Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday THE DEVIL BE DONE! 4/5/07

We move together into the very depth of our Lord’s passion, on this Thursday when Judas betrayed Him, Peter 3-times denied Him, His disciples deserted Him, the Jews accused Him, and the Romans arrested Him. The fury and tension mount and we know the climax is close at hand. For some believers, this is the most moving time on our Lenten journey. Others, by their absence on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, indicate their unwillingness to allow Christ’s “passion” to interfere with personal Easter plans! Easter eggs are preferred over agony…yet, in less than 24-hours our Lord will announce from His pinioned placed on the cross, “It is finished!”(Jn. 19:30)

This 3-word proclamation is confusing to the centuries since. We might wonder: “What is ‘it’?” and “In what ways is ‘it finished’?” These are not the spoken words of a victim, but of the Victor. The battle has been waged…the devil and evil have failed, and God and good have won! Disciples of Jesus treasure the victory of Christ on the cross, for this victory lies at the very heart and center of our Christian faith. But, we dare never forget that in order for a victory to be won, a battle has been waged.

God, through Jesus, was waging war for us against Satan, the fearful foe, the awful, active, aggressive antagonist. Satan planned the hardest, fought the most furious, and during these days of our Lord’s passion laughed the loudest. Satan manipulated people and tempted them to do his will, as we read in (Lk. 22: 2-4) “The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them.” It was all shaping up as Satan, for centuries upon centuries, had hoped and plotted and planned.

God has allowed the devil continuing license to prowl around on this earth “like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Pt. 5:8) We, the very “crown” of God’s creation, have been afforded free will to choose either Satan’s tempting and seductive ways or God’s salvation strategy. The devil can only tempt, never force, us to do his will and each of us must decide day-to-day, moment by moment. The battle is underway, hence Jesus teaches us to pray, “Father…deliver us from evil”…Literally asking God to snatch us out of the grasp of the Evil One before we are devoured by his deceit. The term translated “evil” refers to a being who is intent on destroying us. The word “deliver” literally means “to pull from danger”(Ps. 50:15). Described her is a cosmic battle, as God and the Prince of Darkness grapple for the eternal possession of each of us!

The 2 most common names for the evil one are “Satan” / derived from a Hebrew verb meaning “to lie in wait, to oppose, to be an adversary”; and “the devil” , in Greek diabolos, meaning “one who slanders.” These two names make quite clear the character and strategy of the evil one. He slanders God, opposes all that is good, and lies in wait for you and me until “an opportune time”. (Lk. 4:13)

Satan opposed “Our Father” in the early, nebulous days of unrecorded history…before time began. We don’t know the details, for God has omitted from the Bible a blow-by-blow account of this “battle royale”! Making a long story short, God won, Satan lost and, with his wicked angels, was banished from heaven!

Incapable of defeating God, Satan lies in wait for the only creatures God created in His own image. As God wounded Satan’s pride, Satan went after God’s pride and joy! Even the very faithful followers of God succumbed to Satan’s temptations, listing Moses, David, Saul, Solomon, Aaron, and more. But, there came a day when One named Jesus appeared on the earth, claiming to be the Son of God…a claim Satan knew to be true. Satan revved up his attack, employing King Herod in the failed attempt to kill the Christ-child immediately. Some 30 years later Satan failed in his personal effort to tempt Jesus. Satan provoked Jesus’ hometown people to throw Him off a cliff, but Jesus walked safely away. Finally, Satan located a very supple “tool” in one of Jesus’ own disciples, and entered into him. Jesus was crucified by the hands of devil-directed men and believed himself the victor .

Only hours after His death, Jesus rubs “salt into the wound”, preaching a victory sermon to the devil and all the “souls in prison”(1 Pt. 3:18-22) Only God could conceive of such a way for Jesus to spend the day between His death and resurrection… “He descended into hell”! Thanks to our Savior’s victory, the devil is done…but, we still have a fight on our hands. Coming to the conclusion of The Lord’s Prayer, we, the children of God, join hands with one another and with Jesus to make this fervent plea: “Deliver us from evil.” So He has, so He does, so He will!

Amen.