Soapbox!

 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. (Matthew 2:16) 

Again, the devil took him 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.”

 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ (Matthew 4:8-10) 

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mathew 16:23) 

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matthew26:39-42)

 

While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him… “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” (Matthew 27:19 & 22-24)

 

I know there’s a lot of Scripture above. This wasn’t the direction I planned to take this today, but something set up one of my soap boxes, so here we go. I don’t know where it came from. Maybe it’s been the story since the First Century, but somewhere along the way, we started teaching that Satan thought that he’d won the victory, and then (“Surprise!”) Jesus popped up from the dead and ruined Satan’s party. I won’t name names, but there’s a Christian singer who was famous for singing songs about this. Don’t get me wrong, they were fun songs – but, as I said, “soapbox.”

To put it simply, Satan didn’t want Jesus to die on the cross, especially not without sin. He directed Herod to kill the children so Jesus could not grow up and save us. He tempted Jesus with avoiding the cross and getting everything He wanted. Jesus called Peter “Satan” for suggesting that Jesus should not die. Jesus spent the night in Gethsemane, struggling with the desire to find a different way and to choose the way of the cross. Pilate’s wife told Pilate to have nothing to do with Jesus. Pilate did everything in his power to find a way to placate Rome and the Jews while not killing Jesus.

Prophecies and types throughout the Old Testament pointed to all this, so it’s not likely Satan was so stupid as to have missed the signs. The cross was God’s plan. It was God’s victory. The only way Satan could have won would have been if the crucifixion had not happened. OK, end of soapbox.