Satan's attempts to cancel Christmas, crash Calvary, and eliminate Easter

Introduction: Satan is our adversary, our enemy.

According to the Bible in 1 Peter 5:8, he walks around earth like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

He was not always Satan. He was at one time Lucifer, one of God’s greatest created beings, probably the most special according to Ezekiel 28.

His pride, however, in the way in which he was created led him into sin as he was kicked out of heaven. Because of his sin, he stopped being Lucifer and became Satan, so if someone asks you why God created the Devil, answer that person with this. God did not create the Devil. God created Lucifer and pride created the Devil.

Let me correct something else. Satan is not the opposite of God. God has no opposites. God is all-knowing. Satan is not. God exists outside of time. Satan does not. God is sovereign. Satan is not. Satan is in subjection to God Almighty. God is in subjection to no one.

Lucifer, if you read Ezekiel 28, was created with incredible abilities, authority, and intelligence, and even though he sinned and was cast from heaven, he maintained some, if not all, of what he was created with.

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Ephesians 2:2 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”

“god” and “prince” are terms that indicate the authority Satan still has.

As our enemy and adversary, he is engaged in a war with us. He is also at war with God’s covenant people, Israel.

It has been a bloody struggle between Satan and Israel, and Satan has done everything in his power to destroy Israel, but he has not and will not. Today, we are going to look at this conflict as we scan the pages of God’s Word, and look at Satan’s attempts to cancel Christmas, crash Calvary, and eliminate Easter, but most importantly, we are going to see how God dashed his hopes upon each attempt.

The theme of today will be that Satan cannot undo what God has ordained.

I. Satan’s attempts to cancel Christmas.

Revelation 12:4–5 “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”

The dragon is Satan standing before Israel (Mary in particular) anxiously waiting to devour the Seed(Jesus Christ) promised in Genesis 3.

I want you to know no artist on this planet can paint as clear a picture as what Rev. 12 portrays. Satan knows his place in the pecking order, and he knows that he is in subjection to the Holy Trinity, but he tries to seize upon an opportunity of vulnerability. Can you imagine the ferocity of a dragon awaiting the birth of a child so he can devour that child?

Rev. 12 is a double prophecy. It refers to events historical events as well as future events. The chapter scans the entire history of Satan’s attempts to dethrone God.

What we see is Satan’s attempt to cancel Christmas. He is awaiting the birth of Jesus in the flesh. This baby was innocent. The baby was Jesus in human flesh. This was not the Jesus of glory. Jesus had submitted to the Father’s will to come to earth to redeem mankind, and Satan saw an opportunity to disrupt the Midnight Clear.

But, dear friend, Satan is not sovereign. God is, and Satan knew what God had told him in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Not knowing God’s timetable, Satan tried to eliminate the woman, Israel, before she could give birth to the child.

A. Satan, Pharaoh, The Nile, A Baby, and God (Exodus 1:22)

Exodus 1:22 “And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.”

Satan stimulated the heart of Pharaoh to do evil as he led Pharaoh to the decision to throw the male Hebrew children into the crocodile-infested Nile River. It was Satan’s attempt to eliminate the male Hebrew babies and by thus eliminating who would crush his head. Satan was trying to stop Jewish posterity as countless little boys were thrown into the powerful jaws of crocodiles swimming the Nile.

I am sure Satan was full of himself as he was attempting to cancel Christmas. How ironic is it that Satan is described as a dragon, and what animal does a crocodile resemble?

But God was there too, and God is sovereign, and God had a plan.

God’s plan included saving a deliverer who would lead His people out of Egypt, a deliverer by the name of Moses.

God had chosen Moses, and God wrapped Moses in His protection, and Satan, Pharaoh, the Nile River, and the crocodiles could do nothing about that baby.

Exodus 2:3 “And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.”

Moses was laid in the protection of God’s ark and sealed by God’s Spirit of protection as symbolized by the slime and pitch that was applied.

I bet Satan was steaming as he discovered that Moses was a Hebrew. Moses, who was destined for the crocodiles, was raised as a Prince of Egypt in Pharaoh’s court. Satan wanted to cancel Christmas, but instead because of God’s sovereignty, a deliverer escaped the dragon to lead God’s people to the precipice of the Promised Land, but as today, Satan did not give up. As we go through time, it becomes obvious to Satan that Moses was not the one to crush his head.

B. Herod, Satan, Wise Men, A Star, A Baby, and God

Satan, as time passes, hears what God tells the prophets, and he stumbles across something God tells Isaiah.

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.”

Satan says this must be the One God told me about in the Garden. When a sign appears, that means Christmas is here, so I will need to be there in Bethlehem when the sign, the star, appears. Dear friend, I want you to absolutely know that God never acts randomly, and Jesus appeared on the scene at the exact point in time that God had designed.

Galatians 4:3–4 “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,”

It was time. It was the First Noel, and when Satan saw the Star, he knew that was the sign, and he moved upon Herod who did not take much moving. Herod the Idumean hated the Jews to begin with as he was a descendant of Esau, and Satan used Herod’s desire for power and his hatred for the Jews in attempting to cancel Christmas.

