Jesus' entire life was an act of spiritual warfare against the intrusion of evil into this universe. His life was marked from beginning to end with a recognition that a spiritual dimension exists that is perhaps even more real than the physical universe we see and experience. Yet, I think many of us have not really thought through what this means for our everyday life.
Today I want to tease out some of the implications of Jesus' teaching concerning spiritual warfare. I am currently writing on other subjects, so I will try to keep this brief. I will begin by saying that I am amazed at how many times Jesus interacts with those who are demonized. I encourage you to take a quick glance through a gospel to see how often such interactions and teaching occur.
Anyway, I think some context is vitally important. In the past couple of years, I have been drawn to Jesus' first public act of ministry. In the gospel of Luke, it occurs immediately following Jesus' temptation by Satan in the desert. Jesus travels to his hometown. He enters into the synagogue where he begins to teach. He opens the scroll and proclaims:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Isa. 61: 1-2
He concludes with the very solemn declaration, "Today this scripture is fulfilling in your hearing." Lk. 4:21. What in the world does this mean?
Jesus' life was an act of rescuing those in bondage. It was a mission of bringing freedom, recovery of sight, release, and a declaration of God's blessing.
In order for this message to make sense, one has to see that they are poor, a prisoner, a blind person, a person oppressed, and one in need of restoration of God's favor. One also has to see that Jesus is the answer to all of these needs. This does not just mean that His teaching is important, but that His life, ministry, death, and resurrection are vitally important.
In this context, Jesus' life and teaching are a direct attack on the kingdom of the evil one. His methods are contrary to the ways of this world. His goal is to overturn the power of the evil one and to restore all things to their created good (the way they were made to be).
Jesus' life and ministry involved the training of people to carry on His work. While He was still with them, Jesus sent His followers out to declare the gospel of the Kingdom (the good news that Jesus declared fulfilled from Isaiah 61:1-2). It was reported by the 72 who went out, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." To this Jesus declares, "I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." Luke 10: 17-19
Furthermore, after his resurrection, Jesus continued this same pattern of ministry. He commissioned his apostles and their disciples "to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." The most encouraging element of the commissioning was that Jesus began with a promise of His power, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me," and He concludes with the promise, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt. 28:19-20)
Why do we need this empowering? Because we are to continue the ministry of Jesus in this dark world. In other words, we are to continue to proclaim freedom, sight, release, and the year of the Lord's favor. We are to continue to take back ground occupied by the evil one (through the work of the world system and the fallenness of individuals) by the power of the Spirit.
How do we do this? When we believe in Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts to empower us to continue His ministry into the fallen world. He give us spiritual gifts to go along with our natural talents so that we can be His body in the world.
With all of this in mind, should we be surprised that the life of a follower of Jesus is marked by spiritual warfare? In particular, if you are available and trying to witness for Jesus in your work, family, or life, you will encounter resistance from the evil one. Thus, some manuscripts conclude the Lord's prayer with the words, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Matt. 6:13
Many of us know and identify with "Lead us not into temptation," but the last part sounds strange. I believe one reason it sounds strange is that we do not know the character of our enemy, so we do not worry ourselves with him. If we wish to be effective witnesses of the Hope that is within us, we must educate ourselves so we can overcome his schemes against us (Eph. 6:11).
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