The cosmic triumph of Jesus: meaning and consequences
Introduction
The theme of the victory of Jesus Christ is central to Christian life. It is not just a theological concept, but a triumph in a true cosmic conflict against spiritual powers that are enemies of God and man.
Various biblical passages, including Psalm 68 and passages from Ephesians and Colossians, narrate how after his triumph over “principalities and powers” through the cross, by ascending to heaven and sitting on the throne, Jesus Christ made a public spectacle of them, of the defeated and humiliated spiritual beings.
This text focuses on the idea of a cosmic conflict in which Jesus is the victorious King and liberator who equips believers to continue his mission of liberation from the powers of darkness in a context of spiritual warfare, with a special focus on the geographical and theological significance of “Mount Bashan” and Caesarea Philippi.
The cosmic victory of Jesus Christ: from Psalm 68 to the triumph over the powers
Often, when we read the Scriptures, we focus on our small daily problems, forgetting the vast cosmic conflict in which we are immersed.
A careful reading of key passages reveals to us that Jesus is the victorious King in a spiritual war against the powers that have rebelled against God.
Let us take Psalm 68 as an example. This psalm celebrates a victory. In it, God rises, his enemies are scattered, and the wicked perish like wax in the fire.
This is a hymn to the Lord, a war hero.
Ascension and prisoners of war.
The deep meaning of Psalm 68 shines through when we read it through the lens of the New Testament.
The psalmist exhorts, “Sing to God, celebrate his name. Open the way for him who rides on the clouds. Rejoice before him, for his name is the Lord!” The Psalm goes on to describe how God sets the captives free and gives them prosperity.
But it is verse 18a that gives us the key to the reading, “You ascended on high, you led captives.” The apostle Paul then takes up this prophecy in Ephesians 4:8 saying, “Therefore it is said, ascending on high, he brought captives with him and gave gifts to men.”
Who is He who ascended? He is the same One who “descended into the lowest parts of the earth.” And what did He do after He ascended? He made a procession of the vanquished captives.
The triumphal procession of Jesus Christ
This triumphal procession is not a light metaphor. It was common practice in antiquity for a victorious king to publicly lead prisoners of war in chains, displaying those he had defeated, to show his triumph.
Christ did exactly this with the spiritual powers. As we read in Colossians 2:15, God “disarmed and publicly exposed the principalities and powers and triumphed over them in Christ.”
He has publicly revealed who they are and triumphed over them. This is a triumph over the enemy who kept us in prison, the victor over our tormentors.
The mountains of rebellion
To understand the extent of this triumph, we must identify the enemy. To understand the King’s strategy, we must look at the battlefield map: Mount Bashan and Mount Hermon, historical sites of the “Vigilant” angel rebellion.
Principalities and powers
Enemies are called “principalities and powers.”
These are rebellious spirits who have caused great harm to humanity. Psalm 68 places these entities in the “mountain of Bashan.” This place is contrasted as a rival to Sinai, the “mount of God.”
Bashan is located geographically in northeastern Israel. To this territory God sent Moses and Joshua to begin their work of conquest. The region was then populated by ethnic groups traceable to the “giants” mentioned in Genesis 6.
At the time of Jesus, numerous religions of the ancient world, such as Canaanite, Greek, and Roman, were intertwined in this area. Gods such as Zeus and Baal were worshiped there. This very place was believed to be the “gates to the realm of the dead,” or Hades.
Mount Hermon and the rebel angels
Not only that, Mount Hermon, which is located in the Bashan region, is crucial.
According to some texts in intertestamentary Jewish literature, rebellious angels descended on Mount Hermon itself. These beings are also called “Watchers” or “Children of Heaven.” The texts tell that there they took an oath of complicity to rebel against the divine order. Their specific intent was to unite with the daughters of men to beget hybrid sons.
These are the spiritual beings whom in Ephesians 6:12 Paul calls “principalities, powers, rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of wickedness that are in the spiritual dimension.” To these and the land of Bashan Paul is likely referring when he quotes Psalm 68 in Eph. 4.
Caesarea of Philip: the declaration of war.
At the foot of this mountain was Caesarea Philippi, now Banias, an ancient Canaanite cult center, in Hellenistic times called Paneas (or Panias) in honor of the god Pan-Zeus.
The site was an important center of pagan worship. Temples dedicated in various ages to Baal, Pan, Zeus and the nymphs stood there. The complex was built near a natural spring that feeds the Jordan River, right at the foot of Hermon in Bashan. Next to the spring still stands a huge cave, formerly called the “Gate of Hades.”
It was before the gate of hell that Jesus addressed his disciples, asking, “You, who do you say that I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Christ” (which in Hebrew means Messiah, that is, the King, the Anointed One), “the Son of the living God.”
Jesus deliberately chose Caesarea Philippi, at the foot of this “rock” of rebellion, to declare that the “gates of hell” would not resist His and His faithful’s advance.
It was precisely in that symbolic place that Jesus declared, “On this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of hell will not be able to resist it.”
