The Hebrew word
satan means something like 'prosecuting attorney.' Read Job 1: the satan is a figure in God's courtroom, the one who finds fault in people. Over time, this was extended beyond a litigator filing charges to one who aggressively harasses people. Jesus is harassed by Satan (Mark 1:13) - satan having become the devil, the chief of an invisible horde of demonic beings.
Satan and his henchmen: Is this a literal person with a gang? or merely something in us? We do have a terrible proclivity toward evil in us; an awful lot of what seems demonic in the world is simply human beings behaving atrociously. At the same time, though, evil is bigger than me and my stupid decisions, plus you and yours, plus everybody else. There is something like a force that seduces, drawing people into self-destructiveness, looming in institutions, governments, cultures... and that evil force feels intensely personal.
The devil isn't what children imagine: a red guy with horns and a pitchfork. It's worse. If evil showed up dressed in red, breathing fire, shouting venomously, "I'm going to ruin your life," I would run. But evil dresses up in lovely ways, looks like the best deal ever, all glitter, oozing with delight. Evil can even parade around as very religious and spiritual. When the devil tempted Jesus, he quoted from the Bible! and piously urged Jesus to trust in God! (Matthew 4). Much of the wreckage of history, not to mention the messiness in our private life, is the rotten fruit of faith taken hostage by evil, truth kidnapped by pseudo-truth. This is the open door for Satan's wiles: we get suckered by a lie, and all too willingly.
So this is the face of Satan, devils, evil - all hauntingly personal. To think of the devil or Satan as a physical person is obviously misguided; yet it can be helpful. I think of God as a person, maybe at times as an old man with a long beard, at other times as a woman cradling her child. I know God isn't man or woman - but we need a vivid image in our minds to conceive of what transpires in mystery. In the same way, we may think of Satan as a person, for the temptation and spiritual combat we face are palpable and dangerous.
How do we deal with the face of evil? As aggressively as Jesus, Martin Luther hurled his ink well at the devil. C.S. Lewis suggested we laugh at Satan: his witty exchange of imaginary letters between devils (The Screwtape Letters) exposes their chicanery, but enables us to dispose of temptation as sheer silliness. Thomas Merton (responding to Christians who talk incessantly about the devil, credit him with endless mischief, and find the devil behind every rock) wisely suggested that what the devil craves most of all is attention... and so simply to ignore Satan and let our attention be riveted on Jesus and whatever is good frustrates the devil's designs.
James
james@mpumc.org
Sunday's sermon on Noah's ark may be heard on our web site.
The full eBibleQuestions series thus far may be found by clicking here.
Coming up:
eBibleQuestions12 - Why would Israel be God's Chosen People?
eBibleQuestions13 - Does God harden hearts?
eBibleQuestions14 - What about the Laws of the Old Testament?
eBibleQuestions15 - Why so much warfare in the Bible?
eBibleQuestions16 - What can archaeology tell us? and not tell us?
