Something any military commander must consider before planning any combat operations is:
What is the enemy doing and why?
Unless you understand likely enemy movements and anticipate the enemy’s next move you cannot intercept and defeat them. Jesus’s prime enemy was and still is satan and the evil forces of the spiritual world. So let’s see what they said about Jesus:
Turn to: Luke 4:33-35 in your bibles. Jesus is teaching when a man possessed by an evil spirit is brought to him. On seeing Jesus, the evil spirit cries out through the man.
“Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”And similarly Luke 8: 28 when Jesus heals a demon possessed man on the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, the evil spirits cried out through the man:
““What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”
The name satan comes from a Hebrew word meaning “Adversary” linked to the Hebrew verb “to lie in wait”, but the New Testament introduces other titles like διάβομος meaning “the slanderer” and names which describe his activity, “the deceiver of the whole world”, “the evil one”, and “the father of lies.”
His favourite tactic is to turn the truth into a lie, lies into the truth. Jesus proved that he was stronger than satan, but the war of words continued as he turned human beings against Jesus through lies and deception. It is very clear that satan and the spiritual forces of evil knew exactly who Jesus was and is, but what about Jesus’s human enemies?
The very people who should have been rejoicing at the coming of the Messiah became his enemies instead and these are some of the things they said about him:
Firstly, they said he was an ordinary man.
“Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him.”
Mark 6:3
Secondly, they accused him of being in league with satan or worse a samaritan.
“‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’
Mark 3:22
““Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
John 8:48
Thirdly, there was a rumour being passed around that he was a party animal.
“Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”
Matt 11:19
Fourthly, he was accused of being a blasphemer against God.
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, ‘This fellow is blaspheming!’
Matt 9:24
Fifthly, Jesus was accused of being a law breaker because of his attitude to the Jewish day of rest.
“Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others asked, ‘How can a sinner perform such signs?’ So they were divided.”
John 9: 15-16
Also see:
Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:1, John 5:16, John 7:23
Sixthly, and worst of all Jesus’s words were twisted by his enemies and together with outright lies used against him.
When asked about taxation in Matt 22:22, Jesus told his enemies that they should pay the imperial taxes and yet at his trial before Pilate they lied:
“We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.’
Luke 23:1-2
But this was 2000 years ago. What is happening now?
Well, satan’s war of words continues through his influence over other world views and religions and maybe even without knowing, they play a part in satan’s plan of deception. Islam teaches that Jesus was simply a human prophet. Judaism has accused Jesus of being a fraud, an executed criminal who used magic to cure people. Both Islam and Judaism speak against Christian claims, especially concerning Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection, dismissing them as being “fake news”. Islam denies Jesus’s crucifixion entirely. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example teach that Jesus was an “angel”, a created spiritual being before coming to earth. Other religions claim that Jesus was simply a good and wise teacher, amongst many other good and wise teachers.
St Paul wrote that ‘the god of this age has blinded the eyes of unbelievers’ which is just as true now as it was in the first century. Many popular world views discount the existence of God completely and many popular ‘spiritualities’ encourage individuals to seek their own spiritual path from any and every source. A vast number of people simply feel no need for God in their lives at all.
It is vital though, that even though hearing such things may cause anger to rise in us, Jesus has taught us never to hate. We must be courteous and pray for people of other faiths and no faith because our loving response may well help them see Jesus in a new light.
I began by drawing your attention to attention to the essential question which every commander should ask. “What is the enemy doing and why?”
To me it is clear exactly what the enemy is doing. He doing everything in his power to discredit Jesus and deny the truth. We have seen that the devil and all his evil forces know exactly who Jesus is, but he does not want humans to know. By working through human jealousy, lust for power, pride and arrogance, in other words his own character, he is leading more and more of God’s precious children into confusion and darkness and rebellion against God just like he always has.
US Fighter pilots talk about the OODA loop, (Observe, Orient, Decide and Act) as a means of anticipating an enemy pilot’s likely cause of action and acting first to defeat them. We must get inside satan’s OODA loop by knowing what Jesus’s enemies are saying about him before they approach us so that we can be one step ahead of the “father of lies” and shoot him down.
Amen