Our next encounter in Matthew is:
But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.” (Matt. 9:32-34 NIV)
Don’t you just hear Satan laughing in the remarks
of the Pharisees? Remember how Satan waits
to attack Jesus “until the next opportunity came”? Here is one of the many opportunities
where Satan uses human beings as mouthpieces to snarl at and mock Jesus. So, here’s something to think about: Satan uses others to get to you. Jesus was
down range of Satan using others to attack Him on many occasions and it will be
no different with you. The Pharisees here are being completely illogical (Why
would Satan destroy his own works?) and in grave peril (attributing to Satan
what God is doing is the “unpardonable sin”) so it makes no sense from a human
perspective.
But in the spiritual realm, it fits. Anytime Satan can demean, belittle, question,
cast doubt, or sabotage you and your calling with another person’s mouth, he’ll
do it. Pride, anger, envy, fear in the
other person is the perfect open door that Satan comes through and uses to his
advantage. Let’s look at
one time where Satan used one of Jesus’ closest followers:
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the
hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and
that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never,
Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
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.” (Matt. 16:21-23 NIV)
Peter was well-intentioned with Jesus. Who wouldn’t want to dissuade your best Friend
from pursuing such a horrible end? But
Peter missed the part about Jesus being raised to life, and the fear of His
death opened up a door for Satan to enter and insinuate that Jesus did not need
to go to the cross to fulfill His mission.
But Jesus had clearly stated, "For even the Son of Man did
not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
Let’s
examine another follower whom Satan used:
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread,
called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for
some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered
Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple
guard and
discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted
and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to
them when no crowd was present. (Luke 22:1-6 NIV)
There’s that word “opportunity”
again. This time, Satan did not use fear
but doubt in the heart of Judas to get what he wanted: Jesus arrested and
killed. Judas has begun to doubt Jesus’ mission.
Jesus had not used His mighty power to destroy the Roman oppression of Israel;
all Judas saw was Jesus using His power to raise the dead, heal the sick and
drive out demons.
Judas may have thought to himself: Fine
use of your power there Jesus, but what about using it against those
Romans? They are the greater evil! Use Your mighty power to conquer them! The crowds are always clamoring for your
attention. You need to turn your
attention to the Romans and their abuses.
I would love to see you wipe their arrogant smiles right off their faces
once and for all.
Satan entered Judas, perhaps deceiving
Judas into thinking that he could force Jesus’ hand. Judas may have reasoned that when He was finally
handed over to the Romans, Jesus would demonstrate all of His power to benefit
the oppressed Jewish people. Jesus would
free Himself from His captors and then free His fellow Jews. This, as we know, did not happen. Jesus’
mission was to impart a new heart, not a new government. Judas’ remorse over what he did drove him
to suicide. His guilt and shame were
just too much when he found out Jesus was not going to deliver the Jews from
the Romans, but had delivered Himself to be crucified. Satan laughed many times in those final
days, as Judas was swinging in the trees and Jesus bled on that cross.
On that Sunday morning, however, the
laughter stopped.
Satan can use friends, family, disgruntled
strangers and anyone to go after you.
Most of the time, the person doesn’t even know he or she is being used by
Satan to get to you. But your reaction should be the same: Pray
for wisdom as to where those hurtful words or actions are coming from. Remember Satan’s endgame: to destroy you
and anyone he can along the way. He will
use any means necessary. Reclaim your heritage as a child of God
and move forward. Then, PRAY:
Prayer
softens your heart, opens you up to God’s healing and consoling presence, and
allows you to have compassion on those who have hurt you. Besides, Satan hates it when we show mercy
and see others as ourselves.
We all need
prayer, a Savior and infinite patience with one another.
We will continue looking in Matthew as to how Jesus dealt with the enemy in upcoming blogs. May His Word comfort, guide and direct you!
Excerpted from S.T.A.N.D. Spiritually Trained And Not Defeated: Our Position in Christ, Our Mission in Christ A Handbook on Spiritual Warfare. Buy it on Amazon.
Excerpted from S.T.A.N.D. Spiritually Trained And Not Defeated: Our Position in Christ, Our Mission in Christ A Handbook on Spiritual Warfare. Buy it on Amazon.
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