Geographically speaking, the “rock” mentioned by Jesus is the imposing massif of Mount Hermon. This is the highest mountain in the region, at the foot of which the scene was taking place. In all likelihood, it is the same mountain on which Jesus climbed six days later to transfigure himself before the disciples.
It was here that Jesus, in front of the portal of the underworld and probably also literally on the “mount of Bashan” of Psalm 68, the supposed basis of the ancient rebellion, declared war on the forces of darkness, founded his church that the forces of darkness could not have resisted.
The correct translation of Matthew 16:18 does not indicate that the church should struggle to defend itself in sustaining the attack of evil. In the original Greek text, the word “against” does not exist. On the contrary, the passage declares that it is the demons who cannot resist the advance of God’s faithful.
The triumph of the cross
The conflict reached its climax on the cross.
The bulls of Bashan
Reading Psalm 22, which describes Jesus’ suffering, we find, “Many heifers surrounded me; the bulls of Bashan besieged me.”
Who were these “bulls of Bashan” who had opened their throats against Jesus to mock him? They were not just human enemies, but the spiritual powers of the “dragon/serpent” (Ugaritic meaning of Bashan) who tried to annihilate him. They were the rebellious spirits, identified in that territory of ancient evil pomp.
In the Old Testament, bulls are biblically associated with the Canaanite cult of Baal. Moreover, scholars have clarified that in the ancient Ugaritic and other languages, Bashan means “dragon/serpent.”
The bulls of Bashan are thus the spiritual powers of the dragon, the serpent, the king of the dead kingdom who attempted to annihilate Jesus on the cross.
But, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:8 the “princes of this world” did not know divine wisdom. If they had known that by killing the Lord of Glory they would be signing their own death sentence, they would not have crucified him. They were defeated on the cross.
Preaching to the spirits in prison
And then, once he died, what did Jesus do?
According to 1 Peter 3:18-20, Jesus was put to death in the flesh but vivified in the Spirit, and in it he went and preached to the spirits in prison.
This was not a rescue mission for the Old Testament righteous; it was a proclamation of defeat to the imprisoned spirits bound since the time of the Flood. The rebellious sons of God in Genesis 6.
He went and announced to them, “You have lost. The realm of the dead cannot hold me back. I rise again and defeat death. Whoever will believe in me can never be held back by the king of the dead in his kingdom because even if he dies, as I do, he will live!”
The King’s assembly and the mission of liberation
Our King has won and established us as his assembly to continue his mission of liberating the nations still under the dominion of the evil one.
Those who give allegiance to Jesus are saved from death. In this way, those who are under the power of the devil, who has the power of death, can be transferred from the realm of the dead into the realm of the Son of God. Through this transfer, the devil remains without subjects, while the kingdom of heaven is populated with men.
The possessed of Jerash: an example of conquest
This conflict is evident in some of the events narrated in the gospels. When Jesus headed for the Decapolis, a non-Jewish land of Greek and Roman culture, like Bashan, a violent storm arose.
The sea is a symbol of chaos and the abode of demons. The storm was an attempt by the evil powers to prevent Jesus from entering that pagan territory.
When Jesus calmed the elements and came ashore, the enemy immediately sent his “best agent” into the territory: the possessed man from Gerasa.
But something unthinkable happens. The possessed man runs up to him, prostrates himself at his feet and shouting calls him “Jesus, Son of the Most High God.”
When this divine title is used, the biblical scenario is the conflict between Yahweh, the Most High God, and the ruling spirits of the nations, in pagan territory. They recognize His supremacy over them.
Their cry was, “Why have you come to torment us?” letting them know that they knew they had lost power over that territory because the Son of the Most High had come.
The first missionary of the Decapolis
After the man’s deliverance, Jesus asked him to announce what had happened to him. He became the agent of change for that land and for his countrymen.
Indeed, when some time later Jesus returned to the Decapolis region, they all sought him to be healed.
This is the model Jesus established: entering enemy territory, releasing prisoners, equipping them as agents of change. And now this model is entrusted to us.
We are the spiritual tank
In this military view, the Church is not a static structure, but the spiritual “ramhead” and a “steamroller.”
She is sent to break through the ancient doors that are closed and free the peoples who are captive in enemy territory.
We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, freed from the power of evil and death, sent to bring the good news of the victory of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom for anyone who wants it.
When we advance we are like a steamroller and the demons cannot resist. Just as in Caesarea Philippi Jesus said it would go.
The proclamation of the King of glory
Wherever we go, whether in our families, workplaces or nations, may we faithfully and confidently proclaim with our hearts, “Open, ancient doors, arise! Enter the King of Glory!”
And when the ancient gates of the hardest hearts, the most depraved situations, families in ruins and nations dedicated to the gods ask, “Who is this King of Glory?” We shall be able to answer, “The Lord, strong and mighty in battle is the King of Glory!”
The mission continues
Our mission is to bring freedom to those who are still captives. This is the mission of Jesus Christ that has been entrusted to us under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Maurizio Tiezzi