The miniseries "Jesus" was shown on CBS this past week.
We can be pleased that the producers stayed fairly
true to the text of John's gospel. Of course, the language was contemporary
and the relationships among individuals and motives of characters were
filled in by dramatic imagination, but they were consistent with the
biblical characterization and the historical milieu.
In the second half of the miniseries, Satan returns to tempt Jesus one last time as Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. The new twist is to suggest that Jesus' excruciating death will be in vain. Satan demonstrates this point by placing Jesus in the middle of battlefields during the Crusades and World Wars. The death of the Son of God will not change humanity.
Jesus acknowledges that humans exercise their free will in violent ways, but maintains that it is the love of God that grants free will, and the love of God that is demonstrated in the death of the Son. Some, he says, will choose to believe and follow. And so he dismisses Satan and lets himself be killed.
Jesus completed his work. But we have not completed ours. Not enough hearts have been changed, not enough wills are submitted to the will of God, not enough love rules in human relations. We, too, are tempted to give up because it looks like our goodness, which can be costly, is in vain. Do not be deceived. Every act of obedience counts, every person introduced to the love of God in Christ makes a difference, every act of love frustrates evil.
So today, keep the faith yourself, but share it with all you can. Jesus did not die in vain.