Giving the Devil His Due

Matthew 11:1–12 NIV

1 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. 2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” 7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.

There are certain topics that maybe just seem to make us uncomfortable, so we don’t talk about it much. Today is one of those days. Week after week we come to church and declare our belief in God. We affirm our faith in the saving actions of Jesus who came into this world, lived among his people, was executed on a Roman cross, and was raised from the tomb. We believe and declare that those events are very real—that it all actually happened just as the Bible says it did. But just as the Bible talks about God’s love and his mercy and his grace, the Bible also talks about a spiritual enemy at work in our world who is also very real.

The devil first shows up in Genesis by coming into the garden of Eden and tempting Eve and Adam to disobey God. At various points throughout scripture the devil shows up in the story. We see him in the story of Job, and he shows up in the gospels to try his best to bring down Jesus. The apostle Paul occasionally makes reference to the spiritual battle at work on our world between spiritual forces that mostly go unseen. And the apostle John gets a glimpse in Revelation of the spiritual battle taking place in the heavens at the end of time.

But let’s admit that for the most part we completely ignore the devil. C.S. Lewis recognized this trend as well. One of his books—The Screwtape Letters—brings this out. In this story, Lewis writes about an imaginary correspondence going back and forth between two demons, Screwtape and Wormwood. It is Screwtape who is giving advice to Wormwood about how it is he can be the most demonic evil spirit possible. At one point in the book, Screwtape urges his young protégé to keep a low profile and remain hidden in the dark shadows. His advice is that the devil and his forces of evil do their most destructive work when the demons go completely ignored and unnoticed in all the evil and destruction they instigate in the world.

And as for us in the church, we often talk about things like “God-sightings” or moments of notice in which we see God at work in our lives and in the world. But it is not very often that we ever pay attention to what the devil might be up to in this world. Now, to be fair, it would not be the best thing for us in the church to have an unhealthy obsession with the devil and demonic forces. It may not be helpful for us to spend every waking moment peeking under every rock and around every corner trying to spy the devil. However, can we consider today what it looks like for us to at least have an appropriate response to the devil and his schemes at work in our world?

Life in Prison

times when we have experienced the full and abundant life

This story about John the Baptist in Matthew 11 gives us a good glimpse into what our own lives might look like from time-to-time. John is the cousin of Jesus. John is the one who is set up by God to prepare the way for Jesus. John is given the task of being the new Elijah. And in the time when Jesus was just beginning his ministry, John the Baptist is something of a rock star in the area of Judah. His popularity is spreading, and people are flocking out to the desert by the Jordan River to see him. His ministry is taking off and he is seeing results. People are repenting and turning to God. His message is getting through.

To cap it all off, Jesus himself comes to see John as the first step of his earthly ministry. Jesus receives baptism by John. And John is there to witness the display of the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in the moment when Jesus comes out of the water. The voice of the Father is heard from the heavens. And the presence of the Spirit comes as a dove. John is there at this moment. John recognizes the importance of this event. John knows that God’s promised Messiah is here—the one God’s people have been waiting for.

times when the full and abundant life has been taken from us

But this is not the way we encounter John in Matthew 11. At this point John has made enemies with the local rulers and has been arrested and put in prison. All the momentum of his ministry has come to a grinding halt. It seems that he still has his following of those who responded to his message. But none of that helps John get out of prison. His life is stuck in a dead-end.

questioning Jesus: are you the one?

And it is from this place of being stuck in prison that John sends his messengers to Jesus with a question: Are you the one, or not?

It was all so clear back when we stood together in the shallows of the Jordan River at the baptism scene. We were waiting our whole lives for the moment of God’s Messiah. It was go-time. But now John is in prison. This is not what he envisioned go-time being. All he sees is the inside of a prison cell with no possibility of parole. The question he sends to Jesus seems loaded. It looks to me like John is second-guessing himself. It seemed so clear when things were all going his way. And now that things are no longer going his way, John faces a crisis moment in his faith. He questions whether Jesus is the real-deal.

We’ve all been there too. Those of us here who have been part of the church for some time know what it is like to face moments of crisis in our faith too. Every now-and-then we have lives that feel locked inside a prison cell. And sooner or later every one of us has a moment when we ask the same question that John asks: Jesus, are you the one, or not?

