894 What Did Jesus Say About Satan (Jn.8.38-59)
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- In the year 2000, William Glaberson writing in the New York Times reported on a shooting in Massachusetts - quote...
In 1992, Wayne Lo, a sophomore at Simon’s Rock College in Massachusetts, killed two people and injured four others with a semiautomatic rifle. During the first years of his imprisonment, he said God had chosen him to commit carnage. Now he calls that a period of denial.
“At the time I thought I did the right thing,” he said. “But as I look back, it doesn’t make sense to me. I ask myself, why? Why did I do it?”
In December 1992, Lo said God told him to go to the gun store, order a weapon and ammunition with his mother’s credit card, and then shoot people. He raged at his lawyers during his trial because they insisted that he was insane. He argued that his lawyers should have investigated his victims to uncover why a heavenly power had selected them to be shot.
After Lo realized God would not have chosen him to inflict so much pain, he struggled to understand what made him a killer. He remains convinced that it was something outside of himself. Perhaps it was a supernatural or satanic force. Either way, he appears not to be taking personal responsibility for the killing. —William Glaberson1
Q. Did the devil make him do it?
Q. Can the devil make anyone do it?
- Jesus had some revealing things to say about Satan & his goals, ambitions & work
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Q. Who is Satan & is he a real being or just some psychological manifestation?
- If you’re a materialist - & none of you are or else you wouldn’t be a Christian – then you would opt for the psychological explanation
- A materialist is only interested in what is natural – no God, no angels, demons or the devil; no miracles, no signs, no wonders
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- But the Scriptures & especially the teaching of Jesus points unequivocally to Satan or the devil as a real being
- Satan is a spirit being akin to the angels of God in kind
- Angels are spirits as is Satan
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- In the OT his name can be used generically to describe someone who is an adversary – that is, an opponent or enemy
- Much the same way a person uses the term Jezebel - “the woman is a real Jezebel”. But, of course, there is a real Jezebel on which that saying is based
- So he has that name (Satan) & the description of that name fits his person to a tee - which is an adversary or opponent - he is God’s enemy!
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- What we see in the OT passages of Job is that Satan is a personal being under the authority of God
8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
- Now at this point you and, no doubt, many others would be wondering why God doesn’t just destroy Satan for all his evil
- But if God destroyed all beings that He ever created who do evil, I wonder how many of anyone would be left?
- Yet, there is a time when the devil & his angels will be assigned to & locked up in, the eternal fire with all those who have rejected Jesus Christ
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
- In this passage from Job, we see that under the permission of God Satan can inflict damage
- Certain circumstances can be an act of Satan – but not always
- It would be wrong to assign all acts or accidents as the devils doing
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- We see that the disciples of Jesus never questioned that the blind man became blind (Jn. 9)
The only question was by whose sin - either his own sin in the womb as a baby, or by a sin of his parents
- They just never considered that things happen for which there is no cause and effect principle at work
- The cause being a sin & the effect being a judgement - in this case, the man’s blindness
- As such, Jesus said to them that neither the man, nor his parents were responsible for his condition of blindness - nor did He say it was the devil
- But, He goes on to say, that his blindness was an opportunity for the work of God to be displayed in him
- In other words, it was an occasion for God to do a great work
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Q. What schemes or devices does the evil one use in the church to ruin Christians & those wanting to do & live out God’s will?
- Paul urges forgiveness for repentance to be given liberally in the Corinthian church because…
11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
- His schemes, of course, to divide & conquer
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- Jesus speaks mostly of Satan in the context of ruining His mission to save people & bring them to God
- But even though it is mostly about what he does to try & destroy God’s work through Jesus, we learn much about his tactics
1. To Drive a Wedge Between the Father & Jesus
1. To Drive a Wedge Between the Father & Jesus
- In Matt. 4 with Jesus in the wilderness as Israel was in the wilderness
- Jesus 40 days, paralleling Israel – that generation – 40 yrs in the wilderness
- That generation succumbed to Satan’s schemes & he managed to divide them from God
- When they were under trial in the wilderness, they chose to disobey God which, in essence, was due to faith issues they had & through that, they chose the path of the other nations
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- It is not without reference to Israel’s failures that Jesus quotes Moses’ message – that was to Israel – he quoted to Satan
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
- The whole point Moses was making to the Israelites about their circumstances was that it was an opportunity to put your faith into practise
3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
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- “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread” - Satan’s subtlety was to have Jesus act independently, like Israel, in turning from the Father’s will
- He didn’t wear it; He didn’t buy
- Satan was hung out on 3 occasions here in the wilderness by Jesus who refused to give up fidelity to His Father’s will for the sake of short term gain
- The lesson for us is the same – when we face a curve ball, it is in those times that our Father is willing us to live true to our faith & believe Him & follow faithfully in the Lord’s will
- Satan would desire to drive people from the Father’s will & care
2. Satan Cannot & Will Not Do Good
2. Satan Cannot & Will Not Do Good
- People are good at gathering all sorts of falsities & out of context situations if it advances their cause
- We see this regularly happen in politics - “you made a racist or sexist comment” & so that person is to be cancelled & the like
- But we also see it in the religious leaders of Israel who had enormous trouble trying to explain away the miracles of Jesus
- If they could confirm that they were fraudulent, then they could show Jesus to be a phoney
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- Here’s the thing though, when it comes to the miracles of Jesus, there are certain traits to these miracles that we need to take special note of - they were designed with this purpose
a. They were visible
a. They were visible
- Jesus’ miracles were not invisible to the eye
- There wasn’t some back pain or a headache that He healed which only required the acknowledgement of the person so healed
- The whole purpose of the miracles was to convince, unequivocally, other people that the miracles happened & were genuine
- The religious leaders were made to look silly because everyone knew that what Jesus did was real
b. They were accessible
b. They were accessible
- Coming from the last point, the healing miracles & their cure was accessible to everyone
8 Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.”
