Satan Wept

Our Gospel text on one particualar Sunday in Lent was the story of the two thieves crucified on either side of Jesus, and the hymn spoke of “the Lamb who bore our sins.”

I had a flashback….right there in the middle of the service….I remembered playing a computer adventure game. It was likely a King’s Quest or Hero’s Quest game. The protagonist needed to perform many tasks in order to save the girl (..or the kingdom….or the castle…or whatever…).

One of those quests was to cross the River Styx, confront Satan, and collect a tear from him. The depiction of Lucifer was truly frightening: scaly, lizard-like skin covered his body. His face was deeply wrinkled, and his mouth wore a deep sneer. His fingernails were long and clawed. His chest and legs were wrapped in chains—I was reminded of Joseph Marley’s ghost. Satan laughed at the Hero! What could possibly make him, Lord of Darkness and Prince of Death, cry?

There, in the Lenten service, while we sang of Jesus, the sacrificial lamb…I remembered how the Hero made Satan cry. He took out a mirror and held it in front of the prince of darkness. Satan beheld the sin. The hate, lust, terror, gluttony, greed, jealousy, envy…..they were embedded in the wrinkles on his face, the scales of his lizard-like skin, and in the chains in which he was wrapped.

And Satan wept.

Lent is a season of repentence. We take these six weeks to examine ourselves, our lives and our faith. And, like Satan, we see reflected the hate, lust, terror, gluttony, greed, jealousy, envy.

And we look forward to Easter……