3/1/09 - Lent 1 - Mark 1:12-15

THE BATTLE RAGES ON
- We cannot survive it alone
- Christ has already survived it alone

The epic battle between Christ and the devil was officially ended on the top of a hill called Calvary. The battle ended there because Jesus died there. And Satan thought he had won. I’m sure for a split second the devil was overjoyed that he had convinced an entire nation to kill God himself! But, of course, Jesus’ death was exactly the way in which God had always planned to save the human race. And so Satan hadn’t won after all. He had lost. And he soon knew it. Even before that day was over, the blood of Christ that was still dripping from those nail wounds was undeniable proof that Jesus was the real victor. But at this climax of the four gospels, at the highpoint of the war between Christ and Satan, the devil is barely even mentioned. He was there for the entire event, presumably; he was undoubtedly involved with the proceedings, but we don’t read anything about his actions during those last few days other than when he entered the heart of Judas Iscariot on Maundy Thursday evening. We really aren’t told anything about Satan directly attacking Jesus during Holy Week, although he most certainly did. In fact, we don’t read about Satan going head-to-head with Jesus at all in Scripture expect for that one incident right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Immediately after Jesus was baptized is the only time Scripture records for us a direct encounter between Jesus and Satan while the Lord lived on this earth. And even then, there are not a whole lot of details. The gospel writer Mark briefly gives us only two short sentences about that event. “At once the Spirit sent [Jesus] out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels attended him.”
We have other details about this battle from other gospel writers - details about three specific temptations of the devil that you probably remember well. But here Mark just records for us that Jesus was tempted for 40 days all alone by Satan himself. He doesn’t get into any specifics. He doesn’t even explicitly say who won. But since Jesus was attended by angels after those 40 days, and in the very next verse Jesus continued on to Galilee and preached the Good News of the kingdom of God, it is understood that Christ was the one who came out of that battle victorious. Not to say that it wasn’t a frightening and furious 40 days! Because Satan didn’t just throw at Jesus those three temptations written down for us in Matthew and Luke; the devil tempted Jesus with everything he had in every way that he could think of for well over a month straight! And don’t think for a second that Satan took any breaks! He didn’t rest, he didn’t sleep, he surely kept attacking Christ from every angle as long as he had the chance. And after 40 brutal days of temptations, without food and all alone, Jesus, a real human being, still came out on top. And for the rest of his life after that battle, he continued to keep the upper hand over this former disobedient angel. And then on Calvary Jesus ultimately crushed Satan’s head. The cross was the finale, but the showdown in the desert three years before was where Christ and Satan butted heads in a very violent and decisive way.
And the battle rages on. Not for Christ though. We know that he has already won. He came out of that desert contest as the winner and he sealed the victory with a few nails, a crown of thorns, and an empty tomb a few years later. And so the battle doesn’t rage on for Christ; the battle rages on for us. Because now that Christ has risen and has ascended into heaven, Satan has switched his focus to us, Christ’s children. And he attacks us. He tempts us. He wants to destroy us just as much as he wanted to destroy Christ himself in the desert. And Satan doesn’t take a break. He doesn’t sleep. He attacks us from every angle as long as he has the chance. It’s a battle. And the devil will do anything - cheat, lie, steal, harass, oppress - he will do anything it takes to win.
And so I can’t believe that we sometimes think we can handle this battle on our own! I can’t believe we are convinced that we can cover so many different fronts at which the devil attacks us in so many different ways! Because the battle Satan wages against us affects every part of our lives. When you run into a problem within your marriage, even the smallest of arguments, do you immediately pray - and pray fervently? Do you go back to the Word of God with your spouse and rely on the Lord to get you through? Or do you first just try to avoid each other and hope that it will pass? Do you try to talk it out intellectually? Do you maybe hold your pride close to your chest until your spouse gives in? In short: do you try to fight the battle against Satan and his temptations all alone, or do you always and only reach for Christ?
When your day is not going as well as you hoped it would, when you don’t feel good at all and everything seems to be turned against you the moment you roll out of your bed, do you pray - and pray fervently? Do you immediately dig into the Word of God and rely on the Lord to get you through? Or do you simply try to tell yourself that it has to get better? Do you try to eat healthier or take some advil or think positive thoughts or take a little nap… In short: do you try to fight the battle against Satan and his temptations all alone, or do you always and only and immediately reach for Christ?
When that one nagging sin keeps sneaking up on you, when that troublesome temptation seems to get the best of you more often than not, what do you? Do you try to fool yourself like I try to fool myself into thinking that it wasn’t really a sin after all? Do you give yourself excuses and a little bit of leeway because of the circumstances? Or do you throw up your hands and say, “I’m always going to be sinful and I guess this is just one of those temptations that I’m never going to be able to overcome. Oh well.” Or do you truly genuinely struggle, attempting to fight that pet sin off with your own will power, striving to rid yourself of that temptation by means of your intelligence and strength - but striving and trying and struggling alone? Without the Word. Without constant prayer. Without going to the Lord as your first option instead of your last?
