Thursday 32nd Week OT November 14, 2024
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
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If I told you “I am Jesus reincarnated,” would you believe me? I certainly hope not! The sad fact is that people have claimed to be Jesus and other people have believed them!
In the 1600s, the Welshman Rhys Evans claimed to be Jesus and tried to warn the king about some dire prophecies of doom. In the 1700s, Ann Lee proclaimed herself to be the female incarnation of Christ. She and her followers moved to New York. They called her “mother,” and her group eventually came to be known as the “Shakers” because of how they shook during prayer. There are 2 known followers of the shaker movement alive today. In the 1800s, Arnold Potter – a Mormon from New York – traveled to Australia. While there, he claims the Spirit came upon him and infused him with the spirit of Christ. He returned to the United Stated, started calling himself “Potter Christ,” and gathered followers. They eventually ended up in Iowa. Arnold died in 1872 from jumped off a cliff while attempting to ascend back into heaven. In the 1900s, Emmanuel Odumosu in Lagos, Nigeria claimed to be Jesus and changed his name to match. He gathered followers with a message of self-discipline mixed with economic success. He died in 1988, the year I was born. There are several people alive right now who claim to be Jesus in one form or another. And people believe them.
Why, though? Why would anyone believe a person is Jesus, especially after he explicitly warns us not to fall for that trick? Because the world is a mess. Because we are hard-wired to want a messiah. Because, deep down, everyone is looking for the Kingdom of God. As creatures of flesh and blood, it makes sense that we are inclined to look for a kingdom that is visible and tangible. Without faith and without some careful guidance, it makes sense that at least a few people would fall for anything claiming to finally satisfy that longing.
You and I fall for stuff like that all the time. Don’t believe me? Think back to the last thing you really looked forward to. Winning the big game, getting a date with the guy or girl you really like, going to that really exciting party, finally getting your hands on a vape or some alcohol, the premier of that show or movie you’ve been looking forward to, binge-playing the new video game, or a 100 other things that excite us, that tickle the part of our brains that is constantly looking for happiness. When the moment finally came, what happened?
I bet it was fun. Perhaps, for a little while, you felt like you were really happy, like you had arrived, like life was perfect. But how long? How long before you had that realization that it wasn’t going to last? Did the thought occur to you in that very moment? That whispering fear, that subtle dread that, because you finally got what you wanted and it was about to end, you would never be happy again?
Either you know what I’m talking about, or you’re lying to yourself, or you still lack the self-awareness to recognize it. We all experience that… the mixture of happiness and fear that comes whenever we get what we want because we realize it will not, it cannot keep us happy forever. That sensation? That desire? That is the false messiah. It is the same weakness that causes people to believe in false messiahs, to disregard Jesus’ words and join a cult that promises, once and for all, to deliver the security, purpose, and happiness they want.
It always fails, of course. But, if we can’t see in ourselves the same kind of weakness, we won’t be able to appreciate what Jesus is telling us here. “The Kingdom of God is among you.” What does he mean by that? A few things. First, he means it quite literally. Jesus is standing right there in the crowd. Jesus is the kingdom of God. Secondly, he means that, in this life, the kingdom of God will never be a completely external, perfect political and social system. No king or queen, no president or prime minister, no country or government will ever be the kingdom of God because that’s not how the kingdom works… that’s not how true happiness works. That happiness cannot be given to us from some system or thing outside of us. It can only come from within from God who already dwells at the very center of our souls.
Jesus is the true messiah not because his teaching was cleverer or his miracles were more powerful than other people claiming to be the messiah. He is the messiah because he alone can be both outside of us and in our souls at the same time. He alone can both teach us the truth and reach into our hearts to give us the ability to live that truth. No parlor trick or demonic deception can do that.
So, we must look for the kingdom not in fleeting pleasures or grandiose social schemes, but in our very hearts and minds. It is the life of virtue – good habit – and the life of self-giving love that reveals the kingdom. I have seen God’s kingdom. I see it quite frequently. Moments of insight, brief experiences of transcendence in the sacraments, witnessing how God’s grace transforms people lives and enables them to do astonishingly good things in an astonishingly broken world.
Lest we go too far in the other direction, though, Jesus reminds us that the external world will one day match up with that hidden, inner kingdom. Like lightning across the sky… If someone says they are Jesus, you know they are lying because when Jesus comes, he won’t have to say anything. It will be immediately obvious to everyone, everywhere the instant he comes. Then and only then will the kingdom of God be perfectly established inside and out, in heaven, and on earth. So, we do in fact look forward to that day. It will come. Have hope!
Only, remember that, until it comes, the most surefire way to know you’re following God’s kingdom is the cross. If Jesus himself doesn’t get to experience God’s kingdom without first going through the cross, why should we be any different? “Thy Kingdom Come” we say in the Our Father, and we mean it. At least, I hope you do! Look for that kingdom. Don’t stop looking for it. Go ahead and enjoy the little things in life, the good things God has given us. Just, you know, don’t expect them to give you the happiness that comes only from the kingdom of God. For that, be sure to look in the right place: the cross.