"Was Jesus concerned about the devil?"

December 19, 2018

QUESTION:

Was Jesus concerned about the devil?

ANSWER!

Yes and no.  The posture of Jesus towards the devil in the New Testament is as a superior who is concerned about but hardly threatened by a subordinate spiritual power.  Jesus speaks relatively little about the devil in the Gospels, but His reticence about the devil is undoubtedly due to His all-consuming mission to tell us about His father first.  He never wavered in the slightest from His main mission of establishing His Father's Kingdom which would inevitably supplant the princedom of the devil and break the power of evil over men.

Our Lord's attitude toward the devil is thus paradigmatic for us: we ought to be concerned about the devil's desire to kill our souls and vigilant toward his real power, but we ought not to give himj more attention than is his due.  Nor should we be unduly fearful of him who is so limited a spiritual force that he can only act with our consent.  Our concern should always be first and foremost the fulfillment of God's Will.

By Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer "Exorcism and the Church Militant" page 24.