Jesus' Victory on Calvary

by John Greene

For years we have played around with a verse in Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, and because we have not tied a few verses together properly we have not been able to see the magnitude of victory that our Lord and Savior, Yashua haMashiach has purchased on Calvary. We sing and dance, we preach and teach, but we don't take the time to see whether we are doing the truth and believing the truth. The facts are in and most people who attend a church just take what the preacher says and that's it whether a proper look at the Scriptures was taken or not. Most people are going through the motions and think they have a relationship based upon works of the past, and not because their faith is placed in Jesus who died for them.

Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. KJV

having stripped the principalities and the authorities, he made a shew of them openly--having triumphed over them in it. Young's Literal

Having made himself free from the rule of authorities and powers, he put them openly to shame, glorying over them in it. Basic Bible English

Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. NKJV

554 apekduomai apekduomai ap-ek-doo'-om-ahee

middle voice from 575 and 1562; TDNT-2:318, *; v

AV-spoil 1, put off 1; 2

1) wholly put off from one's self
1a) denoting separation from what is put off
2) wholly to strip off for one's self (for one's own advantage)
3) despoil, disarm

Now we have this part mostly correct, Jesus totally disarmed and stripped away the devil's authority and made a public show of his shame before a crowd. When did Jesus do this? Where did Jesus do this? These questions I hope to answer.

Roman Celebrations of Victory

The whole is an analogy to the victories, spoils, and triumphs, of the Roman emperors, who when they had obtained a victory, a triumph was decreed for them by the senate; in which the emperor was drawn in an open chariot, and the captives being stripped of their armor, and their hands tied behind them, were led before him and exposed to public view and disgrace; while he was shouted and heralded through the city of Rome, and had all the marks of honor and respect given him {b}.

{b} Vid. Lydium de re Militari, l. 6. c. 3.

What Jesus did on Calvary with His blood and sealed with His resurrection was used by Paul in the symbolic nature of a Roman vanquishing of a foreign nation and ensuing slavery to Rome. When Adam sinned, he gave back the authority and deed to the earth that our God had given him in the Garden of Eden. What Jesus did was to purchase back that authority, and He made a public display of this victory. However to make these things clear we must go back and lay some more foundation.

The perspectives that we use to see Yashua's victory will help us to more fully understand what has already taken place. Where does this open display happen is a vital question, and when does this display happen will crystalize of insight. From these verses we know the victory has been won and the enemy has been humiliated before his peers in an open show that displays the superiority of Jesus! Let's go back to where sin entered the world, the Garden of Eden.

Gen 3:6 ś And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Adam had the responsibility given by God and to teach his wife the issues of God. God gave Adam and Eve the entire responsibility with just one caution, to not eat of the tree of good and evil placed in the center of the Garden of Eden. Yes, Eve was decieved by the devil's doubt tactics and ate of the tree. However the Word does not credit Eve with the responsibility of sinning, it clearly shows Adam had the responsibility and sin was assigned to him and him alone. Let's see what Paul says.

1 Cor 15:21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
and
Vss 45-47 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.

We see that by Adam's choice to not go to God when Eve was deceived, he accepted her deception, he walked in her actions and partook in them knowing what God had given him as responsibility. Adam wilfully sinned whereas Eve was deceived. Adam was responsible to God for his choices to allow Eve to be deceived, to allow Eve to offer him the fruit and not reject it, Adam was the one now held accountable as he handed over the authority that he had been given by God to the devil. This is how sin entered the universe and specifically the Garden of Eden and how it entered the heart of man through Adam! However, fear not because the Lord, He has made an open show of the devil in defeating him and publicly humiliating him. The second Adam has given us the opportunity of life, to take back what was handed over to him. Jesus has purchased our redemtion in His death and resurrection by the power of His blood sacrifice. This same Jesus is the One who openly shamed the devil! The apek-duomai was done on Satan!

Adam handed the title deed to the earth over to Satan with his acceptance of Eve's deception and eating of the fruit, but Jesus had the last laugh in that He had the apekdoumai on Satan in a very public way before his peers. The tense of the verb apekdoumai is the Aorist tense and in the form of a participle. It is apekdusomenoV in the Greek Byzantine Text and in the Textus Receptus from which we have the NKJV and the KJV translations.

Adam's sin brought something else into the world, death! 1Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. By Adam we have death and by the Second Adam we have life or the resurrection of the dead. It is in death that we can see some things that are critical to the insight in the victory of Yashua, and in His apekdoumai over the devil. The next question that must be asked since we know the victory has been won, we know that the victory is also a victory over death, is the question of what happens when we die. It is in the victory over death that we see some insight as to what happens when a man dies since we know that through Adam death entered the world. What happens when a man dies?

Luke 16:22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

In another article dealing with Paradise (click here) I have dealt with Abraham's Bosom, as well as in another article I have dealt with Ephesians 4 (click here) and the carrying to heaven those captive in Abraham's Bosom. I don't want to be redundant, but I must address some of those things in a bit. Howbeit, the emphasis is on who was involved when Lazarus died. We know that this pasage gives us a great deal of insight into what happens at a person's death. Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham's Bosom at his death. May I say it this way? The angel of death carried Lazarus into the next life. It is absolutely imperative to see the involvement of Death, the angel that comes when we die. The involvement of Death, the death angel, when a man enters eternity lays more of the foundation in understanding the apekdoumai of Jesus Christ! "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.

