When Goodness Becomes Dangerous
Wis 2:1a, 12-22 · Ps 34 · Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
Have you ever noticed something strange?
A dishonest person can be comfortable in a group.
But one honest person makes everyone nervous.
Why?
Because goodness exposes things.
It asks questions without speaking.
It reminds people that another way of living is possible.
And that can be uncomfortable.
The Book of Wisdom describes this perfectly.
The wicked say:
“Let us get rid of the righteous one.
He annoys us.
His life is different from ours.
He makes us feel that we are wrong.”
So they decide to test him.
Mock him. Hurt him. See whether God will save him.
The author of Wisdom says something important.
The wicked are missing something.
They do not know the hidden plans of God.
They think they understand the rules.
But they don’t see the deeper story.
C.S. Lewis described this in a beautiful way.
In The Chronicles of Narnia there is a law called “deep magic.”
It says that a traitor must die.
The White Witch knows this law.
But she forgets something.
There is a deeper magic.
Older than the law.
It says that if an innocent person freely gives his life for a traitor,
death itself begins to work backwards.
Something like that happens in the Bible.
The wicked believe that if they destroy the righteous one,
they win.
Psalm 34 answers:
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.”
God does not abandon the just person.
He hears their cry.
He rescues them.
Then Jesus appears in the Gospel.
People argue about him.
Some admire him.
Others want him arrested.
Why?
Because his life exposes theirs.
Just like the righteous man in the Book of Wisdom.
Eventually they will do what the wicked planned.
They will kill him.
And for a moment it will look like evil won.
But they forgot the deeper magic.
The hidden counsel of God.
Jesus is the righteous one.
The innocent one.
The one who freely gave his life.
And when that happened,
death did not win.
Death started working backwards.
The resurrection is the moment when the deeper magic is revealed.
The cross looked like defeat.
But it became the beginning of victory.
And this is the promise for everyone who trusts him.
The righteous may suffer.
They may be misunderstood.
They may even be rejected.
But their story does not end where evil thinks it ends.
Because in God’s world
there is always a deeper story.
A deeper wisdom.
And a deeper victory than anyone expected.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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