Tag: Hell

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Satan goes to Church?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

”Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law. Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.“ ‭‭Mark‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Mark’s gritty gospel tells us the harrowing experiences that Peter went through while following Jesus. Who would ever expect something as crazy as this particular day. On the Sabbath, the God-given, God-commanded, day of rest. In the synagogue, similar to a local church, in Capernaum, Jesus and his team show up to worship God, pray and hear the Word of God taught. Jesus began teaching and it was amazing to all who heard.

However, there was also someone else there that day. There was an infiltrator, an incognito presence masquerading as a God follower. But he was not at all there for the same things as the others. Folks are always shocked that the Bible shreds many stereotypes and superstitions we make up over time because we’ve “heard” what we believe to be truth. One of those fabricated, fake news fallacies – Satan can’t enter a Holy place! Well, Mark would tell us – that’s NONSENSE. In fact, it happens quite often as believers gather, even today! People seem quite put off believing that somehow it’s the local church’s fault when weird and wacky things take place. Hello – there’s a real enemy out there, remember? Don’t blame a church, don’t hold it against a pastor for some creepy experience disrupting your religious “beliefs!” People be people and more terrifying is…Satan be EVIL!

This evil spirit had the audacity to show up in church on a holy day! And, as I have witnessed, they do what demons often do. They intentionally INTERRUPT what God is doing! This one had the cajones to ask Jesus a direct question. “Why are you interfering with us?” Whoa. What a twisted view of reality, right? Who’s interfering with who? The NLT (New Living Translation) takes great liberty in trying to translate the phrase, “what do we have to do with you.” The demonic world obviously knew who Jesus was far sooner than humans. But still, this demon spoke an odd accusation, almost saying, “what business do you have with our agenda?” “Our” agenda? Yeah, Satan and his fallen angels still think they are in charge! One commentator wrote, “if Jesus cast him out, he would use an improper interference.” As if Jesus had no right to meddle in the dark world of the prince of darkness! Oh, but Jesus did have the right, He is the light of the world.

Then the demon switched its thought to something far more terrifying for them – have you come to “apollumi” utterly destroy us? Their end has already been determined. Hell, the abyss, the eternal lake of fire – all designed for Satan and the angels who followed the rebellion against God. Hell was designed for Satan, but it can accommodate all who truly want to join this rebellion against God!

Jesus directly addressed the demon with two commands – be quiet and come out. This is early in Mark’s gospel and Jesus is just getting started; showing the world who he is and what he has come to accomplish. However, Mark wants us, the reader, to know – Jesus is God and has power over all things! Power over darkness and demons is just the beginning, because we discover that Jesus has ultimate power and authority over ALL things.

What a great time to go to church that day, right? When someone asked one of Jesus’ followers, “so how did synagogue go today?” They would have to reply, “you wouldn’t believe it if I told you – you should come and hear this Jesus for yourself!”

Prayer

Dad,
For sure, I would never go looking for demonic episodes like some kind of evil-spirit seeker! But I have seen things and I know it’s real. I do find it interesting that folks seem uneasy when the Holy Spirit does something wonderful, but certainly out of the ordinary. We fear the things we do not understand. There is a huge difference in experiencing the Spirit of God and your life-giving ways verses a spirit of darkness, filled with fear and oppression. It’s like day and night – light and darkness. Thank you for your Word bringing truth to reveal and compel us to see reality. Thank you for grace and mercy to not be completely controlled by evil! Amen.

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Keys to the cypher.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.” Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭36‬-‭39‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus told many parables, stories with hidden meaning. These stories were perplexing and mysterious. The curious, the learner would listen and think about these words and concepts for days, maybe even weeks. This is one of the ways Jesus revealed himself as God as well as shared the soon coming Kingdom of God, which he ushered in back then. The Kingdom is both here and still yet to be fulfilled, even today. This is also a mystery. Matthew writes, “Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables.” Vs. 34‬.

Privately, Jesus would sometimes pull his disciples aside to explain the parable, thus giving his followers the keys to the cypher. In this parable about the wheat and the tares, Jesus gives the key characters, unlocking the puzzle of who he was talking about. He describes himself as the planter of good seed. The field is the world in which we live. The seed itself, Jesus says is the people in the Kingdom. Many would suppose that the seed is the Word of God, but in this story Jesus says it is the people who believe and make up the residents of the Kingdom. The weeds are also described as people, but these are folks who belong to the evil one. Here, Jesus uses an interesting word for “evil one.” Sons of the evil one are the “ponéros: toilsome, bad,” derived from “pónos,” – pain, laborious trouble, pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that always go with evil. And finally, the weed planter is none other than satan, the “diabolos” – slanderer. Jesus goes on to describe, what many modern pho-theologians deny, as HELL. He says the weeds along with the weed-sower will be burned in the fire, thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

There is a point to this entire chapter of parables. Those who want to find God, know God and have a relationship with him… will find and can KNOW, becoming a person of the Kingdom! Yes, it’s a narrow gate, a miracle, and it will cost one everything, but it is possible. God is not hiding so that one cannot find him. He wants us to seek, knock and pursue him. God is already waiting and already made a way!

