Turning the Tables

Today we again feature excerpts from the 1993 book, Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross. These thoughts are by John McGuirk who now leads the church in Paris, France.

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil. . ." (Hebrews 2:14).

Double and triple teamed even from birth by Satan, who regarded him as public enemy number one, Jesus never gave in to sin, not even once. Satan pulled out all the stops, and he stopped at nothing.  He had the home court advantage, and Jesus was in his deadly sights at all times. 

Jesus never earned the wages of sin and did not deserve to die, and in fact didn't have to die.  However, as Satan lost his effort to pull Jesus into sin, he no doubt took satisfaction in seeing Jesus accused, despised, abused and executed. Watching so many people doing his bidding had to give him a feeling of power.  But it was short-lived.  What looked like Satan's greatest hour became God's greatest victory.   The tables were dramatically turned as Jesus burst forth from that grave on the first day of the week.  Evil seemed to have the upper hand, but righteousness walked away in triumph.

We love to see the underdog come out on top.  We get excited when the little guy overcomes the big obstacle.  We stand and cheer when the would-be loser pulls it out in the final seconds.  When Moses turns the tables and the tide on Pharaoh and prances through the Red Sea, when David downs the favored giant, or when Elijah goes toe to toe with the 800 false prophets, we say, "Awesome!"

We are inspired to see the great ones turning the tables, but what is even better is to turn some tables ourselves!  In many of our lives Satan has his choke hold on us.  Trapped in some character sin, we wonder if we will ever get free.  But the tables can be turned.  What looks like a stronghold of Satan can become an occasion for the victory of God.  The Spirit that turned the tables and raised Jesus from the dead lives in us (Romans 8:11)--as long as we have not become faithless, cynical or hard-hearted.  Satan may have our history on his side.  The momentum may be going his way.  But faith in the power of God can turn the tables. Anger can be smashed; irresponsibility can be stopped; resentment can die; contentment and commitment can flourish.  Our weakness can become our strength.