- The man was there for everyone to see & to investigate
c. They were verifiable
c. They were verifiable
- God did extraordinary things because He brought in something new
- There had to be confirmation that this Jesus is from God
- Jesus ably displayed the power of God over all facets of life
- To verify & confirm the chosen apostles of Jesus, He gifted them with the ability to work miracles
6 But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” 7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8 With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
- This healing/miracle was seen, accessible & verifiable
- Because it was to affirm & confirm Jesus as the resurrected Son of God
- This is the design of the miracle so make sure any claimed miracle today fits this criteria
- God may still heal & do a miracle today, but that is very different from the purposes of the miracles in Jesus’ day - they were attesting or sign miracles
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- I would go so far as to say – as does church history – that the sign-miracles were more time-bound to that period of human history – these miracles were seen, accessible & verifiable
- Just as the miracles of other prophets of God tended to be time-bound to that period where they were related to specific new things that God was doing in His plan of redemption
13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. 15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
- They couldn’t point to any doubt or loophole to deny the miracle, but just acted with the brute power of cancel culture – shut up & don’t talk about Jesus!
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- As Jesus racked up miracle after miracle, the religious leaders had no leg to stand on, so they make an absurd proposition that Jesus was performing miracles – casting out demons – by the power of Satan - it was their only way to try & explain the miracle yet keep Jesus as a distance from God
- But what a lot of baloney!
- I could not see myself being as gracious as Jesus here
- He just points out the absurdity
23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” 25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
- Beelzebul or Beelzebaal – notice Baal there – is a reference to the OT pagan god Baal – Baal the lord of the flies
- As he was considered the storm god that brought rain to the land, flies were associated with him – flies tend to increase in Israel with the rain
- Beelzebul being associated with Baal in opposition to God was easily associated with Satan as the adversary of God
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- The point Jesus makes is that through His miracles of driving out Satanic demons, it is evident that the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of Satan is triumphing – it is present with Jesus
- Clearly, then, Satan does not act to ruin himself or to ruin his work - he cannot do good for that would contradict his own purpose
3. He Motivates Worldly Thinking
3. He Motivates Worldly Thinking
Q. Can good intentions always be justified?
- Yes & No
- Yes, from the perspective that the person has no malicious intent – obviously!
- Good intentions are courted by wishing the person well
- However, all good intentions can be misconstrued
- Often, good intentions have a short term perspective & may miss the broader picture
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- The ministry of Jesus had been over a 3 yr period where sufficient time had been spent with His full time companions – those we call apostles
- After such a long period of time, Jesus then puts the challenge to them
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is”?
- Well, we have heard some pretty curly things ranging from John the Baptist (raised from the dead?), Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets
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- But then in typical prophetic style, Jesus turns the question on to them
Q. “But who do you say that I am”?
- “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” Peter says
- Then we read that Jesus began telling His disciples about what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem
21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
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- Now telling Peter & the disciples that He would die would seem to them that Jesus is either having a joke or that He may have been “in the sun” for too long
- Remember that the disciples of Jesus had the belief along with most of the Jews that the Messiah would be a triumphant king who would bring liberation to the people of Israel in real time & space
- Peter was thinking the same things as the other disciples and he thought that he should be the one to take Jesus aside quietly to straighten Him out on what the real mission was about
22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
- Would that not be a shock to the system to be spoken to as if you were the embodiment of Satan!
- Of course, we should see that Jesus is not saying that Satan entered Peter, but that Peter’s good intentions were only so-called good intentions
- They were, in fact, more aligned to Satan’s will than God’s
- Jesus could see the true source of Peter’s rebuke!
