In Jesus Holy Name January 24, 2021
Text: Mark 1:12 Epiphany III Redeemer
“The Cosmic War on Earth”
When General George Patton counter-attacked Field Marshal Rommel in World War II, Patton is reported to have shouted in the thick of battle: “I read your book, Rommel!! I read your book!” He knew the German leader’s strategy and planned his moves accordingly. We know the same about the Devil. The Apostle Paul says, “We are not ignorant of his schemes. (II Cor. 2:11)
What is the point of Mark’s opening words in Chapter 1? 1) The time of the Messiah has come. God’s Son has arrived onto the earth He created in order to destroy the devil. 2) If we believe in Jesus we can expect to be tempted as well.
I love the way Mark has chosen to explain this Cosmic War on Earth. His words are short and to the point: “This is the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” The Messiah as arrived. After his baptism, Mark writes, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days the “cosmic battle” between God and Satan continued to play out through the life of Jesus. Why?
In Revelation 12 & 13 we are told that Satan lost the “war in heaven”… after his defeat by the archangel Michael …the dragon and his angels lost their place in heaven and were cast out and now leads the whole world astray.” John writes: “the dragon went off to make war against those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” That’s us!(Rev. 13:17)
Philip Yancy writes: “like single combat warriors, (we watch) two giants of the cosmos converged on a scene of desolation.” (The Jesus I Never Knew p. 70)
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil”.
(1 John 3:8). The angel told Joseph in a dream that he should name the child of Mary Jesus “because He will save His people from their sins.”
Friends, Satan knew very well who Jesus was. He had already tried to kill
Jesus when He was an infant using the political power of the evil king Herod who had all the boys under the age of two in Bethlehem killed after the visit of the Magi.
The events in the wilderness was Satan’s 2nd attempt to deflect the Savior from His mission. When Satan’s temptations in the wilderness failed….Jesus returns from the wilderness and engages in His third battle. The engagement happens in a synagogue in Capernaum. (read 1:21-24) You see, they, the demons, thought this was the “final judgment of God explained in Revelation 20 when they would be destroyed in the eternal lake of fire.
They knew …“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil”.
The word “destroy” means to “render powerless.” When Jesus died on the cross, he “pulled the plug” on Satan. In this present age Satan seems to be very powerful, but he cannot do anything without God’s express permission. He is like Samson shorn of his locks, unable to do anything on his own. The day is coming when his utter impotence will be revealed to the universe and those who followed him will discover that they were following a toothless lion..
We have to turn to Luke and Matthew for the details of the temptation. Jesus is driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. There Satan himself tempted the Son of God to change the rules and achieve his goals by a dazzling, short cut method. Our eternal destiny as human beings hung in the balance.
Jesus ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them He was hungry. He was vulnerable. A physical need needed to be met. And so the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. It’s a quick fix.
The temptation was a reasonable response to Jesus’ hunger. He had power over nature. And stones were abundant there in the wilderness. He could use his extraordinary gifts to meet his physical needs. In other words… Satan is suggesting I know who you are… “you don’t want people to starve do you?” You can solve all the world’s hunger problem…let me help you. In other words… just use your power and you can solve world hunger. “If you are God, then dazzle me. Act like God.”
But Jesus knew that was not what he was sent to do. He was sent to do the work of His Father. He was to complete the promise of the angel to Mary and Joseph. Do you remember: “you shall give him the name Jesus because he will save His people from their sins….. He will be “Emmanuel….” God with us. So, Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
Having failed to tempt Jesus with his stones to bread routine, the devil takes a different tact. He leads Christ up to a high place and shows him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he says to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
We just witnessed a peaceful transition of power from one President to the new President. The temptation to power can easily over shadow the call to serve. Few people can resist being handed the power of a committee chairmanship in the US Capitol, or in a corporation. Will they weigh the cost to their integrity or will the desire for power shade their ethical and moral core? You have to wonder how many politicians have been willing to bow down to Satan in order to achieve such dreams of adulation and power.
Now imagine, Satan comes and offers Jesus the power to rule all the nations of the world. Imagine the status, the adulation, that would come with ruling over all the kingdoms of this world?
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
The devil then leads him to Jerusalem and has him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he says, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
And Jesus answers, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
You do understand, don’t you, that this was exactly what Satan was doing? He was testing Jesus. That is what temptation is. It is a test. Fail the test of temptation and you become even weaker spiritually. Pass the test and you become infinitely stronger.
Temptations are almost always based on our own legitimate wants and needs. Desire for food, desire for human intimacy, or desire for approval from others. These are normal, perhaps even innocent, desires, but they do at times make us more vulnerable to temptation.
The devil does not plant foreign temptations into our mind. The devil has never tempted me to kill my enemies or to sleep with my neighbor, because those temptations would be so far removed from my own code of ethics. But the devil might plant a judgmental thought in my mind, especially if I’m having trouble with so and so. Then his temptations will encourage me to take it to the next step. The result? Gossip springs from my lips. It is an attempt to destroy the other’s character.
The devil might whisper a thought of doubt about your spouse’s devotion and love after you just received an unusually large 4 foot high Vermont Teddy Bear…..and it’s not Valentine’s Day. See where that thought leads you. The devil can give us innocent suggestions, opening the door to further suggestions, which will lead us down a path we should have never chosen to walk.
John Piper, theologian and author, states that sin "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it.” Gossip for example gets its power by persuading me that I really “am better” than that other person just down the pew. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.
Notice that in each of these temptations was an offer to make Jesus fulfilled or happier. He is tempted but passed the test with flying colors. AAAH! But that is not the end of the story. Look at the words of Luke, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him UNTIL AN OPPORTUNE TIME.” Satan wasn’t finished with Jesus. “Nailed to the cross Jesus would hear the last temptation repeated as a taunt. Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us.” But there was no rescue, no miracle, no easy, painless path for Jesus to save others, quite simple, he could not save himself and us.” (Philip Yancy The Jesus I Never Knew. P. 73)
None of us ever gets to the point where we are beyond being tested.
"But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own evil desires."
Max Lucado suggests in his book, On the Anvil, that there are two very simple strategies for protecting ourselves from sin and temptation. The first is to recognize Satan. So often, we are lured into a sin because it looks so attractive, so fulfilling, so right at the time. So we find ways to rationalize our actions and make excuses for our attitudes. Instead, we must be like Jesus in the desert and call Satan by name. No more sugar-coating the truth. Don't try to water down the down the power of sin. Call it with it is.
Second, we can guard against temptations by knowing the word of God, reading the scriptures and then allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken our conscience.
Through His life, His Temptation, His suffering, His death and resurrection Jesus offered His perfect Self as the only acceptable substitute for our broken commandments. When Jesus had completed all that the prophets had promised He would do, He went to the cross in our place to take on His shoulders the wrath of God we deserved. Then in God’s gracious love He transferred all of the holiness and righteousness of Jesus to each person who has accepted Jesus as their personal Savior.
Then in a victorious moment, three days after His lifeless body was placed into a borrowed stone grave, He rose from the dead. In that moment Satan’s grip of the fear of death was removed from the human heart, providing to us the open door to heaven. As Paul writes to the Christians in Rome. We have peace with our God. Friendship has been restored. We have an unstoppable “hope” in our heart by faith in Jesus.
