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From the cross Jesus would have seen many things unfold before Him. Heart breaking devotion from His followers, betrayal from traitors of the faith, hatred who is jesus from those who despised Him and mockers. But how did Jesus view the scene and all of the players present at this, the most important event in human history?
One of the main things Jesus saw from the cross was the non stop harassment from Satan. The Devil was working over time tormenting Him and trying to prevent Him from completing His mission. I have always thought that the Devil probably had no idea what Jesus’s mission was. I believe Satan may have assumed, as most people did, that the Messiah would establish an earthly kingdom. So, once Satan discovered that Jesus was the Son of God He set out to kill Him. After all the Devil is the King of this world, as Jesus pointed out. Satan has a goal in life. He wants to be like God. Being the prince of this earth, in his mind, is merely a stepping stone on his way to ruling heaven.
Satan was not about to let Jesus steal his thunder here where he is so powerful. I believe Satan also seen a huge opportunity with Jesus. He had the chance to physically kill God. What a great opportunity to take the throne in one move on the chess board! Satan had figured out that God had come in the flesh of Jesus. This is revealed by the words spoken to Jesus by the demons in Matthew 8: 29. The demons, who had possession of a man seen Jesus approaching. When they seen Him they cried out saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? “. They recognized who Jesus was. Who would have told them? We have to assume this is the first time Jesus had come in contact with the demon possessed man. They either recognized the person of the Lord or they had been educated by Satan himself.
Satan confronted Jesus twice in the Bible. Once in the desert, where he tempted Jesus with earthy power, then at the cross where he tempted Jesus to save Himself by coming down from the cross. Of course the Devil was speaking through the chief priests, thieves on the crosses beside Him and passers by, but none the less Satan was doing the talking. Somewhere along the line Satan went from bribery of Jesus, to killing Jesus by acting through Judas and the Chief Priests, to trying to stop the crucifixion. Apparently Satan had a light bulb moment while at Golgotha and seen the checkmate coming. But it was too late… he was finished!
Jesus cried out to God while upon the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. While on the cross Jesus watched the Devil move in and out of those present at the cross. He witnessed the blood lust of the Roman Soldiers and the crowd. He heard the mockers as they insulted Him with hateful words that insulted the heart of God. Jesus cried out to God to forgive them, because He knew it was the Devil who was causing them to heap this abuse upon Him. All in an attempt to humiliate Him and provoke Him to come off of the cross. The Devil is the best at hitting us when we are at our weakest. 40 days without food and weakened… the Devil showed up! Tortured and nailed to a cross, body in massive pain… the Devil showed up! Jesus withstood Satan’s desert temptations with scripture. He withstood Satan’s temptations at the cross with prayer and forgiveness of though whom Satan was acting and speaking through. Jesus totally defeated Satan, once and for all, through His death upon the cross. The Devil had figured that out and this is why He wanted Jesus to come down from the cross. PRAISE JESUS FOR STAYING ON THE CROSS!
It seems that the only teaching left in Christianity is to believe that Jesus is the Almighty God and paid for our sins. That may sound straight forward, but it is not. As there are several reasons to believe that Jesus is not God, out of which i will talk about the 7 most important ones.