'He aids us against the Enemy'

I had one of those 'Aha!' moments this week when a deep spiritual truth suddenly came into full, clear focus (a bit like when you're focussing binoculars). Now comes the difficult part - trying to recapture that momentary understanding in words.

To put it into context, I was at the home of John & Jenny R_. Jenny is my prayer partner. As she was praying for me, she spoke of 'the enemy'. Into my mind came Jesus' teaching: 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you' (Matt 5:44); Paul's teaching: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse" (Romans 12:14); Solomon's teaching: 'If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. ' I realised that inwardly I had asked and instantaneously received an answer to a very fine theological point - the purpose of an enemy. An enemy is a call for love.

I thought about Jesus at his most vulnerable: at the start of his ministry, after fasting for forty days, he was physically hungry. We're told he was tempted by the devil - he responded by quoting Scripture - in other words, he offered spiritual bread to 'the enemy'. He didn't ignore the temptation, he acknowledged it and shared what he had with his tempter. He saw the temptation as a call for love and responded. At the end of his ministry, on the cross, he prayed for those below, "Father, forgive them ..."

I'll expound the point further.

Amongst the other words for 'enemy' you'll find 'antagonist'. In creative writing, the protagonist, the hero, contends with the antagonist – generally a villain. It is in fighting the enemy that the hero's heroic qualities are demonstrated. Resistance builds strength (whether resistance training in sports to build physical strength, or self-control in the face of temptation to build character strength). Thus the antagonist serves a purpose. In medical terms, an antagonist is a drug that counteracts, blocks or abolishes the action of another drug. In physiology, muscles are usually paired, so that they act antagonistically, one reversing or opposing the other. That's how they work, and in some cases the antagonistic action ensures muscles aren't over-stretched to the point of breaking.

I understood somewhere deep within that the purpose of the enemy is to draw out the best in us. I thought of one of the figures of speech Jesus used to describe himself - that of 'the good shepherd', and recalled an illustration I had come across before, that if Jesus is the good shepherd and we are his flock, Satan is the name of his sheepdog or his shepherd's crook.

Here are some more scripture references to 'the enemy':

1 Samuel 24:19 [Saul to David, after David has spared his life]When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today.

Proverbs 24:17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice,

Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

That last quote is a very interesting one, don't you think? I'll publish this so far and possibly come and pick it up again later.