Prayer

Dad,
I ache for those who are miserable and blame you for it. My heart breaks for those who have suffered or are suffering and see nothing but darkness and doom ahead. But, I also know that you are there for them, if they will turn and lean in to find you. Thank you for doggedly, constantly, consistently pursuing us by your grace. Come close to the broken, that they may be healed and find peace.

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Going to God first, BEFORE we spin out.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage. Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me? Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave?” Psalms‬ ‭6:1-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David implores God to restore, not continue to rebuke. To heal, not to discipline as David sees it. I realize this is probably David’s general outlook or worldview. EVERYTHING that happens, good or bad, comes from God. Interesting right? I don’t see David blaming natural consequences per se, or an evil presence such as Satan when things are going bad. I don’t even see him really blaming King Saul or evil men. He’s really got his focus on God’s design and desire to control all that happens in his life and the kingdom life. Why else would David constantly remind God of how long he’s been waiting for justice?

In this passage David dramatically reminds God of something else. How can I praise you of I’m no longer alive? Who praises from the grave? Well… I get his point. We would rather praise and tell of God’s great mercy here, while we’re alive in this planet, while there are people to hear the testimonies of His goodness. However, from a eternal perspective, God will always receive praise, even from the beyond. I’m not sure about the ancients view of the afterlife. David uses the word, “sheol.” Which is a realm of the dead, where all the dead go. He certainly did not believe he could continue to give God praise from there.

What would happen if I took my griefs, failures and frustrations to God FIRST? If I had this kind of open conversation with God at the front of my tendency to “spin” or ruminate? I just had this happen. And I was feeling desperate to tell someone what I had experienced, what I was feeling AND let those awful theories take my brain off to a hundred different directions. The one I should have talked to first, was God. The Psalms always reminds me to do this, that’s what I love about these songs and poems. But I still don’t choose God first! It’s very annoying that I do this.

Prayer

Dad,
Even though you have given me access and permission to go to you, to approach you, I still have a difficult time following through. Maybe it’s just me? Maybe everyone else just does this automatically. I even had the perfect yucky day yesterday and was wishing I could tell someone to get it out of my head, but oh no, I didn’t pray a peep! I didn’t let you in. I didn’t reach out for help to sort through the pain and disappointment. I do remember pausing before I sent some dumb texts that would have made things worse. I need you so badly when things are stressful and I start dropping or forgetting important things I’m supposed to get done.

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That hour.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” John‬ ‭12:27-32‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Up until last year I had no real sense of the timing of all that surrounds Holy Week. As a church we decided to focus on “The Way of the Cross” or the stations of the cross. I did a sermon series called, “Talk about it” because I had a feeling that although the majority of the world knew much more about Holy Week and Jesus journey from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha because of Catholicism, that many protestants and pentecostals knew virtually nothing. I confess, that was me. I had no idea of the intensity of the last twelve hours of Jesus life before the cross, from 3 am to 3 pm.

In the garden Jesus asked God if there was a way around this “cup,” this “hour.” I had always understood Jesus’ arrest, illegal mock trials, torture, humiliation and eventually the absolute most inhumane way to die the reason Jesus was troubled about this last hour the cup of suffering. Jesus would experience all of that being completely innocent, doing nothing wrong. He would in fact experience the worst injustice of any human that ever lived! But none of that eleven hours was what Jesus was trying to avoid. He was fully aware of what that kind of suffering would be like.

If you’ve seen Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, you know that it was a miracle that Jesus physical body could even make it to the cross. He had been without sleep, food or water. He had been beaten so badly that his blood loss was significant. But still, none of that was the reason Christ asked to avoid THE HOUR. It’s an hour that only the Son of Man, Son of God COULD experience and feel the absolute terror of those moments. None of us, as humans, will experience that hour until after death and judgment.

The reason Jesus wanted any other way for salvation, for a fulfilled contract to be paid, for justice to be satisfied and for ultimate glory to be brought to God was a complete and total separation from God, because God cannot look upon sin. The moment that Jesus cried out “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (My God my God why have you forsaken me?) it was because Jesus BECAME, he bore, he embodied OUR sin! And the feeling he felt had never been experienced before – a complete and ultimate separation from God. God not only turned away, he withdrew his presence that Jesus had intimately been acquainted with since conception in Mary’s womb. And in the moments of that last hour he experienced an eternity of darkness. And, in those three days of being dead, he made a trip to Hades, freeing prisoners from the place of waiting. Christ was still at work even after death!

PRAYER

Dad,
After all these years of walking with you and I am still experiencing new and deeper understanding of who you are and what you have done for US! I find myself more amazed, more grateful and more excited to see how it all ends. It makes me long for the finish line, not to escape this world’s mess, or the struggles and sin in this life, but just to finally make complete sense of ALL OF IT. We still do see with dark panes of glass and try to figure out what reality looks like through dirty glasses. Soon we will see clearly and we’ll also see you face to face! I look forward to that.