Simplicity versus Violence. Who Wins?
Live+Jesus
On Sunday we will chat about the simplicity of the Gospel.
Simplicity is the sign and seal of the Gospel, because it is the distinctive feature, the very nature, of the Savior. From the first moment of His life until His last breath upon the Cross, Jesus never failed to look toward His Father and to act for God. The Gospel bears testimony to this, as well as all the words and acts of Jesus Himself. “When Christ cometh into the world,” says St. Paul, “He saith, ‘Behold I come to do Thy will, O God.’ . . . I will give my laws in their hearts.” His first thought was for God. The first use He made of His liberty was to submit to the will of God and to give Himself up wholly to Him.And in what was to follow, Jesus never swerved one instant from this attitude. When Mary and Joseph had found Him in the Temple and were in great distress, wondering at His conduct, His only reply was: “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
During the thirty years spent at Nazareth, what did He do? He remained in the presence of God, working in obedience and humility, so that He might please God and live wholly for Him.
When at the age of thirty, He leaves His Mother and retires into the desert, it is because He is led there by the Holy Spirit. When the Devil tempts Him, it is in God’s name that He repels him: “Not on bread alone doth man live, but on every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. . . . Him only shalt thou serve.”
On the banks of the Jordan, the Spirit of God descends visibly upon Jesus in the form of a dove. When He enters the synagogue, He opens the Gospels at this passage: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, wherefore He hath anointed me.”
His first reply to the Samaritan who questions Him concerning the true worship is: “The true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth.” And immediately after that, He says to His Apostles, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.”
To all the questions put to Him, to all the traps laid for Him, and to all the outrages proffered Him, He always replies by speaking of His Father, of the offenses and insults offered to God, and of the love, confidence, and submission that all owe to Him. He sums up all religion, law, and morality in this one unique precept: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart.”
Has the world ever seen teaching, philosophy, or doctrine more simple than our Lord’s sermon in which He forbids having two masters and reduces all to the love of God?
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Ah, how lofty and beautiful is simplicity in itself, but how much more beautiful and how much more attractive, how holy, adorable, and divine in the Heart and soul of Jesus! For simplicity is in truth the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of God in the creature.
May simplicity be our habitual exercise, our unceasing inspiration, our very life and soul. In its practice, may we learn to die to all created things and live only to the Creator. May all that is human in us vanish, and that alone remain which is divine; or at least, since to be human is our condition, may our humanity become divine as in Jesus, and, seeking God in all things by means of simplicity, may we find Him in all things, cleave to Him, and rest in Him forever.
Source: Stength in Simplicity by Emmanuel de Gibergues. Read more here.
In our Living Jesus Chat Room this Sunday, we’ll talk about the simplicity of the Gospel. Here are some questions to ponder.
- Given the recent tragedies in France, how can the simplicity and humility of Jesus be the answer to all of this violence?
- How can the love that Jesus exhibits for the Father provide us an answer to the violence and problems of the world?
- What do you think is the value of simplicity?