All these images speak of the strange victory of the new king over the powers of evil. This is the moment of the messianic victory. As the four Gospels indicate, it comes down in the last analysis to a battle between Jesus, as the pioneer of God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven, and the accuser, the satan, the dark quasi-personal force bent on destroying God’s work, God’s kingdom, God’s world. And now God’s son. The satan does its worst, piling up false accusations, betrayals, and unjust judgments against Jesus. Evil, in this quasi-personal sense, grows at last to its full height. It reveals
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