- The point Jesus makes:- This is not of God’s interests, but man’s
- Peter had his own views on what the mission of Jesus should be
- It was a faulty view based on man’s narrow & usually self-oriented perspective
- Here is a call to be careful that man’s interests or needs are not confused with God’s interests
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- We find that the same Satanic program found its way into Judas
2 The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people. 3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. 4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.
- I do not believe that Judas was demon-possessed
- Rather it seems that the motivation & inspiration for Judas’ actions were Satanic
- It was a plan that was conceived in the heart & became sin when he hatched or gave birth to the plan
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- We can say that the fruit of the Spirit is a result of the influence & presence in our lives of the Holy Spirit
- So too the deeds of Judas were a result of the influence & presence in his life of Satan & his motivation
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- Some people have tried to maintain that Satan was keeping Jesus from going to the cross
- It seems a bit of a stretch to me
- Satan is a destroyer - he destroys lives (can’t help himself)
- He tried to destroy Jesus through Judas; It would be fair to say that he motivated Herod to destroy all those infants under 2 yrs of age
- Demons try to destroy their unwilling hosts – the ones they possess
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- It is the nature of Satan that takes over
- He is a liar & a murderer by nature & he can’t seem to control his murderous behaviour
4. He Destroys Faith By Promoting Doubt & Fear
4. He Destroys Faith By Promoting Doubt & Fear
- Another aspect of Satan is that he targets Christian fears
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” 34 And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”
- Peter was brave until his belief system was challenged
- Peter believed that Jesus would have fought back against His arrest (he took out his sword, didn’t he & cut off the high priests servants ear)
- That the cross could not have possibly been in God’s plans for that means defeat & failure
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- He was ready to go to His death alright for the cause as he perceived it
- Like Lazarus, Jesus could raise from the dead – those who were killed in His army, could be raised up
- However, Jesus did surrender & was crucified & He did not fight back one iota – much to the surprise of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate
- Once Peter realised that Jesus did not fight back, he must have had fears & doubts about so many things
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- To which we find him denying Jesus 3 times
Q. Did his faith fail – yes at that point. Did it return – yes
- It wasn’t irredeemably lost – on the beach after Jesus resurrection, He asks Peter 3 times, “do you love Me” – here is the counterpart to Peter’s denial
- Here, Peter affirmed his love for Jesus & Jesus affirmed His acceptance of Peter by saying “feed my lambs”
- Satan will use fear & doubts against us to ruin our faith
- We need to ready when those situations occur
5. By Nature, Satan is a Liar & Murderer
5. By Nature, Satan is a Liar & Murderer
- When considering the world as it is, we are often perplexed by the natural progression of people toward hate & lies
- The first thing we find with the first offspring of Adam & Eve was that of murder
- When the self cannot get what it wants – when envy or jealousy was present, hate & murder follows soon after
Q. You do remember that Jesus said that if you hate your brother, you have murdered him in your heart?
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- To the Jews, Jesus said...
43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
- If that was said in today’s world, they would ban Him from Twitter for hate speech
- This is how far we have gone astray from the truth – people now consider that telling the truth is “hate speech” or, at least, unhelpful speech
- But we have to come to terms with how Jesus handled it
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- So often we hear people talk about the love of Jesus & how Jesus loved people, but not many will apply their mind to what He said, when He said it & how He said it
- Jesus thought it necessary to make the truth plain to the religious leaders of Israel & to everyone else – to make their position (& opposition) plain!
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- He did it in the form of simple logic
1) I came from God
2) You claim to love God
3) You would love Me
- The problem is, that while that syllogism is true, they don’t line up with it at all
1) They don’t accept Jesus came from God
2) They love the form of God that suits them – they have domesticated Him to their line of thinking
3) They will never love Jesus because they do not love God
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- This is His point – you are of the devil, Satan
- Liars – he nor they hold to the truth – they reject the truth of God & the reality of Jesus
- They did not care a hoot about holding to the truth when it came to getting rid of Jesus – happy to violate the law for that to happen
- Murderers – They hate Jesus & are willing to have Him killed
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- When there is a worldview clash the first thing you see happen is ill-feeling towards the person; then comes the name-calling & innuendos
48 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
- Then you have the yelling & violence
- Crucify Him they shouted & Jesus was flogged & crucified for doing nothing other than speak the truth
47 “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
- This is a universal principle that you can apply today
- Those who refuse to hear & obey the words of God are not of God
- They are of the devil because they do the deeds of the devil who loved lies & not the truth, & who hates/murders, not loves
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
- This is certainly now showing up in a most pronounced way throughout the western culture
- The challenge for the Christian church to stay true to her Lord
Questions: 10 mins
1. Name some ways Satan can ruin the church?
2. When a Christian is asked his or her opinion on a touchy topic, how can you be as “wise as serpents and innocent as doves”? (Matt. 10:16)
1 William Glaberson, “Man and His Son’s Slayer Unite to Ask Why,” The New York Times (April 12, 2000)