Now it is important to mention what Paul reveals about the resurrection and rapture of the church. 1Cor 15:51-54 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

What is written about Death, the angel of death, is more profound than I ever realized and it all reveals the enormous love and power given to us in the sacrifice and resurrection of Yashua! We have Death coming when Lazarud dies, and we have the defeat of Death at the resurrection. For those of us who attempt to study out eschatology, we see Death in many forms and have probably not made the connection. I praise the Lord for a friend who sent me a tape of a man who preached in his church on this very topic and it caused me to see Death in the way the contextual process of Scripture has him, an angel who comes when a man dies. We quote a verse of Scripture and don't realize why we do many times. Consider this. Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

When a man dies like Lazarus, Death comes to carry out the judgment, but as in Lazarus, Death held him captive in Abraham's Bosom in Sheol (in the OT) or Hades (in the NT). Before Jesus ascended to the Father, Death had captive in Abraham's Bosom the saints who loved God with all their heart like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, you know the patriarchs of old. After Jesus ascended into the heaven to His Father, He led captivity with Him making two stops on the way which I'll come back to discuss. What's important now is the angel of death, Death, and his involvement at death.

Let's look at another detail of death for a minute from the OT perspective. Ex 12:12-13 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

God in His judgment on the gods of Egypt and in His separating the Jew from the Egyptian so that all would know He is the LORD, God went through the land of Egypt using the angel of death, Death, to accomplish His will, yet when he came to a house that had the blood of Jesus or at least the foreshadow of His blood, the lamb's blood on the door posts, the upper posts and the side posts, he passed over that house which we know the Jews celebrate as Passover eating bitter herbs in haste reflecting on their bondage and cruel lives of Egypt.

So from what Paul told the Corinthians about death in sin, of Jesus' sacrifice to bring life to those who have come to Him His way, repentance, we see the very picture of Yashua's victory in the Passover. Therefore when man dies and it is time for the judgment, Death comes and must pass over those who have been washed in His blood, and the good angels carry us into Paradise, now located in heaven where all the saints are awaiting the resirrection for their glorified bodies that died and sleep. This is why Paul clearly states that the body of corruption must be sown and place on incorruption. Take another look. 1 Cor 15:51-54 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." This is why Paul explains it this way and why he quotes a familiar passage of the OT. Vss 55-57 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul quotes the prophet Hosea. 13:12-14 "The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up. The sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him. He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long where children are born. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes." Paul knew exactly why he was able to take this passage and apply it to the resurrection! Paul was writing and applying under the inspiration of the Spirit writing to the Corinthians. Paul revealed the sting of Death, it is in Sheol (grave) where the angel of death carried Lazarus into Abraham's Bosom, and where there was an extreme gulf that could not be crossed where the rich man was in torment, in fire where his tongue was increased dramatically in size asking for a few drops from the fingers of Lazarus. Paul knew what the Firstfruit of the resurrection had accomplished, the apekdoumai over Satan! The Holy Spirit also revealed this truth to David and to Peter who quoted David in his Pentecost sermon.

Acts 2:25-31 "For David says concerning Him:'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.' Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption." Peter does quote David from the Psalms. 16:8-10 ś I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

At this point it is important to know that hell and grave in the OT were from the same word, and to know that hell had three compartments which had three words in the OT and three corresponding words in the NT. Let's take a look for understanding's sake.

Hell

Derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the invisible place. In Scripture there are three words so rendered:

1. Sheol, occurring in the Old Testament sixty-five times. This word sheol is derived from a root-word meaning "to ask, " "demand; " hence insatiableness #Pr 30:15,16 It is rendered "grave" thirty-one times #Ge 37:35 42:38 44:29,31 1Sa 2:6 etc. The Revisers have retained this rendering in the historical books with the original word in the margin, while in the poetical books they have reversed this rule. In thirty-one cases in the Authorized Version this word is rendered "hell, " the place of disembodied spirits. The inhabitants of sheol are "the congregation of the dead" #Pr 21:16 It is:

2. The Greek word hades of the New Testament has the same scope of signification as sheol of the Old Testament. It is a prison #1Pe 3:19 with gates and bars and locks #Mt 16:18 Re 1:18 and it is downward #Mt 11:23 Lu 10:15 The righteous and the wicked are separated. The blessed dead are in that part of hades called paradise #Lu 23:43 They are also said to be in Abraham's bosom #Lu 16:22

3. Gehenna, in most of its occurrences in the Greek New Testament, designates the place of the lost #Mt 23:33 The fearful nature of their condition there is described in various figurative expressions #Mt 8:12 13:42 22:13 25:30 Lu 16:24 etc.

