A week ago, on Good Friday, we remembered and reflected on the crucifixion of Jesus and what it meant for Christians especially. However, just because Good Friday has come and gone does not mean we stop remembering and reflecting. There are some important truths that we must not forget. At first glance, the cross looked like a victory for darkness. Jesus—beaten, mocked, bleeding—hung suspended between earth and sky, surrounded by jeers and silence from heaven. It seemed the enemy had won. But Calvary was not Satan’s triumph. It was his ultimate defeat. Paul writes of Jesus, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15, NIV).
The cross was a battleground, and Jesus was the warrior. But He did not fight with swords or force. He fought with surrender. Every nail, every insult, every drop of blood was part of the divine plan to break the curse of sin and silence the accuser once and for all. Satan had wielded two weapons against humanity: sin and death. Through sin, he enslaved; through death, he terrorized. But Jesus took the full weight of sin upon Himself—not His own, but ours—and allowed death to swallow Him. What Satan did not realize was that by crucifying the Son of God, he was sealing his own doom.
Paul writes in Colossians 2:15 that Jesus “disarmed the powers and authorities.” He stripped them of their power. Sin’s penalty was paid. Death’s sting was removed. The law’s demands were satisfied. And Satan, the great accuser, had nothing left to hold against the redeemed. The cross was not a moment of weakness—it was a display of divine authority. Jesus “made a public spectacle” of the demonic powers, exposing their limits and crushing their influence. And He did not do it in secret. The heavens saw. The earth shook. The veil was torn. The tombs were opened. And Satan knew—his reign of terror was finished. Yes, the enemy still roars (1 Peter 5:8), but it’s the roar of a defeated foe. His doom was sealed at Calvary. He may tempt, but he cannot condemn. He may accuse, but he cannot control. He may rage, but he cannot reign—not over those who belong to Christ.
Hebrews 2:14 declares, “He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.” Jesus entered death, not to be conquered by it, but to destroy it from the inside out. So when you and I stand at the foot of the cross, let us not just see the suffering—see the victory. The blood that poured down did not cry “defeat,” it cried “freedom.” Satan lost his grip that day. And because of Calvary, every believer walks in the power of Christ’s triumph. Praise God!
