“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” from The Art of War
Why was the Jewish leadership during the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry so troubled by Him? Why did they reject Him as their Messiah?
His claims were clear. His miracles provided sufficient evidence that He was indeed the Messiah. But neither of these convinced the Jewish leadership. To them, Jesus was an imposter. He was not fulfilling their job description for Messiah. He had to go.
What was their problem? They did not know the enemy.
Their Messiah was to sweep in, knock Caesar off his throne, defeat the evil Roman Empire and establish Israel as the pre-eminent nation in the world. But Rome was not the enemy. Their enemy, a trio of adversaries to be exact, was far more sinister and cunning. Satan, sin and death comprised this axis of evil and it was them that Jesus came to defeat.
The Jewish leadership of Jesus’ day missed this critical truth. They missed it because they did not know themselves. They were blind to their lost condition, the fact they were dead in sin like everyone else in the world.
They needed a savior and redeemer. They needed a deliverer. They needed a king who knew the enemy and could defeat him at every turn. They needed Jesus. As to the art of war, none can compare to Him. In one crushing blow He defeated Satan, sin and death.
- As for Satan and his band of demons, Jesus “disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:15 (NIV)
- As for sin, Jesus “appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26 (NIV)
- As for death, Jesus “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” 2 Timothy 1:10 (ESV)
Jesus knew the enemy, the real enemy of our souls. Jesus’ work through His death and resurrection brought the dominion of Satan, sin and death to end for us. Makes me wonder. Should we look at the cross as the work of a suffering servant, or of that as a conquering king? We’ll take a look at that question next time.
For now, I’ll end with this. Recognizing the real enemy of our soul’s frees us to rejoice in Christ’s victory at the cross and to live as more than conquerors in our daily lives.
That was glorious teaching, Bob. Thank you for clarifying the blindness of the Jewish leaders. I also think they wanted to stay in charge and on their own throne just like satan wanted to replace God on His throne. Pride is a grievious sin. May we not be blind to the gift of life Jesus gave to all that repent and accept what Jesus did for us on Calvary and at His ressurection.
Hey Donnetta, yes pride was the root and cause of the spiritual blindness the Jewish leaders experienced. It blinds anyone to their need for Christ.
I agree Donetta, John 11:48 “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
So the Jewish leaders did not see their true enemy, nor did they see glorious truth about Jesus.
This is extra”-ordinarily informative. I have not heard this laying over-top Rome of Satan-sin-death before.
My first thought (as I read it) was this is a stunt. Then, as I continued on reading my spiritual understanding kicked in. You are so right in writing this for us to read. I agree, period. Well stated.
Hey Calvin, “this is a stunt” put a smile on my face. Thanks for reading on.
Amidst the infinite amazing things to reflect on of Christ is the orchestration of his crucifixion. How do you end up hanging to die on a cross when you have lived a sinless life? Pretty easy to see how sinful man couldn’t tolerate the Word incarnate and wanted Him dead. But it is interesting to speculate on the role Satan played.How much did he understand that the public spectacle of the Son of God on the cross was really his defeat and not God’s. When Jesus revealed to his disciples in Matthew that he MUST suffer, be killed, and raised. He responded to Peter’s response of “never” with rebuke choosing to say “get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block to me…..” So you have Jesus in obedience to the Father expressing His will unto crucifixion navigating through the free will choices made by Satan and mankind….with perfection.
Yeah Chris, Satan couldn’t possibly know the plan nor the role to be played, huh? Your statement brings to my mind a (possible)scene of what goes on in heavenly places. Presumably God the Father-Son-Spirit kept the truth of Jesus’ true intent from Satan and his earthly companions, who unwisely allowed themselves to be manipulated to bring about the greatest Faith of all time! Very profound.
Chris, excellent insight, well said. Interesting question you pose concerning Satan. Did he know he was defeated at the cross? His pride and deceitful nature would never allow him to admit it. I mean he would have to admit to truth which is a hard task being the liar that he is.
Did Satan know defeat at the cross? In my opinion, yes. After Jesus has risen, Matthew 28:18 states, “All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me. Therefore…”
Certainly Satan would have been informed of being deposed by a heavenly and earthly king!
It is intriguing to see how the so-named “Great Commission” command is recorded after Jesus announced his headship. Also, it is interesting to see the answer from the Jewish leadership (who were not dispersed, but were diminished at the same time as Satan):
Matthew 28:11-14. Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.”
In my opinion, Satan and earthly companions knew something important had occurred at the time.
The quote from “The Art of War” is a very powerful demonstration indeed. It suggests the superior CONFIDENCE anyone who knows the outcome of their labor(s) can have doing any undertaking-even in a worldly sense: Many times I have pushed through a complicated situation because I had the superior confidence of knowing that if I continue on the “problem” would eventually capitulate (give in). That Jesus as Lord knew this, he could face up to whatever the Jewish leadership fought with against him. Bob thank you for these new insights I am having!
Just wan’t to say praise Jesus for you all. Bob George has to be so grateful to Jesus for the continuing of the ministry threw you all. I can’t say enough how thankful I am because of you. Love Brother Harry.
Hey Harry, thanks for your kind and encouraging words. I hope all is well with you.
Bob, thank-you for that lesson! What an important point to be reminded of. The pride that was evident in the Jewish religious leaders comfortable and worldly lives, their greed, and worldly lusts blinded them to the real Messiah. It seems like they were getting along so well with the Romans I wonder if they were sincerely looking forward to even a worldly Messiah ;). But it also caused me think about some of our Christian leaders in this country in the present time. Sometimes I am concerned as to whether some of the more prominent have gotten so carried away with comfortable living, prosperity gospels, and so on, that they might be blinded to or misunderstand a great fulfillment or unveiling of God’s prophecy if that happened to occur during our lifetime?
Mike, interesting questions you raise. We easily can get caught up in our works and successes that we miss Jesus and the rescue mission He launched to free us from the lies of Satan, the power of sin, and the consequence of death.