I will never forget a conversation I had with Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Franciscan monk, now a cardinal and preacher to the Papal Household since 1980. He was about to be involved in a public debate with one of the ‘New Atheists’ in Italy.
I asked him whether he thought he would win the debate. He replied that he did not know. He said he might lose. ‘But,’ he added, ‘the Lord can be glorified in defeat.’
Jesus turned the world upside down. He reversed the values of the world. Supremely on the cross, Jesus turned the world upside down. In an act of ultimate humiliation and apparent defeat he brought the greatest victory the world has ever known.
It was said of his followers that they were ‘turning the world upside down’ (Acts 17:6, NRSV). In each of today’s passages we see how this works, and how the Lord can be glorified in defeat.