Before Herod acts, however, there were a group of men who came from the East, drawn by the Word of God, which was shared with them by Daniel, who recognized that sign in the heavens meant the King of the World was born.

Matthew 2:1–2 “Now when Jesus was born in Beth-lehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”

The Wise Men came to worship, and Satan supplied Herod with the lie to tell the Wise Men.

Matthew 2:7–8 “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Beth-lehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”

Herod had no desire to worship Jesus, so he lied to the Wise Men as his real motive was to kill the Baby Jesus. Do you know who the father of all lies is? That’s right, Satan. (John 8:44)

The stage was set. Satan was there. The Wise Men were there. The Baby was there. Herod was there by proxy, but so was God, and it is God who is sovereign, and He warned the Wise Men and Mary and Joseph.

Matthew 2:12–13 “And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”

The wrath over not being able to cancel Christmas came to bear as Herod and Satan discovered the Wise Men did not report as requested by Herod, and Satan motivated Herod to kill every male baby under the age of 2 in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas.

Matthew 2:16–18 “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Beth-lehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

All looked hopeless as a devilish and despicable scene plays out. The streets were overflowing with blood of babies and the blood-curdling screams of heartbroken mothers echoed throughout Israel. Satan thought he was canceling Christmas, but God had acted. Satan could not cancel Christmas because he cannot undo what God has ordained, but that did not keep Satan from pouring his wrath out on the God’s covenant people, but Christmas lived on.

II. Satan’s attempts to crash Calvary.

With Jesus safely in Egypt under the watchful eye of legions of angels, years slip through the hour glass.

We next see Jesus at His baptism. We know He had taught in the temple when He was 12, but His baptism signaled the beginning of what was to come as everyone in attendance heard God proclaim Him as His Son. At the completion of His baptism, the Bible says that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, and that is where Satan’s attempt to crash Calvary began.

A. Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world for a moment of praise in order to crash Calvary. (Luke 4:5-8)

Luke 4:5–8 “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Satan the Schemer was not going to pass up an opportunity. He knew he missed out in Egypt and Bethlehem, so now, he was changing his strategy. He decided to offer Jesus the kingdoms of the world. Those kingdoms belonging to him because Adam gave them to him.

His thoughts were that if Jesus would bow to him just once God’s plan would be foiled as he was attacking Jesus in the flesh. Satan knew he could not tempt the Christ of glory, but he was gambling that he could tempt him in the flesh, but Jesus would not bow the knee to Satan because He was being led by the Spirit in the Father’s will and standing on God’s Word. He was incapable of sin and incapable of bowing to Satan.

This was the ultimate temptation that Satan could offer, and his first attempt to crash Calvary was thwarted, and Satan, not to be deterred, changed his strategy back to his original strategy which was to kill Jesus, and immediately, when he realized tempting Jesus would not work, he began trying to kill him.

B. Satan attempted to use a reunion to crash Calvary.

After being tempted, Jesus returned to Nazareth for a homecoming, and He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day which was His custom and began preaching from the Book of Isaiah.

The message Jesus preached is recorded in Luke 4, and that message rather abruptly ended the homecoming as the friends Jesus had known since His early childhood wanted to kill him. Without a doubt, Satan was attempting to cash in an opportunity to crash Calvary.

Luke 4:28–30 “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way,”

As they were attempting to throw Jesus off a cliff, Jesus just walked through them as if He were not there. Another attempt by Satan to crash Calvary was foiled because Satan cannot undo what God has ordained.

C. Satan attempted to use an army of demons to crash Calvary.

Mark 5:1–4 “THEY CAME to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gerasenes. And as soon as He got out of the boat, there met Him out of the tombs a man [under the power] of an unclean spirit. This man continually lived among the tombs, and no one could subdue him any more, even with a chain; For he had been bound often with shackles for the feet and handcuffs, but the handcuffs of [light] chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he rubbed and ground together and broke in pieces; and no one had strength enough to restrain or tame him.” (Amplified Bible)

This man possessed by many demons charges at Jesus, but as the man approached Jesus, he could not carry out the orders of the hounds of hell within, and he left there that day dressed like a gentleman and in his right mind.

D. Satan attempted to use nature to crash Calvary. (Mark 4:35-39)

Mark 4:35–39 “And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

Satan raged a tempest greater than anything he threw at Job, and it scared the professional fishermen to death, but Jesus rebuked Satan’s attempt to use what Jesus controlled against Him.

Dear friend, Satan cannot undue what God has ordained, and God had ordained when and why Jesus was going to die.

The when was the 483rd years of Daniel’s 70 week prophecy found in Daniel 9:24-27 (April 6, 30 AD), and the why was for the remission of sins, the just for the unjust. (1 Peter 3:18)

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

Revelation 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Ephesians 1:4 “According as he (God) hath chosen us in him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”

It was set in stone the reason Jesus was going to die, and the date had been determined. I say this time and time again, but there is nothing random about what God does.

Satan, the Pharisees, Judas, and Pilate may have thought they were crucifying Jesus. They may have thought they were crashing God’s plan, but they were wrong.

