"...30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave..." - John 14:30-31
This Saturday marks 6 years since my heart broke completely in two at the loss of my little brother to a ridiculous bike accident on the streets of New York City. Six years later Marcus' absence remains excruciatingly obvious, and yet at the same time God's love and provision are delightfully evident (especially when delivered through the hugs of a precious nephew).
Once we emerge from the numbness of loss, I believe we can learn much if we are willing to put in the hard work such knowledge requires. Speaking for myself, it wasn't long after losing Marcus when I realized much of my faith had been comprised of expecting and assuming rather than believing and trusting.
More recently in early 2015 I was preparing to teach the adult bible class on John 14 when God revealed to me a most powerful lesson, and ever since nourishes my trust and sustains my hope in times of brokenness. John 14 comes to a triumphant close with Jesus talking about the approaching arrival of Satan into the events that were about to unfold at the cross.
Now Luke seems to depict this time as a moment when the forces of darkness display their power, which wouldn't be destroyed until the resurrection. However, John bangs his fists on the pulpit declaring, "Wait just a minute!" Far from being the hour of Satan's commendation, it is the hour of Satan's condemnation. Far from being the hour of Satan's victory, the cross is the hour of Satan's crushing defeat.
You see for John there is a comic difference between being broken and being defeated. Yes, Christ's heart and body were broken in two. By no means, however, does it mean that Jesus Christ has been defeated. For John it doesn't matter what you believe or what Satan believes, the events of the cross compel all the world to conclude Jesus' cause of death was obedient love and not any Satanic victory. If Jesus' example teaches us anything, it's that an obedient death comes about as the result of having lived an obedient life.
And yet the reality remains that all of us will be broken at one time or another. The challenge for us will be to not give up our pursuit of an obedient life when grief and despair appear to be on the verge of victory. The test for us will be to not surrender our trust in God's unfailing love when both naive expectations that we'll see those we love over the holidays and gullible assumptions that we'll talk to them tomorrow are heartbreakingly proven wrong. The trial for us will be to not forfeit our belief in truth of John 14 that though we can be broken, we cannot be defeated.
CJE