I can’t believe how often I have tried to fight the battle with Satan and his temptations on my own, when I should know that I can’t win by myself. He’s too powerful! He’s too tricky! He knows what he’s doing and I don’t! That’s why Paul says “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). We are no match for the devil and his forces. Not only because he is a powerful angel that has had 6000 years of experience tempting people to sin, but mostly because we have in ourselves the devil’s favorite toy to play with: our own sinful nature. He manipulates it. He coaxes it. He urges it on and riles it up. That is the sinful nature each one of us is conceived with! And Satan knows how to use it and he can use it well. So how could we possibly think that we could survive this battle alone? How could we ever enter into this fight on any front and neglect the Lord’s helping hand, his powerful Word, his loving embrace, and his ever-present strength? No wonder we fall! No wonder we are wounded at times. We try to go it alone! We don’t firmly trust and rely on the Lord, the Victor, to get us through! For some reason we always have to try it ourselves, and then we try to crawl back to the Lord after our own attempts don’t work out so well. Do we really think that highly of ourselves that we imagine we will be able to survive a head-to-head fight with the devil without seeking the help of the one who once crushed Satan’s head?
Listen again to the inspired writer Mark, “At once the Spirit sent [Jesus] out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels attended him.” Did Jesus ask you to go with him? He didn’t ask me. He didn’t bring anyone else. He was among the wild animals Mark says. Even the angels attended him only after the 40 days were up. Jesus went into the desert alone. He faced Satan alone. Because he was the only one that could. No one else could help him. And no one else had to. Jesus faced Satan alone, and he alone came out victorious.
In fact, Jesus not only faced Satan alone in the desert and came out victorious, he faced Satan and this world and our sins all alone for his entire life - and he was still the conqueror. When he was 12 years old, who was with him in the temple answering the questions of the teachers of the law? No one. His parents weren’t even there but were still looking for him in the city while he proudly proclaimed the truth alone. Who helped him instantly heal ten lepers with a few simple words when no one else could? No one. And only one of those ten came back to than him for it. Who assisted him in raising Lazarus from the dead? No one. And Lazarus’ own sisters didn’t even think Jesus could do it. Who knelt by his side when he prayed so exhaustingly in the Garden of Gethsemane? No one. Even his three special disciples were fast asleep a stone’s throw away. Who stood up for him when he was taken by the mob to the Jewish courtroom, and then to Herod’s palace, and then to Pilate’s judgment seat? No one. His disciples ran away, his countrymen screamed for his death, and that murderer Barabbas was glad to let this innocent man die in his place. Who comforted him on the cross? No one. Remember that his own Father rejected him there. Who traveled with him to the pits of hell where he suffered unthinkable agonies for our sins? No one. No one would have wanted to even if they could have! Who lay beside him in the cold tomb of the Arimithean? No one. He lay there alone with a stone sealing the entrance so that no one else could.
Jesus faced this world, Jesus dealt with sin, and Jesus survived the battle with Satan alone. He had to. We could not do it for him. We could not do it with him. He had to do it for us, without us. He had to suffer everything alone so that we could one day share everything with him. And we will. We will share everything with our Savior because although we did not suffer with him, we now suffer on account of him as Christians. Although we did not physically die with him, we did spiritually die with him and were spiritually buried with him through baptism (Rom. 6). Although we did not rise with him on the 3rd Day, we will rise with him on the Last Day. We will share everything with our Savior because he is the Victor, he is the Champion, and he has determined that he wants to share everything with his children for the rest of eternity!
And yet, the battle rages on. While we still live on this earth contaminated with sin, the battle will continue to rage on. Satan will continue to attack. He will try to flank us, he will try to lure us out, he will try to surround us and cut us off from our lines of support. But no matter how fierce and bloody and horrifying this battle may be, we will always have Christ on our side. The one that took the devil on in the desert and lived to tell about it. The one who met the challenges of the devil throughout his entire life and did not stumble. The one who had his hands and feet pounded to a couple pieces of wood, but crushed Satan’s head in the process. We have the Savior on our side. We have God on our side. And so this battle that we must endure is already won. Trust in him who has won it for you. Rely on the Victor. Lean on the Conqueror. Pray to the King. He will see you through. He will take you safely off the bloody battlefield of this earth. And he will bring you home.
Amen.

“The Lord will rescue us from every evil attack and will bring us safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” - 2 Tim. 4:18