Battle Plan: The Warrior Marches

Aragorn is the right and lawful king of the kingdom of Gondor. But there will be no kingdom of Gondor if the Dark Lord, Sauron, is not defeated. All hopes rest on whether or not the hobbit, Frodo, can reach Mt. Doom with Sauron’s magic ring, the Ring of Power, and drop it into the fires of the mountain.

Aragorn, knowing this, wants to keep Sauron distracted, focused on the war at hand, so that the ring can be delivered undetected. He takes a seeing stone, a glass orb that can be used to communicate over long distances. He knows that Sauron has one and uses it. Aragorn takes the stone in hand, and he confronts Sauron directly. 

As he does so, Aragorn must wrestle mentally with Sauron. And it is a fight. Aragorn is, after all, just a man, while Sauron is a being of ancient power and darkness. Yet, Aragorn holds something that puts fear in Sauron’s heart.

A sword.

A reminder of who he is and the power he holds. See, this is no ordinary sword. It is the same sword that Aragorn’s ancestor used when he cut the fingers from Sauron’s hand, and with those fingers, the ring of power. Since then, Sauron has been a shadow of his former self. That sword is one of the few things that can give him pause.

And as Aragorn is facing him down, wrestling with him, he raises the sword in front of his own eyes, holding it up clearly for Sauron to see. He wants the Enemy to know who he is. He wants the Enemy to know the power he carries. He wants the Enemy to know that he is ready for the final battle, ready to end the war.

From that point on in the story, Aragorn is determined. He sets his face resolutely toward the fight to free the people of Middle-Earth from darkness.

What does this have to do with Jesus?

Jesus went out to the desert to have a confrontation with the devil. For forty days, Jesus faced down the Lord of Darkness, Satan, and resisted his temptations. The devil tempted him to turn stones into bread – to give in to the desire to do what his body wanted. But Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4). 

Then the devil tempted him to jump from the top of the temple and see if God would send angels to protect him – to give in to the desire to manipulate God and expect God to just do what he wanted. But Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7).

Then the devil tempted him to bow down to him and, in return, receive Lordship over the whole world – to give in to the temptation to dethrone God and place himself in the position of supreme authority. But Jesus said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:10)

The devil likes to play the same old tricks. He uses the same temptations on the children of God. To be the gods of our own bodies and do whatever feels right. To be the god of God himself – to bargain with God or to test God or to try and get God to do what we want. To just do away with God entirely, to be our own god, ruler of our own domain. Master of all we see. Self-made men and women. 

Where we fall to those temptations time and again, Jesus didn’t. In the face of those temptations, Jesus held up “the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) “Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you see the power I carry?”

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Jesus held out that sword throughout his ministry. As he fought those skirmishes, as he proved his power to all around him. As he revealed himself to be the powerful Son of God.

“Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51)

The Warrior marched. He sent his heralds ahead of him – into all the villages to prepare the people for his arrival. “He’s here! The King is coming! The Warrior marches to battle! The Kingdom has arrived!”

He marched toward battle. Toward death and glory and freedom for his people and victory over all the enemies. And as he marched, ancient words, hundreds of years old, echoed in his footsteps. “Therefore have I set my face like flint,” (Isaiah 50:7) wrote the prophet.

Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem like flint – there was no going back. Because the war needed to be won.

Because the same tricks the devil tried to play on Jesus, he plays on all whom Jesus loves. The only difference is that those whom Jesus loves… they fall prey to those tricks. They fall into those temptations. They sin.

And the heart of Jesus breaks for his children.

And the heart of Jesus grieves for his children.

And the heart of Jesus rages for his children.

Because if a father saw a deceiver tricking his children into doing that which harmed them, wouldn’t he be enraged? Wouldn’t he charge into battle to put a stop to that madness and villainy?

Yes. And that’s exactly what Jesus did. He marched to Jerusalem to free you from temptation… and from the guilt of falling to temptation. He marched to Jerusalem to free you from the tempter… and from any accusations the tempter might throw at you. He marched to Jerusalem to free you from the despair of living under the sin of others… and from the need to get even with others. He marched to Jerusalem to free you from the curse of living in a sin-sick world… and from the pain that sin brings to your body and soul. He marched to Jerusalem to free you from the curse of death that sin brings… and to turn death into a slave that only brings freedom from life on the fallen earth and entrance to life eternal.

The Warrior marches, knowing that he marches to his death. But also that he marches to a glorious life to come, a life that he is leading all of us to as well. When he calls us to battle, he doesn’t call us to an uncertain chaos where we hold to a fool’s hope that maybe, just maybe victory can be won.

No, he calls us to follow him to a battle that he has already won – we’re just mopping up. Fighting our way through the last-ditch efforts of an Enemy who already knows he’s beaten.

We can march with a warrior like that.

So take up your sword. Hold it in front of your face. Tell the Enemy that you are not afraid and you are not deceived by his tricks. Tell the enemy that you are not a slave. That you are not defeated. That you are not guilty. You will not be bound by your sin. You will not give in to hatred. You will not be dragged down into despair. You will not give up when times get tough. You will not lose hope when all is darkness around you. You will not be afraid to proclaim the name of the one who leads you.

You follow the Warrior. You follow Jesus.