Cross and Satan

Matt 4:1-11

1. We are already in the Lent season, when Christians meditate on the passion of Christ and repent their sins to prepare themselves for the joy of Easter. So, I will preach on this subject in the next three weeks: Why had Jesus to die on the cross?

2. Those who do not understand the mystery of the cross simply think that Jesus died on the cross because he challenged the Jewish religious system or Roman political system. It is partially true, but the truth is far beyond that scale. It was not simply power struggle between Jesus and some human group. The reality was behind and above the human race. It was the greatest battle that the whole human history has ever known. It was the cosmic battle between the Son of God and Satan, two supreme powers of two kingdoms, i.e., the Kingdom of Darkness and the Kingdom of Light. We see only the surface of the battle, but the Scripture reveals that the battle was the most severe and fierce one in the human history and therefore the outcome of this battle has the decisive influence to the destiny of the whole human race. You and I, and every human being in the past, present, and future are involved in this great battle. There is no exception, whether they believe or not.

3. Since Satan won the human race by temptation and fall in the Garden of Eden, he had ruled the human race as his slaves and he was called the Ruler of the Earth. God so loved the world and He would not give up His creature to Satan. He sent His Only Son to the world to liberate the human race from the miserable rule of Satan. For Satan had ruled the human race by enslaving them by the pleasure of sins such as worldly success, selfishness, pursuit of powers, material prosperity, and immoral enjoyments. Foolish human race had no idea that they are controlled by Satan, the Great Deceiver. Satan had successfully controlled the world and human history until the So of God came to defeat him and save the human race from his deception.

4. Therefore, when Jesus came to the world, it was Satan who was most scared. His days are over. However, he was not God but the fallen angel, a creature. However strong his power was, he was not the match with God. He could use humans for they are his slaves who are easily controlled. Because Jesus came to die on the cross and it is the only way to liberate human race from the slavery of Satan, he did his best to stop Him from the way to the cross. He used Herod when Jesus was born and attempted to kill Him, but he failed. The Holy Spirit protected Jesus. Even though the Scripture has no more record, Satan might have attempted many times to stop Him, but without success. Now, Jesus is grown up and He was about to start the public ministry and to run to the Cross. Now, Satan himself appears before the So of God and does his best to stop the cross by the way of temptation. The Scripture says that "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil." (Lk 4:1-2) But, here in Matt 4, 40 days of temptation is shortly summarized with three temptations. Because it was 40 days of temptation, it must not be so short. Moreover, because it was the best of Satan’s temptations, they must be mostly powerful and tricky temptations which Satan could offer. They were something that Jesus might give up His cross because of them. They were the most powerful and persuasive temptations that Satan had used to the human race.

5. What were those temptations? They were the most probable alternative to the salvation by the cross, i.e., by the liberation from sin. First, Satan offered the salvation of human race by economic and material prosperity. Satan came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." The problem of bread is the perennial problem of human race since God cursed the ground: "through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground."(Gen 3:17-19) Since Jesus fed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, surely He could change those stones to bread if He wanted. The eternal and global solution of the bread problem could make Him the Ruler of the world, for no human rulers had ever offered such solution. Karl Marx and many politicians suggested this economic salvation, and so many human beings are pursuing this kind of salvation and happiness. Of course, bread and material is necessary for human life, but it cannot be the genuine salvation for the human being. So, Jesus rejected it: "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Jesus pointed out Satan’s misunderstanding of the question: What does man need for life? Man was created in the image of God, and he is not satisfied only by bread. Man needs the Truth, the Word of God that is harmonious and fit to the nature of man. Even though man is fully fed, he cannot be genuinely satisfied and happy until he finds the genuine meaning and authentic purpose of life. Because man came from God, he does not feel home until he meets God and have peace with Him. And, to be reconciled wit God, man needs His forgiveness and Jesus had to die on the cross to make it possible.

6. Second, Satan offered the salvation of human race by religious popularity and mystical power. Satan took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' Many religiously awakened people created many religions as the human way of salvation and liberation. And, some of them ruled great part of the world for long time. They suggested some religious techniques to achieve the peace of mind and mystical powers to heal the sickness and experience supernatural ecstasy. It helped many people to depend on religion and gain some peace of mind and enjoy some religious ecstasy, but they commonly had fundamental weakness that lacks the reconciliation with God, the Creator of human being and the Ruler of the universe. They did not really solve the real problem because they themselves are merely human and therefore they are to be saved than to save. Rather, human religions strengthened self pride and selfish desire to be divine. And, Satan was behind such ideas and fantasies, for it was another way to perennially separate human race from God, their Creator. So, Jesus rejected it: "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

7. Third, Satan offered the salvation of human race by political unity of the world. Satan 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, if you will bow down and worship me." Satan failed twice, and now he offers everything he has, with the condition that Jesus submits to him. Since he Fall, this world was divided by political powers with military force, and the states and kings were most powerful on the earth. They made laws and had land and money. Kings and political powers had enjoyed the most glorious splendor on the earth. Satan, as the Ruler of the Earth, controlled this world by enslaving the political ambitions of man. Many powerful kings attempted to expand their lands by invading weak neighboring countries and make ever-growing empires. If Jesus has all the political powers under Him, He will be the Ruler of the Earth and unify the world by His authority and achieve whatever He wants. But, Jesus rejected this too: "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'" Whatever Satan gives to Jesus, He could not worship him. However powerful human rulers are, and however generous Satan is, we may not worship fellow creatures. We are equal before God. We have to reject any kind of heroism, for it is the disgrace to God Who created me in His image. We may respect, but we may not worship any creature or human being. Moreover, political power and legal administration do not solve the human problem. The best politics can serve to maintain basic justice and even it is not pure from human desires and sinful ambitions. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

8. The cross was the only way to pay the price of our sins! Therefore, Jesus rejected Satan’s temptations to give up His cross for us. There is no other way to forgive our sins and liberate from the slavery to Satan. So, he died on the cross!