Life to the Full

It is not uncommon for people to have a favorite passage from the Bible. Even people who are not Christians maybe know of a particular verse or saying from the Bible that means something special to them. And I am struck by how often people choose favorite verses that don’t mean what they think it means because it is pulled completely out from context. John 10:10 is one of those verses. There are people who like to quote the words of Jesus in John 10:10.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

What an awesome promise from Jesus. Who wouldn’t want a full and abundant life? Prosperity gospel preachers like to quote this as a basis for their message of health and wealth. We love to think of God as the one who is there to fulfil our every wish of goodness. This is John at the Jordan River wrapping himself in all the full and abundant things that God was bringing about through his ministry and message. People’s live were being changed and turning back to God.

what happens when full abundant life is taken away?

blame God

blame myself

So, what happens to these words of Jesus when John ends up in prison? Where is the full and abundant life while shackled inside that cell? Either Jesus is not the one he says he is, or John did something wrong to lose his grip on that full and abundant life. This is so very true of our world yet today. We love the full and abundant life when it is right there in front of us for the taking. We praise and thank God for his generous blessings when everything is going right. And when life is not full and abundant we stew in the thoughts of doubt; either Jesus is not who he claims to be, or I must be doing something wrong. What other possible explanation could there be?

And this is where we are left. I blame God for not being who I think he should be—or not doing what I think he should do. Or I blame myself for not doing whatever I should have done to avert myself from whatever distress I find myself facing. Either way, we find ourselves stopped by a roadblock cutting us off from the full and abundant life we were expecting. And most of the time we either throw the blame at God or at ourselves.

But here’s the problem. We don’t have a good understanding of John 10:10. We don’t have a clear picture of everything Jesus means by a full and abundant life. In fact, we aren’t even looking at the whole verse. John 10:10 – I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. That’s only half of the verse. It completely ignore all the context.

In John 10, Jesus is talking about the way in which sheep recognize the voice of the shepherd and follow the shepherd’s voice. Jesus says that others who come for the sheep as well; others who are not the true shepherd, but come with malicious intent. Here is all of John 10:10

John 10:10 NIV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

blame the thief (devil)

When we find ourselves in places in which we feel like we are not enjoying the full and abundant life, we blame God and we blame ourselves. And we forget all about the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy. We forget all about the devil and his schemes of evil in the world. We forget about the one who deceived humanity into stealing and killing and destroying in the first place. We forget about the one from whom evil originates.

We need to remember to give the devil his due. We need to remember that the source of harm and death and destruction begins with the devil, not with God. The apostle Paul makes references in his letters to the churches that there is a spiritual battle taking place. You and I live in the midst of a spiritual battlefield. There are a few helpful takeaways for us to pull out of this. There are a handful of Fortnight hacks we have been given in our spiritual arsenal. You and I are not always helpless pawns on this battlefield.

It begins by recognizing who our true enemy is. You see, whenever we blame God for allowing evil to take place, whenever we completely ignore and skip over the devil and go straight to pointing fingers at God, we give the devil a double-win. The devil get away with his schemes of evil in the world in which nobody blames him. That’s a win for the devil. And then on top of that, people go and blame God for all the evil that exists around us. That’s a double-win for the devil.

But today we recognize that our faith is rooted in Jesus. And Jesus is the good shepherd. Today we recognize that we live in a world in which the devil still prowls. There is still a thief out there who is bent on stealing, killing, and destroying. In Matthew 11 Jesus sends an answer back to John. Tell John this, The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Even with the evil schemes of the devil still inflicting harm wherever he can, Jesus comes and breaks into this broken and fallen world. Jesus comes and provides glimpses of his restoration. Jesus comes and announces that he is here so that his creation can be restored to its full abundance once more. There are glimpses of this happening today. We see it now.

But there are only glimpses. Maybe John just needed this reminder sent back to him in prison. I understand where John is coming from. The immediate reaction of John might be something like this: that’s great Jesus, but what about ME? What about ME living MY best life now? Glimpses of kingdom provide us with the understanding that we still live in a time of spiritual warfare. We live in a time when there are moments of God’s kingdom restoration around us. Sometimes we are a direct part of that fullness. And sometimes we are witnesses to it in the lives of others. Sometimes we are the direct recipients of blessing through God’s restoration. And sometimes we are the instruments of God’s blessing to bring that restoration to the lives of others.

sometimes we still get caught in battle

And sometimes we still get caught in the battle. Sometimes our lives are stolen and destroyed by the thief who is still hellbent on being hellbent. Sometimes the devil can still make a mess of our lives in this broken world.

turn to Jesus (the good shepherd)

Here is our way forward today. First, whenever and wherever you hear the voice of Jesus—our good shepherd—embrace it. Look for it. Listen for it. Run to him. Jump on board. Be are part of God’s restoration in this world.

turn away from the devil (the thief)

Second, whenever and wherever you see the stealing and killing and destruction of the thief in this world, call it out for what it is. Point a finger at the devil. Give the devil his due. Throw the blame where it belongs. Let all that rotten brokenness in this world put a knot in your stomach and remind you that this is not the way the world is supposed to be. And I want nothing to do with that kind of evil anymore. I want nothing to do with the devil anymore. And so I choose instead to turn to God. I look to Jesus.