”He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained soul—he deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto his cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his!“
Isn’t God amazing? I have been dwelling on this part of the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus from a few weeks now -- wondering, what did it look like? What happened when Jesus went to hell and wrestled back the keys from the enemy? When He made a spectacle of the powers of darkness, what did that look like? Well it tells us here that the crucified Jesus led all of the powers and principalities of darkness in a parade as prisoners. Think about what happened to Jesus just before this. He was the key figure, the one they slandered and called King of the Jews in a parade of shame carrying the weight of our sins and the cross - being mocked, ridiculed and abused. Well once He got to hell, the tables were turned. He became the one who mocked and embarrassed every force of darkness. Jesus went to the cross as the perfect sinless, spotless lamb. Isaiah tells us that He went to the cross like a sheep before shearers and as a lamb led to the slaughter - quietly with no answer for the accusations and no weapons of defense. But when He went to hell, He became the one who held all power and authority. He stripped every weapon they had to use against us. Isn’t that amazing? He is the Triumphant King. He is the Victorious One. Our enemy has already been defeated. Whom or what shall we fear?
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