Satan before the Cross
One hidden major player in the Gospels was Satan.
The preaching and activities of Christ Jesus were all done under monitoring by Satan as well as God. Indeed, Satan appeared in front of Christ Jesus during his prayer in the wilderness for 40 days. Truly, Christ Jesus sometimes drove an evil spirit out of a man.
Christ Jesus must have seen Satan's influence on the Jewish society of 2000 years ago in elite Jewish people and Judaism priests as well as in Roman rulers. But, Christ Jesus did not come to preach the gospel to them, make them repent and forgive them. He rather preached the gospel to poor people and ordinary people who were less occupied by Satan.
Satan was watching Christ Jesus preaching and healing poor people. But while Christ Jesus was working in Galilee, Satan would not try to take on Christ Jesus. But when Christ Jesus acted passionately especially in the Jerusalem Temple, Satan got a chance to push Christ Jesus into a corner.
It is not clear what Satan expected when Christ Jesus was betrayed by one of His disciples and sentenced to death by the Roman Governor. Satan might have expected God to interfere. Satan might have just wanted to enjoy seeing Christ Jesus get embarrassed and shamed as He could not prevent the betrayal and the arrest.
However, it seems that there is one thing sure. Satan must have been surprised to see Christ Jesus simply and obediently die on the cross without interference of God. Satan must have been confused and puzzled: "The Son of God should not die like that." On the contrary, after the death of Christ Jesus on the cross, Christianity started to prevail. The religion occupied the Roman Empire, which must have upset Satan. Satan must have surely felt ashamed of his shallow wisdom and cheap strategy.
But, Satan did not simply give up. He tried to confuse the Christian church. Satan succeeded in imbuing a very stupid theory in the church that God was three and three were one God. Satan did many stupid tricks to the church, but as the most remarkable influence of Satan, this theory still remains today in the Christian church.
We may as well start to check creeds and ideologies of the Vatican and the Protestant churches so as to remove influences of Satan. Anyway, the Vatican and the Christian churches should admit that Satan is so strong that even the Gospels are not free from interference by Satan. Yet, before God, Satan is nothing. We may laugh at Satan as he must have been dismayed to see Christ Jesus simply and obediently die on the cross.
What a stupid guy Satan was before the cross!
**** **** ****
Mar 9:10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
Mar 9:11 And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mar 9:12 And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.