Pastor John
I finished reading the excerpt from your book, “The Crucifixion of Christ” this morning. Very good. I hope this question isn’t too annoying b/c I’m sure it’s been asked & answered — maybe even by me! — but I forgot the answer: Why do you write that Satan knew Jesus was THE promised Messiah? Is it because of OT prophecies?
Name Withheld
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We are not told exactly how, but Israel knew that there was an Anointed One (“Messiah”) coming who would be a great and everlasting king (from Daniel). The prophet Simeon, for example, was satisfied when he saw the baby Jesus that he had seen the Lord’s Messiah
Luke 2
25. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, earnestly anticipating the comfort of Israel, and the holy spirit was upon him.
26. And it had been revealed to him by the holy spirit that he would not see death before he would see the Lord’s Messiah.
27. And he came by the spirit into the temple, and as the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the requirement of the law,
28. and he took the child into his arms, and he blessed God and said,
29. “Now you can let your slave go, Master, according to your word in peace
30. because my eyes have seen your salvation
31. which you prepared before the face of all peoples,
32. a light leading to revelation for the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel.”
If Israel knew all these things, then satan certainly did. Satan also knew that Jesus was the one spoken about in the Psalm which said that the Anointed One would be so important to God that God would assign angels to keep him from so much as tripping over a rock. He even quoted that verse to Jesus during the temptation. I don’t think anyone expected more than one “anointed one” (“Messiah”), and if that was the case, then if Satan thought “Messiah” at all when he saw Jesus, then he would have thought, “THE Messiah”, just as Simenon did when he saw the infant Jesus.
Pastor John