The Shroud

Standing in the Jedi Council Chamber, Obi-Wan reflects on the battle that just ended:

“I must admit that without the clones, it would not have been victory.”

Yoda, as he always does, knows better and responds:

“Victory? Victory, you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen.”

For most people, the prequel trilogy is just a hodge-podge of flashy action scenes, terrible acting, worse dialogue, and an angsty “Chosen One”, but not for me. 

For me, the trilogy has always been about a puppet master who sat back and watched the world self-destruct as he rose to greater and greater power. It’s about a sinister villain who manages to convince everyone that they’re “winning” even as they advance the villain’s causes at the expense of their own values and goals.

The prequels are all about Palpatine. 

And we sit back and we say, “How could they not see? Isn’t it obvious what he’s doing?”

But the shroud had fallen.

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We say the same thing when we read about the Israelites wandering in the desert, or the Pharisees as they interact with Jesus, or Judas as he betrays Jesus. How could they not see? They should have known better. 

But the shroud had fallen.

Paul warned the Corinthians about the shroud and the villain behind it. 

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (1 Corinthians 11:3-4)

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As cunning as Palpatine was, Satan puts him to shame. Even after Christ had defeated death and freed us from the bondage of sin, Satan still found ways to put a shroud over God’s people. 

He convinced many of the early Christians (even Peter!) that “true” believers would not only follow Christ, but also continue to follow the old covenant (or at least parts of it). They convinced themselves that they were “winning” and being better Christians than those who didn’t follow their rules. 

The shroud had fallen.

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The ways in which Satan does this today are ingenious in their subtlety. 

As we discuss politics with our coworkers, we focus more on being right than on showing love and grace. After all, we’re standing up for good Christian morals and values, so we’re doing God’s work by boldly speaking the truth, right?

We get into arguments about differences in worship styles and customs rather than focusing on the grace of God and his mission of reaching the lost. After all, worship is important, and we want to do it in the most God-pleasing way possible, so we’re doing God’s work by making sure others know our methods are better, right?

We are hesitant to give money to those in need or donate to charities helping those in need. After all, God calls us to be good stewards of our money, so we’re doing God’s work by making sure our families are well taken care of, right? 

The shroud has fallen.

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All of these situations are complicated and nuanced and even when we have the best of intentions, we often find it difficult to know just what the right course of action is. Thankfully, we can take comfort with the psalmist that:

“Your word is a lamp for my feet,
 a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

And though it may seem like Satan is continuing to win in our lives and the lives of our fellow Christians, we are assured by John:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)

Jesus came not just to be our light in the darkness, but also to forgive us for the times when we were misled by Satan’s shroud. For all of the times we failed to “win” or thought we were “winning” when we were actually failing to love, Christ shares his victory over sin and darkness with us.