In Jesus Holy Name January 28, 2024
Text: Mark 1:21-25 Epiphany III Redeemer
“The Cosmic War on Earth”
Jesus and his disciple have entered the local Synagogue on the Sabbath.
Jesus was an honored guest. He was asked to address those who had assembled. Back then a guest preacher would begin by quoting some saintly scholar. But the guest preacher, Jesus, didn’t do what others normally did. He did not have to quote anyone famous. They noted that He taught with authority. He didn’t quote other Rabbi’s, He spoke as if He had written the scriptures…which of course He had.
Mark chapter 1 reminds us that God has an invisible enemy, Satan, who was an angel who wanted to displace God, or at least be equal with God. Jesus called Satan the “great Deceiver”. He will tell us everything from “God isn’t real” to “God isn’t good.” When Jesus was active in His ministry, Satan and his demons, those who had joined His rebellion against God were out in force in their attempt to defeat Jesus and His mission. (quote from Rev. Tom Zelt)
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.
This “cosmic battle” was and is ongoing. I am reminded that Satan used both Pride, Jealousy and Political power under Herod the Great to try to kill the infant Messiah in Bethlehem. When that failed Satan came himself and tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Now in Mark 1 in the synagogue we see the ongoing battle and confrontation with evil. This cosmic war is a religious war. It is a battle between the forces of evil controlled by Satan and God over the human life and soul. This cosmic conflict is not only visible in the ministry of Jesus, but in our lives and our culture as well.
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. The poem concerns the biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
The epic continues in Milton’s second edition, which followed in 1674, also arranged into twelve books, to explain the ongoing battle between God and Satan in our lives and in human history. Milton states that Satan is a tragic figure who famously declares: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" (1.263). Following his vain rebellion against God he is cast out from Heaven and condemned to Hell. The rebellion stems from Satan's pride and envy, his desire to replace the Creator of the Universe.
Each Sunday morning our bible study has been studying the Book of Revelation. The past several Sundays we have looked in depth at Chapter 12. 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 down to the earth where Satan his minions now lead 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! (Read Rev. 13:17)
The Gospel of Mark is clear: “The time of the Messiah has come. God’s Son has arrived on the earth He created in order to destroy the devil.” When Jesus entered the synagogue in Capernaum the demons who possessed the man’s body knew who Jesus was. “We know who you are, the Holy One of God. Have you come to destroy us?”
Friends, Satan knew very well who Jesus was.
When Satan’s 2nd attempt to defeat Jesus in the wilderness failed…we fine .Jesus engaged 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 thought that the “end of the world” and God’s final judgment had arrived. Rev. 11 and 21 both proclaim:
“Then I saw a great white throne”, writes John, “and Him who was seated on it.” The Judgement of God, the end of all human history has arrived. “Then death and Hades gave up their dead and along with Satan were thrown into the lake of Fire.” This is the second death…. Rev. 20;
This event in Capernaum is one episode in the ongoing battle over the control of the earth and God’s chosen people. The cosmic battle between God and Satan, the fallen angel began centuries ago in the Garden of Eden. This cosmic war has just shifted to this Galilean village. God’s creation was perfect. Human beings were created perfect in the image of God with the ability to love, and with the gift of free will. Satan hates God and His authority therefore he seeks to destroy God’s creation and God’s chosen people.
The ultimate defeat of Satan happened at the death and resurrection of Jesus, but he continues his guerrilla war.
“In Genesis 3:21 God made coats of skins to clothe the nakedness of Adam and Eve. The making of coats out of animal skins required death. It was not sufficient for humans to make a covering out of leaves to cover their sin. No their covering had to be made through the taking of a life. Here is the basic principle of redemption: Without the shedding of blood there is no covering for sin.” So Jesus gave his holy blood on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. (Jesus A Theography p. 246 Sweet)
In this “cosmic battle” in the wilderness, in the synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus demonstrates ultimate authority over evil, but He has not yet completed His mission. 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. The price of our human disobedience must be paid.
The Father knew if Jesus was to succeed in redeeming us, He had to be One of us. He was born as are all humans. His mother’s name was Mary. The Apostle Paul reminds us that God was pleased to have all of His full deity dwell in Jesus as the perfect human, perfect God. (Colossians 1:19)
As a man, Jesus had to fulfill the laws we could not. He had to resist the
temptations we do not. His death on the cross was an act of substitution. He took the punishment of God’s wrath against our broken commandments. When the Father said that His Son would die upon a cross, He meant it. Jesus promised that He would rise from death and defeat the grip Satan held over human hearts. He did. He kept His promise. (gospel statement)
“On the cross Jesus took upon Himself every sin that you and I would ever commit. He took upon Himself the accusation of the enemy against the whole human race and He “drank the cup of God’s wrath” against every human broken commandment. Upon that cross He defeated Satan who holds people in the grip of the fear of death and the judgment they know is to follow. (Hebrews 2:14)
For a moment death won. Behold the body of God’s Son was lying in a tomb. Death was victorious. But the fight wasn’t over. Three days later God the Father stepped in and His Holy Spirit raised Jesus to life with a glorified resurrected body.
“The story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is a three day story. But the middle day is hardly ever mentioned as part of the story. No theology of atonement and redemption is complete without an account of “no-name Saturday”.
Holy Saturday is hard to celebrate because it is based on the reality that Jesus died. (Jesus A Theography p. 246 Sweet)
What did Jesus do? As Peter writes: “He descended into hell”. George Mackay Brown, a Scottish poet wrote a poem called the “The Harrowing of Hell” it is about this day between Good Friday an Easter Sunday. He knocked on the gate of Hell and demands that the King of glory be allowed in. “Who is the King of glory?” Satan and hell chant in unison.
Then there appears a man at the gates of hell with a cross on his back, knocking and demanding entrance. Since he is a robber, Satan lets him int Sheol. But this robber is shinning and bright, and as soon as Satan stands at the gate a voice is heard: Open that the King of Glory may come in…The resurrected Jesus is not dead. He is alive, and glorified. Death could not hold the Creator of the Universe and the body of Jesus of Nazareth came to life. (Jesus A Theography Sweet p. 256)
Until the Resurrected Jesus returns to this earth, there is going to be an ongoing “cosmic warfare” between God and Satan. It is still in progress. There are no non- combatants. Satan is seeking to destroy God’s creation, both the earth and the human body. This “cosmic battle”. “The Dragan, Satan has gone off to make war against all who obey the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Rev. 12:17
We know how the story ends. We know who holds the future. We have our part to play. We glorify His name each day when we “do the works He has prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
