HT: Marshall Segal
Jesus had enemies. As soon as he’s declared Son of God in the Gospel of Mark, he’s driven into the wilderness to face Satan, his first and greatest adversary (Mark 1:12).
Satan lurks behind all opposition to Jesus, and his demons show up repeatedly to entice and corrupt, but surprisingly, his henchmen are more often theologians than demons. Satan is mentioned only five times in Mark, and demons only thirteen times. But the scribes and Pharisees are mentioned 29 times, and in 27 of those verses, they are wielding their knowledge of the Scriptures in opposition to the Christ.
When Jesus told his disciples how he would die, he didn’t blame the evil ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), but the rulers of his own chosen people,
“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him.” (Mark 10:33–34; also Mark 8:31)
It wasn’t the tax collectors plotting to put an end to Jesus (Mark 14:1). It wasn’t the drunks or the thieves shouting, “Crucify him!” (Mark 15:11). It wasn’t the sexually immoral who executed him. It was the morally respectable and theologically refined who murdered the Author of life (Acts 3:13–15).
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