Chris Campbell

The king rejoices in your strength, O Lord;
how greatly he exults in your victory!

Beloved in the body of Christ,

What do you consider victory to be? This is the question that our lectionary has posed with today’s readings.

We see in all of them a sort of triumphant march toward the furthering of the kingdom of God on earth, but this seems in contrast to our Gospel reading of Mark 14:43-52 where we see Jesus betrayed by his friend and disciple Judas and taken by force to be crucified. How could this be a victorious story?

“Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.”

Is this truly the victorious cry of Christ? And is Mark’s description of his friend’s response how Christ’s followers celebrate this victory?

”All of them deserted him and fled.”

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes!

We often tie our understanding to our experience, and this experience would tell us that this section of Mark is the lowest point of the journey for Jesus and his disciples. But that is our sinful nature speaking. This is the prelude to the ascension of Christ, and we, like the disciples, are scared of what that means.

We think of death and we think of the end of existence, but this moment, “But let the scriptures be fulfilled” was the beginning, not the end. We too often cling to what is apparent, without opening ourselves to what is actual.

When our Psalms for today speak of victory, this is not a mere earthly victory, this is the victory over Death. What Jesus does at this moment is the greatest victory for the kingdom of Heaven. The Lord God sacrifices His life for ours, to defeat Death.

"All of them deserted him and fled."

We all have deserted, and continue to flee God. This is our great sin. It is a part of us we cannot seem to escape. Man has always “loved life” but not Life as a being, only life as it is something we possess. As such we do not “love life” we love living, even to the point that we would summon Death and sorrow on all who would take it from us, even Christ.

“The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me;
I came to grief and sorrow.

Then I called upon the Name of the Lord:
'O Lord, I pray you, save my life.'”

And God has answered this prayer, He died so we may live forever with Him. But what now do we do with this life? Do we run and abandon Christ? Do we turn our back on his teachings and flee? Or do we lay our lives out for others, as he did for us?

“Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
Our God is full of compassion.”

May you live in truth, peace, and love,
—Chris Campbell