07585 lwav sh@'owl sheh-ole' or lav sh@ol sheh-ole'

from 07592; TWOT-2303c; n f

AV-grave 31, hell 31, pit 3; 65

1) sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit

86 AdhV hades hah'-dace

from 1 (as negative particle) and 1492; TDNT-1:146,22; n pr loc

AV-hell 10, grave 1; 11

1) name Hades or Pluto, the god of the lower regions
2) Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead
3) later use of this word: the grave, death, hell

In Biblical Greek it is associated with Orcus, the infernal regions, a dark and dismal place in the very depths of the earth, the common receptacle of disembodied spirits. Usually Hades is just the abode of the wicked, #Lu 16:23; Re 20:13,14; a very uncomfortable place. TDNT.

1067 ge'enna geenna gheh'-en-nah

of Hebrew origin Mnh-ayq, 01516 and 02011; TDNT-1:657,113; n f

AV-hell 9, hell fire + 3588 + 4442 3; 12

1) Hell is the place of the future punishment call "Gehenna" or "Gehenna of fire". This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.

12 abussoV abussos ab'-us-sos

from 1 (as a negative particle) and a variation of 1037; TDNT-1:9,2; n f

AV-bottomless pit 5, deep 2, bottomless 2; 9

1) bottomless
2) unbounded
3) the abyss

The Egyptians worshiped a nether world god which is symbolized by the ankhh. This god of death was considered one of their mighty gods and one that the Lord took and exercised judgment on. When you look through the Scriptures you see each idol had behind it a demon that empowered that idol and on occasion would do a false sign of its authority from which we have many legends, what I remember studying as Mythology in public school. The truth is still clear to me, our Lord has complete and total victory over all the works of the devil and his fallen angels now commonly called demons. Keep in mind the shame and humiliation of the apekdoumai! Again let's remember why the Lord did what He did in Egypt. Ex 12:12-13 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. The Lord separates the Jew from the Egyptian because of the blood of the lamb and the angel, Death, went throughout Egypt killing the firstborns in victory over the gods, and in this specific case the Egyptian god of the nether world, their god of death.

When Jesus was ascending to the Father, He was about to lead captivity captive into the heavens and place Abraham's Bosom in heaven which would still be called Paradise, the dead in Christ would go by the angels at their death as their judgment into the heavens and be in Paradise. Remember at death we have the judgment and because of the apekdoumai, Jesus has been victorious over Death and Hades, where Abraham's Bosom was located before His ascension. We know this from a conversation that takes place at the tomb.

John 20:9-18 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' " Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

This conversation tells quite a number of things taking in consideration what we have discussed up to this point. Jesus is about to ascend on high taking with Him captive Abraham's Bosom, and He has a meeting with the deviol for the apekdoumai in his domain. We know Jesus isn't in Hades where Abraham's Bosom was located, and He hasn't ascended yet to the Father which is why Mary can't touch Him, His glorified body is not completed until His ascension is completed. Mary catches Jesus before He ascends to the Father where the thief on the cross whom Jesus said He would bring to Paradise with Him (for article click here!)

At this point we must make a clarification. The devil is NOT in hell! After Jesus defeats the antichrist and his armies, He will toss the devil into the bottomless pit for 1000 years, but right now, Paul tells us that the devil is the prince of the power of the air. Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: The devil works in the second heavens where he and his demons set up principalities and powers to exercise their authority over geographical locations. It is in the second heaven where we'll soon see the apekdoumai take place and it will be before the angels, the saints, and the demons! Jesus is Victor! Amen!! We can't pray the devil to hell because he has never been there, but his time is coming and he knows it! The devil will be loosed from the bottomless pit located in hell, deceive the nations one more time, then be judged for all eternity cast into Gehenna. Keep in mind that at the white throne judgment the sea gives up its dead, Hades gives up its dead, and Death gives up its dead. When Jesus has His apekdoumai, He takes from Death the key and from Hades (grave) the key! Rev 1:18 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." The apekdoumai will happen shortly following His ascension after He finishes His conversation with Mary.

Now Jesus is about to appear in the second heavens with captivity and the angels and demons, a meeting where He takes the keys to Hades and Death, and He shames the devil before all of his peers. Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. KJV Now while ascending, He shames the devil and has completed the title deed purchase of authority of the universe, God's redempted plan for man. Now man will have the Holy Spirit to empower the church to be what He has always ordained, a Bible based, disciple making, Holy Spirit filled, Joshua generation possessing church!! Think of this! In the heavens somewhere past the moon, the devil stands before his peers and our Lord, his medals are stripped from him one by one, his authority has been broken and taken away from him, he is totally disarmed, spoiled, and rendered ashamed before his demons that chose to follow him and not the Lord. As the General or Captain of the Lord of Hosts, Jesus steps up into His chariot and parades through the heavens humiliating the devil before all that followed him and before the holy angels that do the will of God, and before captivity that is being taken to Paradise in the third heavens where the throne of God is located and the altar with a basin waiting for Jesus to place His blood for all who will ever repent for their cleansing.

Now to close this article, I want to lay the final shout for joy on you! Consider all these things and the final victory that we are to walk in because of what Yashua has done for us! Okay, here it is!! Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Mark 16:15-20 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Luke 24:45-49 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

Acts 1:4-8 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. ś When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.