My 2016 Easter Reflections

The devil is a moron.

We don’t even need to discuss the whole “I can be like God” thing. I mean, who is stupid enough, after having been the worship leader in heaven for who knows how long, to step up and think he can take over, beat God at His own game, “become like the most high”? How stupid can you be and still breathe?

But let’s look at 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 which says “we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;”

If the enemy had understood that the death and resurrection of Jesus was necessary in order to purchase eternal salvation and devil-butt-kicking power for us, he never would have killed Jesus.

Imagine the scene: Friday night, Jesus has been killed, and the devil and all his companions are in hell partying like it’s 1999. Suddenly, the door explodes, sending shrapnel everywhere.

As the smoke clears, Jesus steps in.

The devil craps his pants.

“I thought you were dead!”

And Jesus walks up and gives the devil a good Holly Holm roundhouse kick to the jaw and he falls flat on his back. The demons are all shivering with fright in the corners as Jesus steps forward, puts his boot on the devil’s throat and snatches the keys away from his hand. “I’ll take those,” Jesus says, and he turns and walks away.

The devil is utterly humiliated. Powerless. Left toothless and declawed, no power, no authority, no ownership, nothing. The only thing he has left is the power to lie to people.

He has none of the fruits of the Spirit, no patience, no joy, no peace, no goodness. He can only lie to people. That’s it. Nothing more.

That’s what Jesus did for us between Good Friday and Easter Morning. Let’s not forget about those crucial hours. It’s all wonderful that our sins are wiped away, and that we have been given the awesome gift of salvation. But to have utterly defeated everything the devil had been doing, everything he had stood for, everything he had accomplished since Eden, is in incredible miracle, and a testament to the warrior spirit of Jesus.

It puts Russell Crowe’s Maximus to shame. It makes King Leonidas look like Peewee Herman. This man Jesus was not overcome by the evil of his day. He allowed them to kill him. He needed them to kill him. He could have reduced the entire earth to ashes in a nanosecond, but he withstood everything the devil could unleash upon him, in addition to bearing all of our sin, disease, and even death itself, and came out a champion.

And he did it for you and me.

Wow.