Destined for the Crossনমুনা

 As we study Jesus’ march toward the cross, in Luke 9 (and also in Matthew and Mark) we find Jesus with His face set toward Jerusalem. Passover was almost upon the Jewish people and the once-and-forever Paschal Lamb (Jesus) was about to be sacrificed. Many speak of the will of the Father in all of this. If the crucifixion of Jesus was the will of the Father, our question can be, “Why? Why did God will the crucifixion?” One reason God the Father sent His Son Jesus to the cross was to set us free from the captivity of the devil that manifests through demons, drugs, and other addictions.

The New Testament reveals that Satan is a defeated foe. The apostle Paul tells us that “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20) so that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39 ESV).

It is important to remember that were it not for the cross of Christ, each one of us would remain captive to Satan—poor, blind, wretched, and oppressed unto death. All of our triumphs are in Christ! Paul knew this truth, which he so joyously proclaimed in his second letter to the Corinthians as his personal reason for his beliefs and actions—his apologia pro vita sua (a defense of his life): “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14 NASB).

In answer to Pilate’s question of why Jesus had to die, Scripture says that Jesus died to destroy captivity in the form of demons, drugs, and other addictions.