Jesus Christ, Our Only Saviour

Jesus’ words reminds us that he is the only Saviour of the world. All others are false saviours.

Readings: Luke 17:20-25, Psalm 146(145)

The following homily was preached to the student brothers during Compline:

The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, “Behold, there!” or “Behold, here!” Do not go, do not follow them.

Today’s Gospel reading is a very apt one, given the various political events that have taken place recently. I think most people, nowadays, are deeply aware of the very many short-comings and flaws in our world and in our society. We are deeply aware that the world is not how it should be – that, no matter where we turn to – there always seems to be something going wrong: wars, hunger, poverty, sickness, the rising cost of living, the abuse of children, the killing of the unborn, and so on. We are so deeply aware that the world should not be like this… this world does not live up to the ideals of the Kingdom of God.

The temptation we have is to look to other human beings to make things right – be it certain clergy, or politicians, or political systems. It is tempting to think: “if only we place this politician in power, or implement that political system, we can solve all our problems – we can tackle hunger, poverty, stop wars, improve the quality of life…” Or “if only more people listened to this bishop or that cardinal, then the Church would be less divided, more faithful to the Gospel, there will be more vocations…”

The problem with such a tendency is that it seems to be exactly what today’s Gospel passage warns against. Because we do live in an age when we are constantly being offered false saviours, who can never live up to their promises of deliverance. But Jesus Christ is the only one who brings about the Kingdom of God. He is the only Saviour, who can correct all the evils of this world. Neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris will solve society’s problems; neither the Conservative party nor the Labour party, neither communism nor capitalism will bring about that ideal society; there is no one liturgical form – neither the traditional nor the new – that can act as a magic bullet to solve the Church’s problems. Because none of these are Jesus.

This is not to say that certain politicians can’t do good things – of course they can. Nor is this to say that certain church leaders don’t have good things to say – of course they do. Indeed, with their help, we can even begin to correct some of the problems in our world. But because none of them are Jesus Christ, none of them are conformed to the Gospel. And so none of them will ever bring about an ideal society, free from suffering or evil.

Psalm 146:2,5 says “Put not your trust in princes, in mortal men, in whom there is no help”… but “happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God”. If you look for salvation from anyone other than Jesus, you will be disappointed. If you elevate any human being – any politician or cleric – to become a saviour, you are setting them up to fall; and they will fall hard. And if Jesus Christ is not the Saviour of everything in my life, then I will end up looking for salvation from false saviours. Because Jesus is the only the only Saviour who can fix this fallen world. And it is only by elevating Jesus as my saviour, and as your saviour, that the world will become good, and righteous, and just.

Image: ‘The Saviour’ by El Greco; located in the Prado Museum. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.