| Reflection:
Jesus
had now reached almost to the top of Calvary; but, before He had
gained the very spot where He was to be crucified, again He fell,
and is again dragged up and goaded onwards by the brutal soldiery.
We
are told in Holy Scripture of three falls of Satan, the Evil Spirit.
The first was in the beginning; the second, when the Gospel and the
Kingdom of Heaven were preached to the world; the third will be at
the end of all things. The first is told us by St. John the
Evangelist. He says: "There was a great battle in heaven.
Michael and his Angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon
fought, and his angels. And they prevailed not, neither was their
place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast out,
the old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan." The second
fall, at the time of the Gospel, is spoken of by our Lord when He
says, "I saw Satan, like lightning, falling from heaven."
And the third by the same St. John: "There came down fire from
God out of heaven, ... and the devil ... was cast into the pool of
fire and brimstone."
These
three falls--the past, the present, and the future--the Evil Spirit
had in mind when he moved Judas to betray Our Lord. This was just
his hour. Our Lord, when He was seized, said to His enemies,
"This is your hour and the power of darkness." Satan knew
his time was short, and thought he might use it to good effect. But
little dreaming that he would be acting in behalf of the world's
redemption, which our Lord's passion and death were to work out, in
revenge, and, as he thought, in triumph, he smote Him once, he smote
Him twice, he smote Him thrice, each successive time a heavier blow.
The weight of the Cross, the barbarity of the soldiers and the
crowd, were but his instruments. O Jesus, the only-begotten Son of
God, the Word Incarnate, we praise, adore, and love Thee for Thy
ineffable condescension, even to allow Thyself thus for a time to
fall into the hands and under the power of the Enemy of God and man,
in order thereby to save us from being his servants and companions
for eternity.
Or
this, This is the worst fall of the three. His strength has for a
while utterly failed Him, and it is some time before the barbarous
soldiers can bring Him to. Ah! it was His anticipation of what was
to happen to me. I get worse and worse. He sees the end from the
beginning. He was thinking of me all the time He dragged Himself
along, up the Hill of Calvary. He saw that I should fall again in
spite of all former warnings and former assistance. He saw that I
should become secure and self-confident, and that my enemy would
then assail me with some new temptation, to which I never thought I
should be exposed. I thought my weakness lay all on one particular
side which I knew. I had not a dream that I was not strong on the
other. And so Satan came down on my unguarded side, and got the
better of me from my self-trust and self-satisfaction. I was wanting
in humility. I thought no harm would come on me, I thought I had
outlived the danger of sinning; I thought it was an easy thing to
get to heaven, and I was not watchful. It was my pride, and so I
fell a third time. |
