New Testament Opposition...
In the New Testament the truth concerning the devil receives full treatment. While Satan always has been bitterly opposed to the will and the way of God, his most powerful hostility is exercised against the incarnate Son of God. The devil understood that the Incarnation was the method by which God intended ultimately to bring the plans of Satan to final and complete judgment. Therefore, the fiend marshaled his forces to thwart in every way the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
At the time of the Saviour's birth, Satan instigated the beastly plot through Herod the Great to destroy the infant King (Matt. 1:16-18). At the age of 12, the Boy Jesus was overlooked and left behind by preoccupied parents (Luke 2:42-49). A number of times during the three and one half years of Christ's ministry on the earth, attempts were made upon His life (John 5:18). At Nazareth, the religious leaders, inspired by Satan, attempted to push Him over a cliff. In the temple, they took up stones to kill Him. Leaders of the people sent officers to arrest Him.
However, it was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the fiercest battle was waged. Christ had known in advance of this imminent conflict with the devil. He had announced, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me" (John 14:30). This ment that the victory was not to be Satan's. There was nothing in Him to which Satan could appeal.
The death of Christ had been prophesied. It must be accomplished on the cross- the Lamb of God dying for the sins of the world. If this death occured in any other way, the Word of God would be nullified. In the darkened heart of a fiend was the plot to crush out the life of the Son of God as He prayed.
The words of the suffering Saviour are the strongest that the original Greek contains. Christ said His soul was "exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death" (Matt.26:38). The evangelist Mark wrote that the Lord was "sore amazed and very heavy" (14:33). Luke tells of "an agony...his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (22:44).
It is the prayer of the Saviour that the intensity of the struggle is revealed. Three times He asked the Father that if He were willing, this cup should pass from Him. It is unthinkable that Christ was referring to His death on the morrow. He had set His face to go straight to the cross. The cup of Gethsemane was death by unseen demon forces. God sent an angel to strengthen His Son, and Satan was defeated in his attempt to kill Christ.
In the New Testament the truth concerning the devil receives full treatment. While Satan always has been bitterly opposed to the will and the way of God, his most powerful hostility is exercised against the incarnate Son of God. The devil understood that the Incarnation was the method by which God intended ultimately to bring the plans of Satan to final and complete judgment. Therefore, the fiend marshaled his forces to thwart in every way the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
At the time of the Saviour's birth, Satan instigated the beastly plot through Herod the Great to destroy the infant King (Matt. 1:16-18). At the age of 12, the Boy Jesus was overlooked and left behind by preoccupied parents (Luke 2:42-49). A number of times during the three and one half years of Christ's ministry on the earth, attempts were made upon His life (John 5:18). At Nazareth, the religious leaders, inspired by Satan, attempted to push Him over a cliff. In the temple, they took up stones to kill Him. Leaders of the people sent officers to arrest Him.
However, it was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the fiercest battle was waged. Christ had known in advance of this imminent conflict with the devil. He had announced, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me" (John 14:30). This ment that the victory was not to be Satan's. There was nothing in Him to which Satan could appeal.
The death of Christ had been prophesied. It must be accomplished on the cross- the Lamb of God dying for the sins of the world. If this death occured in any other way, the Word of God would be nullified. In the darkened heart of a fiend was the plot to crush out the life of the Son of God as He prayed.
The words of the suffering Saviour are the strongest that the original Greek contains. Christ said His soul was "exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death" (Matt.26:38). The evangelist Mark wrote that the Lord was "sore amazed and very heavy" (14:33). Luke tells of "an agony...his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (22:44).
It is the prayer of the Saviour that the intensity of the struggle is revealed. Three times He asked the Father that if He were willing, this cup should pass from Him. It is unthinkable that Christ was referring to His death on the morrow. He had set His face to go straight to the cross. The cup of Gethsemane was death by unseen demon forces. God sent an angel to strengthen His Son, and Satan was defeated in his attempt to kill Christ.
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