Vicarious Victories part 3: No Longer Accused

 

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”  Revelation 12:10

 

I had a hard time with temptation number 3.  Since I had already written about 1 and 2, I felt I had to cover all of them, but I just didn’t have a handle on what to do with this last one.  When I read the passage initially, I thought it was going to be easy, which is funny, because that’s what it seemed to be about – easy. 

Satan took Jesus from the top of the temple to “a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”” (Matthew 4:8-9)

At first glance, it seemed obvious that this was a temptation about taking the easy way out.  “Skip the whole torture and death thing, Jesus; I’ll just give it to you if you worship me.”  Avoid pain whenever possible.  That pretty much sums up my philosophy of life.  I’m not just talking about physical pain, although I definitely try to avoid that; I’m talking about all pain.  If I had my way, I would never have to worry about money or relationship issues or illness or death.  I would live happily ever after.  I would have a life of, well, ease.

Jesus obviously didn’t take the easy way out, and his victory is applied to me, for all of the times I avoided pain to the point of being dishonest, lazy, selfish, etc.  The End.

Easy, right?  But, for some reason, with this temptation, I just couldn’t get past what Satan was offering.  He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, and he said he would give it all to Jesus.  This presupposes that it was his to give.  Note that Jesus didn’t laugh at him and say, “Who do you think you’re kidding?”  If what Satan was offering Jesus was just ridiculous, then the temptation was no temptation at all; but, obviously, it was a real temptation, so what was it all about?

 I don’t claim to understand whether, as some have suggested, Satan had some official role in relation to the earth, and, if so, when it was given to him (Before the fall? After the fall?); but, in at least three Old Testament passages, Job 1 and 2 and Zechariah 3, Satan is mentioned as coming before God in what appears to be a representative manner regarding matters that concern this world.  In each instance, he was either looking for someone to accuse, or he was accusing.

 Regardless of whether or not Satan was the Representative of Earth in the Heavenly Council, we do know that since the time of Adam, every single person had sinned, and now stood condemned to suffer the wrath of God.   Romans 2:5 says, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”  Ephesians 2:3 says we were all, by nature, objects deserving God’s wrath.  Satan’s rule over the earth was based on his right to stand before God and accuse everyone on the planet of deserving God’s wrath, or punishment, which would be poured out on the Day of Judgment.

In the book of John, there are three passages where Jesus refers to Satan as “the prince of this world”, and these passages helped me to understand the third temptation.  The setting for each of these passages is the week before Jesus’ death, and each reference to Satan is specifically related to that death. 

In John 12, what we refer to as Palm Sunday had just occurred. In verse 27 Jesus spoke of all that he was facing, and his feelings about it.  He said, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name!”

 He was troubled at the thought of what lay ahead, and his Father heard the cry of his Son and answered him, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”  (John 12:28) In that exchange between Jesus and his Father we see that, Jesus had come for the very purpose of suffering and dying, and that his suffering and death would bring glory to his Father.  God’s answer to him was that, in Jesus’ birth, life and ministry to this point, he had already been glorified, and that now, in Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, he would be glorified again.

In that context, Jesus says, “Now is the time for judgment on this world, now the prince of this world will be driven out.”  (John 12:31)  Jesus was about to end the power of Satan’s rule once and for all.  He was going to drive him out!  But, how would he do that?  First, he would take, as his own, the sins of the entire world.  He assumed the responsibility for every sin of every human that had ever lived or would ever live.  Then, he faced God’s righteous judgment for all of those sins, and stood as one condemned before God, deserving of his wrath.  And, finally he satisfied God’s wrath by offering himself as a sacrifice, for us, on the cross.  The resurrection was the evidence that the mission was accomplished and the sacrifice was accepted.

Satan could no longer accuse anyone who accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf.  Judgment had already been satisfied.  “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) Satan’s power was broken at the cross!

Jesus’ second reference to Satan as the prince of this world is in John chapter 14.  Jesus was with the disciples at the Last Supper.  He had told them that one of them would betray him, and in chapter 13, Satan had entered Judas, and Judas left to set his betrayal in motion.  Jesus continued preparing the disciples for what lay ahead, and he comforted them by telling them that he would be going to be with his Father soon, but that he would send them another Advocate or Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would “remind you of everything I have said to you.”  He told them that he was leaving his peace with them and that they didn’t need to be worried or afraid.  He told them that they should be glad he was going to his Father and then he said, “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming.  He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (verses 30-31)

With those words Jesus made clear that he was not Satan’s victim, or submitting to Satan’s power in going to his death; rather, he was going to his death for us, because he loved his Father, and this was not only his Father’s will, but his command, and Jesus fulfilled all of his Father’s commands.

The third reference is found in John 16.  They are still at the Last Supper and Jesus is once again speaking of the Holy Spirit who would be coming to them.  While all of what he said to them about the coming Counselor is important, right now I want to focus only on what Jesus says here about the work of the Holy Spirit in regard to Satan.  “When he [the Holy Spirit] comes he will convict the world…in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”(Verses 8,11)  As he has throughout his discourse on his soon coming suffering and death, Jesus spoke of the outcome as a completed fact.  Here he confidently proclaims that the prince of this world stands condemned.  When the Holy Spirit arrived, he would prove the world wrong about their idea of judgment.  The sins of the world were judged, condemned and atoned for, at the cross.  Forgiveness is there for all who will accept it.  The only one who stands condemned, without hope, is the accuser himself.

Now, let’s go back to the mountaintop and consider what Satan was actually suggesting in his alternative plan.    “…the devil… showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”” (Matthew 4:8-9) 

“Forget the sins of the world,” he was saying, “look at all there is to enjoy.  See the splendors the world has to offer.  If you join forces with me, if you acknowledge me as your God, what a ride we could have!  Our pleasures would be unending; our power would be unstoppable.  Forget your Father who expects you to suffer and die!  How crazy is that?  Look at what he wants for you versus what I want for you! You have to look out for Number One.  You’re worth it; they aren’t!  They made their own bed; just let them lie in it.”

“Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan!  For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Yes, Jesus refused to take the easy way out, and that victory is applied to me for every time I have; but, he also chose to ignore the pleasures of the world; he refused to put himself and his enjoyment first;  he chose to ignore worldly power and fame.  Instead, “he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:7,8)

For every time I have chosen to put myself first and have chosen the pleasures of the world over God and over my fellowman; for every time I have chosen power over humility; for every time I have acted on the thought that “they made their own bed; just let them lie in it”; Jesus’ victory on that mountaintop is applied to me.

And not just that, but, for every sin that you and I have ever committed, or ever will commit, because Jesus chose to be obedient to death, his victory was applied to us, at the cross; we need only to accept it, and we are no longer accused.