This Means War!!
Okay, I lied about being done with Mark 1:14-15
. I want to look at one more aspect in the text. Mark writes for us,
14 Now after John was imprisoned, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. 15 He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!”
I want to come back to the phrase: ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ. The verb ἤγγικεν signifies to me something I did not see in the previous post, namely that Jesus Christ has declared war on the kingdom of Satan and has invaded Satan’s dominion!
This hit me today as I was listening to D.A. Carson speak on Romans 3:21-30. Carson was presenting the history found in the Old Testament as an illustration of Paul’s argument in Romans 1:18-3:20. It got me to think about these words of Jesus that Mark records for us, ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ. As I argued in the previous post, Mark 1:11 is God’s declaring that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords and Emperor of emperors over all dominions and kingdoms and empires. Now consider what Paul says of Satan in relationship to this world. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan is called “the god of this age.” In Ephesians 2:1-3 Satan is “the prince of the power of the air.” In John 12:31 Satan is called “the ruler of this world.” In Jesus temptation in Matthew 4:9 Satan said that he could give Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world” (cf. Luke 4:5). Satan rules this world and it is his kingdom of darkness.
And the King of light has stepped into this domain of Satan and darkness. He has declared war on Satan and seeks to win the battle. What really confirmed this is three things. Note first what Jesus does next in Mark 1:21-28–after calling Simon, Peter, James, and John. Jesus engages and exorcises a demon! His first miracle that Mark records is an assault on the minions of the devil! He reveals his authority by casting out demons. He is making war on the kingdom of Satan.
The second key to that confirmed this is found in two places in Paul and another in Matthew. Colossians 1:13 says that we are take out of the power of darkness and put in the kingdom of the Son, namely Jesus. Paul says, “He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). Jesus is plundering Satan’s kingdom. Consider the purpose Paul ascribes to the mediatorial kingdom in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28,
Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be eliminated is death. For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
Jesus must rule until all of God’s enemies have been subjugated. Jesus’ mediatorial kingdom is an assault on the very bastion of Satan. Then there is also Matthew 12:28-29, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you. How else can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can thoroughly plunder the house.” Jesus is saying that his very ministry that is Spirit-empowered is the sign that God’s kingdom is thwarting and binding up Satan. Unless Jesus wages war and binds up Satan, his kingdom cannot be plundered (cf. Luke 10:18 and Jesus depiction of Satan falling in connection to the success of his disciples’ missionary work).
Thirdly, the scene in heaven depicted by John the Seer in Revelation 12:10-11, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down. But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” This is the declaration of the voice in heaven after the war and defeat of Satan in Revelation 12:7-9. Satan has been cast out of heaven and has been defeated by Christ’s blood in the lives of the believers. Jesus has made war on the Lamb.
But what also strikes me is that Jesus’ ultimate triumph came not in some grand invasion of Jerusalem to over throw Rome or the Jewish ruling elite. Jesus did not raise an army and march on Rome itself. He did not conquer Egypt or Parthia. Instead Jesus ministered for three years and then went and got himself killed via crucifixion. The great King enthroned by Yahweh himself was crucified. This was foreshadowed in the divine announcement in Mark 1:11. It was an allusion or even an echo of Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1 where the prophet says, “Here is my servant whom I support, my chosen one in whom I take pleasure. I have placed my spirit on him; he will make just decrees for the nations.” This is the first of a series of “songs” in which Isaiah depicts an agent of God will redeem and save God’s people through suffering (cf Isaiah 53 especially). The defining act of Jesus being God’s ruling agent was not some grand entrance on a stallion as David’s heir. It was his humbly going to the cross and dying there. He suffered.
Immediately one can see Mark’s message to his Roman-Christian audience. They are facing intense persecution from the Roman government under Nero Caesar. It is very tempting to grab a sword and to fight back, to protect oneself and one’s family from the horrible atrocities that occurred at the hands of Nero. Yet Mark wants his readers to see that Jesus went to the cross. The kingdom advanced and triumphed not through military means and human weapons, but through Jesus’ willingness to die to this world and be raised indestructible. They are to do the same. Instead of fighting the Romans, they should accept the cup that God has given them to suffer with joy and glad submission. This only reinforces Paul’s message in Romans 13:1-7 and Paul’s command to obey and be subject to Rome. This is the thrust of Peter’s first epistle. Just read 1 Peter 2:11-4:19. Peter called his audience to follow Christ’s example and to suffer for righteousness’ sake and for Jesus’ sake.
This example of Jesus is for us as well. God has a cup filled with suffering that he wants us to drink. It may not be persecution at the hands of the government. I am reminded of my pastor, Tim Juhnke. He preached a sermon on John 18:11, “But Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?’” The thrust of his message was that we all have a cup to drink, like Jesus did. And like Jesus, we must drink it. That was November 18, 2007. The following Sunday, 11/25/07, his house burnt down to the ground. That was his cup he had to drink. Your cup might be similar to Pastor Tim’s, it might be similar to Mark’s audience. But the example is clear: we are called to victory through suffering. We are not to have our best life now, as Joel Osteen would have us to suppose. We as Christ lovers are called to suffer in this life so that we might rejoice in Yahweh and his Christ. That is how we make war on Satan. Revelation 12:11 again says, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” We lose our lives now and gain the abundant life in eternity by the side of King Jesus. Our weapons are not human in origin but divine (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6) and we wage that war by suffering and drinking the cup the Father gives us. In doing so, the very strongholds that the world throws up will be torn down for it is God fighting and not us.
So let the Church and the Kingdom of Christ take up arms and prepare to engage the culture war, but not through elected officials and the government. Let us die to this world and spread the gospel to a dying world. Let our actions speak as loud as our words. Let our willingness to suffer be the evidence of that we have been called by the gospel to an eternal reward of God himself in Christ. Christ is the king of this nation, the United States, and no president will ever truly rule it, despite what authority andpower the U.S. Constitution and the electorate grant the congress, courts, and executives. If Christ wants to win this nation over to himself, it will not come by us trying to legislate laws upon pagan sinners. It will come when we die to this culture and preach the gospel. If Christ will win this nation, then we must follow Christ’s example and preach the good news alongside and in our suffering/dying. Let us die!
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