The Body of Christ: Thwarting Evil

“but they could find no way to accomplish their purposebecause all the people were hanging on his words.” ~Luke 19:48

Irish philosopher and statesmen, Edmund Burke, in his “Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents” (1770) wrote, "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one….” 191 years after Burke wrote his “Thoughts”, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech before the Canadian Parliament where he quoted Burke as saying ‘“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”’ He was speaking of the “powerful struggle of ideologies” to rule the world. He spoke of the alliance between the United States and Canada to stem the tide of any power that opposed God-given freedom.

In Luke’s gospel the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were seeking to put Jesus to death because he had just cleansed the temple which had been made into a den of thieves. Because Jesus positively had the people’s attention they couldn’t murder him. But if they could swing the people’s desire for Jesus into ire, they knew they could accomplish their dark purpose.

United as the Body of Christ

This exemplifies for us that thwarting evil is not necessarily difficult; the people were doing so without actively trying. On the flip side it warns us that evil can succeed if we’re not actively standing against it. Christians cannot be passive when it comes to the battle against light and dark. The Enemy is always trying to find weaknesses in our defense through aggressive and seemingly benign ways. That is why it is of the utmost importance for us to unite as the Body of Christ. A Christian cannot stand alone. When we do this, evil will be confounded; evil will find no way to accomplish its purpose.

Always improve the present moment.