Jesus on Offense

Luke 4:31…

Having absorbed the best shots of Satan, in the form of temptation and rejection, Jesus goes on offense.

Indeed, Jesus has come to die. That is His purpose and His Divine plan and mission. But prior to His sacrificial death for all the sin of mankind, Jesus has much to accomplish. He has come to usher in the kingdom of God on earth, as it is in heaven.

One of the key features of heaven is the removal of any influence of Satan, and Jesus would bring that about in His presence on earth as well. In Jesus’ presence, Satan would have no power, and no influence. Satan would be revealed, and he would be removed from the scene. This was the ministry of Christ.

It began with teaching the people about the love of God in the synagogues where they gathered to hear God’s Word. For so long – too long – the people had actually been hearing the Word of God taught by sons of Satan, (see John 8:44.) All the while the people thought they were being taught by sons of God. Jesus showed them their priests were no such thing. They were not good men, they were evil men. They were not bringing God’s people closer to God - they were driving them away from God. The priests were not removing the middle wall of separation between God and man – they were building it higher.

As Jesus taught, the people saw something entirely new, and it was refreshing and empowering. They were hearing the true meaning of the Word of God, and it excited them in all the ways it was meant to excite. They recognized Jesus’ authority to teach, even if they didn’t understand where His authority came from. (Of course we know His authority was from God, and we can only imagine what it may have been like to have been in His presence as He taught.) The people were plainly astonished, just by hearing the Word of God coming from the mouth of God in man.

And in the arena of defeating evil, Jesus put God’s Word into action. He took back the gains Satan had made in the world in the lives of the people He touched. Satan’s hold was destroyed on every front in every life at the Word and the touch of Christ.

-Pastor Bill