Isaiah 53, written, almost 700 years prior to the crucifixion prophesied exactly how Jesus would die.

Psalm 22, written 1,000 years before Crucifixion was invented, describes every detail of Jesus’s death on the Cross.

Sure, Satan was adding strength to the soldiers using the scourge. Sure, it was Satan driving those nails into Jesus’s hands and feet. Sure, it was Satan stirring the people to mock Jesus, to spit on Jesus, to laugh at Jesus, but it was God who crucified His only Son. (Romans 8:32)

Romans 8:32 “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

Satan and the demons from hell had a field day that dark, dark afternoon. They had crashed God’s plans or so they thought, but dear friend, Satan cannot undo what God has ordained.

Satan could not cancel Christmas. He thought he crashed Calvary, but, even though he did not know it, God’s prophecy to him thousands of years earlier in Genesis 3:15 was about to be fulfilled.

III. Satan’s attempts to eliminate Easter.

I cannot imagine the celebration. Satan had never been so ecstatic. He thought he had killed Jesus. True, Jesus was dead, but as Romans 8:32 says it was God who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him for us all.

In his vanity, Satan thought he had killed Jesus, and he attempted to make sure that Jesus stayed in that grave. He was attempting to eliminate Easter and eternal life, and he used all means at his disposal.

A. Satan attempted to use governmental power to eliminate Easter.

Matthew 27:62–66 “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.”

The Pharisees had heard what Jesus said. They had heard Jesus say that He was going to rise after three days. Let me ask you a question.

If the Pharisees knew Jesus was making false claims and was not the Messiah, why did they go to Pilate for Pilate to place the Roman seal on the tomb?

Attaching the Roman seal to the tomb made it a capital offense to break the seal. Satan was using governmental authority in an attempt to eliminate Easter.

He was using the most powerful nation in the history of the world up to that point and maybe still today to keep Jesus in that grave. He was doing all he could to eliminate Easter.

B. Satan attempted to use military might to eliminate Easter.

Pilate ordered one of the most powerful militaries in the history of the world to secure the tomb. The Roman military could not be defeated. Once the orders had been given and the purpose made known, the Roman soldier would see the order completed, and those orders given by Pilate and influenced by Satan were to secure the tomb.

Satan was using the heavy hitters to eliminate Easter. He used governmental power and military might.

Besides military might and governmental power, Satan probably summoned all the hounds of hell to stand guard over the tomb. Jesus was in that sepulchre, and that was where Satan wanted Him to remain as he attempted to eliminate Easter and eternal life.

On the morning of the third day, however, something miraculous happened.

Acts 2:22–24 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

It did not matter what Satan tried. When God decided to bring Jesus home from that grave, none of the attempts Satan made to eliminate Easter and eternal life were going to be successful. In the fullness of time as Paul wrote, God raised His Son from the dead, and God announced it to the world in a most spectacular way.

Matthew 28:2 “And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.”

That great earthquake announced to the world that Jesus Christ was alive. He had overcome sin, death, and the grave paving the way for all men to have eternal life.

Satan had given his all, but Satan cannot undo what God has ordained. It was God who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him for us all, and it was God who raised Jesus from the dead. God had a plan from the foundation of the world, and nothing Satan tried could alter God’s plans.

Dear friend, I am telling you the Resurrection is the blessed hope for all Christians. The Resurrection is the guarantee of eternal life. (Titus 2:12-14)

Satan could not cancel Christmas. He could not crash Calvary, and he could not eliminate Easter. Now, you would think he would be deterred but not Satan. He had one more trick up his sleeve, and it was to use his most powerful weapon to eliminate Easter and the truth about the Resurrection.

C. Satan used organized religion to dismiss the Resurrection.

Matthew 28:11–15 “Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.”

Satan knew what had happened, and more importantly, I believe the chief priests of the Pharisees knew that what Jesus had said about His resurrection was true, but they did more than deny the truth; they rejected the truth.

The Pharisees lied and bribed in order to cover up the Resurrection, but, dear friend, they could not undo what God ordained.

As the church began to grow, many eyewitnesses offered evidence to prove the Resurrection. 1 Cor. 15 records that there were more than 500 eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ, and the Holy Spirit which came down on the Day of Pentecost verified the Resurrection to every lost soul that came to Jesus.

Satan and those religious leaders were infuriated as they confronted the early church leaders at every turn killing many, but everywhere the blood of a martyr splattered a new church grew, and the truth has been spread all over the world. AMEN AND HALLELUJAH!!!!!

Satan cannot undo what God has ordained, and, dear friend, God has ordained that if you believe in Jesus Christ, you are going to have eternal life.

My eternal life is based absolutely on the truth of God’s Word. Jesus came as a baby born to a virgin mother, He preached as a child, He died as man for my sins, He was resurrected as the Son of God, and He is going to come get His bride, the church, one of these days, and He is going to come as King of Kings to destroy His enemies.

Are you going to fall for the lies of Satan? Are you going to believe the truth? The truth is that Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God who came to earth and lived a sinless life so He could die for your sins and was resurrected on the third day and is at the right hand of the Father today.

You are either going to believe the lies of Satan, or you are going to believe the truth.