God’s Power is Above All Else

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Matthew 27:60, ” And laid it in his new tomb which he had cut out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. “

Background

” Dewey Defeats Truman. ” Perhaps some of you were around when this infamous newspaper headline made news of its own. If not, you have undoubtedly seen the photo of President Truman holding the Chicago Tribune with that giant headline across the front page, incorrectly reporting that Governor Dewey had defeated President Truman in the 1948 presidential election. With the president trailing after the early returns and the polls and pundits, including the newspaper’s veteran political analyst, pointing towards a Dewey victory, the Chicago Tribune printed a first edition of its paper the morning after the election declaring Dewey the winner. But when the final results came in, Truman had in fact retained his post as the leader of our country, and the Tribune had made the kind of press that newspapers go to great lengths to avoid. All indications seemed to point to a Truman defeat, but the final outcome was quite the opposite.

Application

Now, lest we be misled, we would do well to remember that Satan is not omniscient. He does not know all things, the beginning from the end. He is certainly powerful, and he is backed by scores and scores of the worst kind of demons. But his power and his reach are limited. He was not there when the worlds were created, and he did not weigh in on God’s plan for the redemption of man from its eventual fall. So when he saw the body of Jesus bow its head, when he watched Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bind up its wounds and wrap it in cloths, when he witnessed the giant stone being rolled in front of the tomb, he undoubtedly thought he had won. I mean, all indications pointed towards it, and the polls and pundits clearly thought that He was gone for good. The Jerusalem Tribune may have even gone to press with its own version of Dewey and Truman. But we know otherwise. So don’t let seeming defeat be your downfall today. Don’t accept that Satan is greater than he really is. Don’t act like you don’t know how the end turns out. Live out the good news that is forever true.

Charge

As we seek Him today, let each trial or setback that may try to trip you up only serve to remind you that our God and Savior is forever undefeated and victorious, able to give you victory in all things.