Luke tells us that when Jesus was arrested he said, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” (22:52)
It was the hour of the power of darkness…an hour we followers of Jesus celebrate every year on Maundy Thursday…but the hour of his glorification follows fast on its heals. On Good Friday we remember the Jesus’s hour reversed darkness and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as He “was lifted up” on the cross so that all people would be drawn to him. He was “crowned” and declared by the ruling authority of the world in his time to be who he truly was, “the King of the Jews.” And in that hour of his death, His hour finally come, Paul tells us that God “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in” Jesus (Col. 2:15).
The Devil had his hour…and it was a short reign. So why do we give him a day? Indeed, why do we give him our day. We are the ones called to be saints. We are the ones who hope to become part of the great crowd from every tribe and tongue before the throne of the Lamb who was slain clothed in white robes…the throng of unknown saints who the Lord knows and calls by name. Yet so many Christians are ready to concede the eve of our day, the day of all saints, to the power of darkness.
But the Devil gets no day. He had an hour…and in truth he has been cast down and seeks any opportunity to squeeze the dregs from that last hour as it slips through his fingers like so much sand: “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short time.” (Rev. 12:12) But he does not get a day…and certainly not the day set aside by the church for all her saints. We are intended to overcome the evil one by the blood of the lamb and not loving our lives…and the word of our testimony. This is our day to tell the stories of the saints…to shame the devil for his inability to stop the work of our Lord.
When we live as saints, with no fear of death because by his resurrection Jesus our Messiah sealed the defeat of the evil one, then we continue to reveal Satan’s defeat.
So don’t concede our day to the Devil. It isn’t his.
This day is a day that our Lord has made, so we rejoice and are glad in it.
Celebrate Halloween.
Puddleglum Contra Mundum 