The Rev’d Carlos de la Torre
Christ Church, New Haven, Conn.
The Second Sunday in Lent
March 17, 2019
On this second Sunday in Lent, Jesus is warned by a group of Pharisees of Herod's desire to kill him. Instead of confronting this evil desire with anger or fighting back, Jesus tells those who brought him this message to "Go and tell that fox [Herod] for me, 'Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work." In the face of evil, Jesus offers us a different way to be. While not denying Herod's evil wishes, Jesus is busy doing the work of the kingdom -- work that in itself will destroy sin, evil, and death on the cross. With the rise of evil embodied in forms of racism and white supremacy, most recently captured in the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, we are invited to once again recommit ourselves to following Jesus—to face the very evil Jesus faced 2,000 years ago in Herod's violent fear and desire for murder, and join our savior, Jesus Christ, this day and always in casting out demons and curing those in need of healing in our day—thereby sharing the Good News that Jesus has come to show us the way to salvation: a way of life that can overcome and defeat the evil and sin we encounter in our world.