This was not going to be a fair fight. No challenge. Mighty King Herod vs. the baby. All he had to do was find the child…
Does anyone question that Herod was working for satan? At a minimum, sin was leading this king in a pattern of stealing, killing, and destroying. He was taking his marching orders from the same one which thousands of years before, convinced the first Adam to get smarter and give up his walks in the garden with God. Bad advice. Wrong mentor. Adam didn’t need anything else. All he had to do was continue to experience the pure gift of innocence. The second Adam, Jesus, was a King who was sent to give His life freely to get our innocence back.
Jesus rejected bad advice from the snake at the end of His 40 days in the desert. He did not receive the devil’s comments as truth like adam, but instead answered him with the authority of a Son. By the time this desperate attempt occurred in the desert, the deceiver knew he had missed his best chance some thirty years earlier. All he had to do was find the infant…
Then Herod, having seeing that he was deceived by the learned men, became greatly incensed, and having sent off those appointed to fulfill his wishes, he put out of the way all the male children, those in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding territory from two years and under, according to the time which he carefully ascertained from the learned men. (Matthew 2:16)
Wise men found the baby, but the devil couldn’t. He initiated plan B. Take out baby Jesus by killing all the Hebrew boys under two. We all know who lived, stupid devil.
Demons recognized Jesus. They knew He was the Son of God before His best friends had a clue. The prince of demons surely knew the same, and yet, at Jesus’ most vulnerable point in His history, the devil failed. Think about it. Early in His life, the devil had his best shot in taking out the Son of God and destroying any Hope for the Redemption of man. All he had to do was find the baby…
He had the chance when Jesus was still entirely dependent upon Mary and Joe, but he couldn’t pull it off. Blinded by the same arrogance that got him booted from Heaven, he thought that he was going to be the one who took the life of The Son. Do you think it burned the devil to the core when he heard adult Jesus say, ”No one takes my life from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.”
The thief kept employing the same futile tactics throughout the earthly-life of Jesus. Many of these were public efforts while Jesus was in plain sight. Still, not an intelligent enough plan. The following three events had to infuriate him. How many times could Jesus escape?
When they heard these things, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage. And rising up, they pushed and drove Him out of the town, and [laying hold of Him] they led Him to the [projecting] upper part of the hill on which their town was built, that they might hurl Him headlong down [over the cliff]. But passing through their midst, He went on His way. Luke 4:28-30 AMP.
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. John 8:59 KJV
They sought again to arrest Him, but He escaped from their hands. John 10:39 KJV
Now He was hiding in plain sight, going through the traps unharmed. What was the devil’s mistake? He thought this Adam was going to give up His authority. Jesus did the opposite by using His authority to give up His own life. Big difference. Jesus was never lost. He was the Promise. The seed of Redemption. God said that seedtime and harvest would never cease. The Baby was going to find a way to live until as an adult, in sound mind and body, He could freely give up His Spirit. The devil’s not wily enough to figure that plan out.
Years later, while Jesus was taking His own walk in the garden with His Dad, His answer to their question knocked His captors over. Jesus merely said to them, “I am He.” They went backwards (drew back, lurched backward) and fell to the ground. John 18:6
Even when located, Jesus was clearly only going to be taken out when he said he would be. Not a minute sooner.
Is this same mind that was in Christ Jesus in you? You have been delivered and drawn to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred you into the kingdom of the Son of His love, Col 1:13. Like Jesus, you are not out-matched or out-smarted. All the smoke, mirrors, and cunning of the enemy cannot compete with the authority you have in Christ. The same Spirit that caused Jesus to pass through the chaos now dwells in you. You have an onboard escape mechanism.
The devil might be a crafty deceiver but don’t think that translates into any success. Particularly during this Christmas season, let’s not give him any credit for being a wise man. He wasn’t even smart enough to find the Baby Jesus.
Please contact me: matt@twoguysandabible.com
