You need to know where you are at in the war before you start to battle.
The year was 1944. The battles of World War II were raging on with America and its Allies battling against our enemies from Germany, Italy, and Japan.
A Japanese commanding officer called one of his soldiers to give him orders. This Japanese soldier was named Hiroo Onoda. The commanding officer gave Onoda his orders. Onoda was to go to a remote island in the Philippines to battle against the Americans and the Allies, and under no circumstances was Onoda to surrender. So, Onoda left Japan and traveled to this remote island in the Philippines.
There he and other Japanese soldiers went to hide in the jungle of this island and fight guerilla warfare against the Americans and our Allies. Less than a year later, in 1945, Japan surrenders, losing the war, officially ending World War II.
World War II was over, and Japan lost the war. People told Onoda this message over and over again, World War II was over, and Japan lost the war. Onoda refused to accept this truth. So, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, Onoda continued to battle in denial refusing to accept the truth that the War was long ago over and his side lost.
Fast forward to the year 1974. World War II had been over for 28 years at this point. Still, Onoda refused to accept the truth that the war had long ago ended and his side had lost. Onoda’s refusal to accept this truth was costing people their lives. Onoda continued to hide in the shadows of this remote island and take people down, having killed 30 people at this point. The people of the Philippines and Japan were at a loss trying to figure out what they could do to get Onoda to stop battling and to leave.
Finally, a 24-year-old Japanese civilian with an adventurous spirit left Japan with the goal of trying to find Onoda who was still hiding in the jungle on this remote island in the Philippines. He succeeded on his quest. He asked Onoda why he would not stop battling and just leave. Onoda said he would only stop battling and leave if someone who had authority over him commanded him to do so.
With this information, this young man left Onoda and returned to Japan on a quest to find Onoda’s former commanding officer. This young man finally found Onoda’s former commanding officer who was at this point an old man working in a bookstore. He reluctantly agreed to go to the Philippines on the mission of giving Onoda his orders to surrender and leave. The former commanding officer went to the island, found Onoda, gave him the orders to surrender, and finally Onoda surrendered and left.
You need to know where you are at in the war before you start to battle. The battle we hear about in today’s Gospel reading between Jesus and the devil is part of a war between the devil and God that began long before “in the beginning.” Before God created human beings, God created the purely spiritual creatures called angels, including an angel named Lucifer.
Lucifer learned of God’s plans to create his greatest creation called human beings. Lucifer did not like this and rebelled against God and went to war against God and us human beings. This enemy of ours took the form of a serpent and deceived Adam and Eve into joining the devil in this rebellion against God so he could enslave us to sin.
Jesus became one of us human beings to do battle against this enemy. About 30 years later, in today’s Gospel reading the devil comes on the scene to do battle with Jesus when he thinks Jesus is at his weakest, when Jesus is hungry after having not eaten for 40 days in the desert. What the devil fails to realize is the strength Jesus has gained with the knowledge that if he can make it through 40 days of not eating, he tough enough make it through anything, including the devil’s temptations. The devil tries tempting Jesus, but Jesus has authority over the devil. Jesus responds to the temptations of the devil by quoting the truth of scripture. The devil seeing that he is not getting anywhere with trying to take down Jesus, so the devil departs from Jesus for a time.
Little did the devil know that he was setting into motion the days leading up to the culmination of the war. About three years later, Jesus ends the war, winning the war definitively by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. Even though the truth is that Jesus won the war for us about 2,000 years ago, the devil has a hard time accepting the truth. To accept this truth is to accept Jesus who is the truth and who is the victor.
Since the devil refuses to accept this truth, the devil continues to hide in the shadows trying to battle us and take us down. The devil is a bully and a coward who looks for when we are at our weakest to try to battle us. For many of us, when we are our weakest is when we have our guard down and are at rest.
It was about five years ago, and I was sleeping in bed with my wife Julie, asleep next to me. All of a sudden, I felt this dark spirit come over me and try to smother me and overtake me. My kneejerk reaction was to jolt upright in bed, and I screamed out, “In the name of Jesus, I command you to leave me Satan!” Immediately, the dark spirit left me.
Luckily, my wife is a sound sleeper, and she was still asleep completely oblivious to the spiritual battle that just took place right next to her. I know what you’re thinking, this was just a nightmare. Listen, I am 46 years old. I have had plenty of nightmares in my day. This experience was something altogether different.
In these moments of battle, your silence will not save you. Speaking the name of Jesus is powerful. In his name, commanding the enemy to leave you is powerful. Also, praying before going to sleep is like putting on armor to protect us as we rest.
When we are awake, doing what Jesus did in the desert and quoting the truth in scripture in response to the devil is powerful. Since the enemy will try to attack us in the area, we are the weakest, it is good for us to be self-aware about where we are the weakest. Before there were seven deadly sins there were eight evil thoughts from which all sins flow. Identify which of the following eight evil thoughts are your greatest weakness: gluttony, lust, greed, anger, sloth, sadness, vainglory, or pride. Do a search online with the evil thought that is your greatest weakness and the word “Bible.” Find a Bible passage that will be helpful to you, memorize this Bible passage so you can quote when the enemy comes to do battle with this evil thought.
You need to know where you are at in the war before you start to battle. We are a victorious Easter people who are simply having a Lenten experience. We can make it through the temptations and the fasting, because we are about ready to receive Jesus in the Eucharist so we will have the one in us who has overcome the temptations of the devil to strengthen us and help us do the same. We can make it through the fasting with confident hope that what awaits us is an eternal feast with the Prince of Peace.