¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil …”

Many purposes are invested in the death of Christ. We saw that His death brought “many sons to glory” and perfected “the author of their salvation through suffering” (vs. 10). Now we see that Christ’s death neutralized the work of Satan. Rendering the nefarious work “powerless” was “fitting,” appropriately done through the ultimate weakness of Christ. One would normally think the way to defeat an enemy would be to kill him. But, God chose to destroy Satan through the death of His own Son! How ironic is that? God using Satan’s own tactics, his own devices to undermine him.

In the famous French novel, “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Albert de Morcerf, son of Edmond Dantes’ betrayer, was kidnapped by bandits and his life threatened. As they are about to lay into him, he responds to their taunts, “Give me your best.” He was saying, “If you are going to take me down, you are going to have to give it your best effort.” In the death of Christ, God was inviting Satan’s best efforts, when Satan was at his strongest, most advantageous situation, and He turned that effort back on him. He rendered the devil like a man throwing his weapon only to have it boomerang back and destroy him with the sharp edge meant for his enemy.

The devil, in the form of a serpent, gave his best shot in the Garden of Eden, and brought about the downfall of those image-bearers of God. Since he could not ascend higher than the throne of God (Isaiah 14:13), the best he could do was to deface the image of God, which seemed at the time quite successful. Yet in so doing he had planted the seeds of his own destruction.

This spirit being we call Satan, himself now an unholy, fallen angel, threw his best at Job, that man of God who was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1). And that was at God’s invitation! Though Job complained and griped, yet he did not curse God, which was the devil’s whole goal (1:11). But, while Satan was defeated, he was not yet destroyed.

In the death of Christ, Satan was at his absolute best. The advantage was his as he wielded his most powerful weapon, death. Precisely at the most strategic point in battle, he struck the decisive blow, and brought about the death of Christ. The obvious outcome seemed absolutely assured. Except … that Christ is far superior to the angels, including this mere fallen one.