THE BATTLE JUST BEGAN BUT ALREADY WON

Tuesday of the 1st Week in the Ordinary Time
Mk 1:21-28

Jesus begins His public ministry today with an open confrontation with the devil. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus immediately encounters the devil. If the opening sentence of an essay states the thesis of the whole article, today’s Gospel gives us the perennial battle Jesus has to fight throughout His earthly life. His life will be a war between evil.

Recall that Mark wrote his gospel for the persecuted Christians. He wrote in a time when hostilities against the followers of Jesus were high. It was a period in the history of the Church that saw the birth of many Christian martyrs, as the fight between good and evil, between God and the devil, relentlessly ensued. The war Jesus fought cannot be but the same battle that His early followers engaged themselves in. The same battle is ours too.

As the Christmas season ended yesterday and the Ordinary Time in the Church begins today, we are reminded that the fight between good and evil remains with us. Christmas was not a holiday but a prelude to the battle waged by Jesus against sin and death. The “silent night” of Christmas was like the stillness before a storm. In that storm, Jesus would rise victorious. The Baby born in a manger would conquer the Prince of Darkness.

We can say this reflection because we are looking at hindsight. Jesus already won the battle even before we take our place among the ranks of His followers. We are already victorious in Him even before we fight our own battle against the devil. But unless we believe so, we are losers.