptations—which usually come in small
ways—we must respond well. We must
first ask God for help and never enter into a dialogue with evil by
ourselves. We must make a quick
and firm decision to do the good and say, “Get
away, Satan!” And we must take
seriously prayer and fasting—common practices in Lent that go beyond
self-improvement or growth in holiness.
These acts help us achieve victory, with God’s help, over evil itself.
At
the end of the day, our souls are caught in a game of tug-of-war. The good side—featuring God, the angels
and saints—encourage us while the bad side—Satan and his minions—tempt us. The choice is up to us. This Lent, which side will you choose?
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