(As we enter back into ‘ordinary time’, we follow the public life of our Saviour, His three years of ministry before His Passion, Death and Resurrection, for which prepare during Lent, and celebrate at Easter. Alleluia. So here is a meditation from new contributor Father Richard Gribble, C.S.C., on Christ freeing us from many bondages that hold us back from true freedom, in the Truth)
At the conclusion of the story of Jesus raising his good friend Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44), the Lord makes a powerful statement: “Untie him and let him go free.” Jesus’ words were directed to those who needed to physically unwrap Lazarus from his burial cloths and allow him to once again move really. More generally, however, his words provided hope all those held bound in varied ways while challenging those present and by extension all Christians to follow his lead and do what we can to set free those held bound in varied ways today.
Human Bondage
Human slavery has been present in civilization for thousands of years. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians; the great civilizations of Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome utilized slavery as a normal course, especially for the peoples and nations they conquered. More recently modern nations such as England and the United States allowed slavery for long periods of time. The triangle trade was conducted by the British over a hundred years. Ships left England carrying goods of various kinds to West Africa. These goods were traded for human cargo. Next, the soon-to-be slaves were shipped across the Atlantic to slave markets in South America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Now with cash from the sale of slaves, the ships returned to England, completing the triangle. This was indeed a lucrative business, and it only ended when, beginning in England, and then later in the United States the slave trade and slavery were abolished in the Western world
Slavery still continued in significant parts of the world, not least under Islam, and, unfortunately, too often, the trafficking of humans persists to this day. Human bondage is a deplorable vice, but the concept of enslavement is, unfortunately, broader than the buying and selling of humans. People are enslaved in many ways. Many find themselves enslaved by situations in life, whether that be a difficult relationship, economic hardship, physical or mental incapacity or many other circumstances that find people held bound. People are also enslaved by sin. This might not be visible, tangible or obvious to others, but it is nevertheless a very real example of human enslavement. There is, however, a solution, and his name is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Releases Those in Bondage
Throughout his public ministry, Jesus went out of his way to release those held bound, either physically or by situation or circumstance. As he stated, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” (Luke 5:31-32) Jesus dealt directly with those who were afflicted with various physical ailments. Not only did he raise Lazarus from death, but also the son of the widow of Naim and the daughter of the synagogue official. He did not shun lepers, but on the contrary, reached out to them. He was not fearful of disease and seemingly unconcerned that contact with them would render him ritually impure. Rather, he encountered them directly. St. Mark (1:40-41) relates, “A leper came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, ‘If you wish, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, ‘I do will it. be made clean.’” He released the possessed man from the bondage of a legion of evil spirits (Mark 5:1-20). He healed the women afflicted with a hemorrhage for 12 years (Mark 5: 21-34), released Bartimaeus from his blindness (Mark 10:46-52), and the man who was deaf and had a speech impediment (Mark 7:32-37).
The physical cures of Jesus were unquestionably momentous and marvelous, but his ability to release others from their forms of spiritual slavery, while not as obvious, may have been even more significant. Jesus encountered a woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:2-11), and released her from sin while teaching an important lesson to her accusers. The woman was not condemned, but admonished to “[D]o not sin any more.” The Scribes and Pharisees were taught an important lesson that they must follow Jesus’ example and act with mercy, releasing people from burdens rather than placing the heavy weight of accusation on others. Jesus not only pardoned a “sinful woman” who had anointed his feet at the home of the Pharisee, but went on to tell a parable, indicting the host for his lack of hospitality and hypocrisy (Luke 7:36-50). In the process he taught them the need to bring release to others.
Jesus also reached out to many who needed spiritual healing or simply a special favour. Undoubtedly, after his three infamous denials of the Lord, Peter was in a state of disarray. Luke wrote of Peter’s reaction to the sound of the cock crow, “He went out and began to weep bitterly.” (Luke 22:62) Yet, as St. John reports, Jesus gave Peter a second chance, asking him and receiving a reply that indeed Peter did love the Lord (John 21:15-19). Manifesting great kindness and not wanting a wedding couple to suffer embarrassment, Jesus released them from this burden by performing his first miracle, turning water into wine.” (John 2:1-11)
Our Need to Release Others
Jesus provided the perfect model to bring about release from physical ailments, psychological maladies, and spiritual emptiness. We are called to do the same, but this important challenge for all Christians must begin with ourselves. If we are, as Jesus instructs us to love our neighbor as ourselves, then we must manifest personal respect and self-esteem. Far too many people live with a sense of shame from the past. It could be a personal failure, problems at work or in the family, or the pain inflicted by others that persists. We must release ourselves from these burdens. If we cannot, then these past experiences become like a ball and chain that was attached to prisoners in past generations, preventing them from escaping. Our past burdens hold us down; they keep us from moving forward to achieve the ends that we desire. We must cut the ties of past burdens and, as Jesus explained when raising Lazarus, to set ourselves free.
Many people unfortunately live in the bondage of sin. We know where we stand in our relationship with the Lord, but all too often we cannot honestly address the situation. Time passes and our feeling of guilt can ease, but we know deep down that our sin has placed a distance between ourselves and God. Thus, we must at times take the perilous inward -looking journey and make a commitment to be released from our past sins. The sacrament of confession and its three rites of reconciliation are poorly understood and vastly under-utilized. The Lord is waiting for our return; all we need to do is to accept his invitation.
We need to be released from self-doubt and the feeling, for many, of insufficient self-worth. In modern society self-worth is closely connected with measurable accomplishments and/or visible attributes. The world tells us that the more physically attractive, athletic or intellectual we are, the more valuable we are to others. If we have special skills, monetary assets or have reached some high level of achievement or gained significant accolades, then we are considered more important and, therefore, our self-worth is raised. How the world measures self-importance and how the Lord sees us are not the same. God looks to the heart, the non-measurable, but ultimately the most important quality in any man or woman.
Once we are released from past burdens and feelings of personal inadequacy, then we can move to the next step and actively seek to release others. We do not have the ability to effect physical cures as Jesus did, but we can and we must provide release to others, allowing them the freedom to move forward without any burdens from the past. We can release others by forgiving those who have hurt us in the past. Forgiveness is a basic Christian virtue. As we pray in the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Similarly, we bring release to others by refusing to be vengeful toward them. Too often people feel that they must “get back at” those who have hurt them. An ancient Japanese proverb, however, says that vengeance creates two graves, one for you and a second for the person who hurt you. We can help others to be released by taking the time to listen to them. Many times, all that people need is a thoughtful listener; people do not expect us to fix their past problems. All they need is someone who cares enough to listen. How many times have we felt so much better when someone took the time to listen to whatever problem that was burdening us?
Jesus released people from physical burdens, psychological difficulties, and spiritual malaise. As Lazarus walked from the tomb and the Lord told others, “Untie him and let him free,” so too must we, his followers, make every effort to release others from their burdens. We can begin with ourselves and then move on to others. Life will throw us many challenges, detours, and roadblocks, each of which will place a burden on us. However, Jesus came to release us from our burdens, to untie us and allow us to be free. Let us free ourselves and others, allowing all to continue their journey to Christ and life eternal.
