The Crucifixion….

Politics, Prophecy & the Supernatural

From The Cosmic Chess Match
by
L. A. Marzulli

The Crucifixion – the Fallen One’s Miscalculation

We see all throughout the Guidebook to the Supernatural, i.e. the Bible, that prophecy is being given to mankind; some prophecy is brought by angelic messengers, others by prophets who are told what to write down, and still others – what I would consider of utmost importance – is given by Jesus, Himself.

It is astounding to realize that prophecy is the calling out, a priori, of events ahead of time. We are told in the Book of Isaiah that the Most High God, El Elyon, alone is able to call out the end before the beginning.  In other words, He is setting a standard to which only He can adhere.  No one else can make this claim!

As we shall see in later chapters, there are impostors throughout history who attempt to prophesy, yet their predictions are wrong. (In Part Two of this book I will discuss some of these false prophets and the dangers that they pose, and how they may figure into and assist the Fallen One’s ultimate end game.)

As we have shown in prior chapters the Fallen One is seeking to destroy Jesus: the Messiah and the Anointed One.  He begins this assault shortly after the birth of Jesus when Herod sends his soldiers to kill all of the children two years old and under.

We see his attempt later when Jesus is tempted while he is in a weakened state because of fasting.  Jesus is then offered all of the kingdoms of the world and yet He refuses.

We see another attempt on Jesus’ life, in the storm that almost sinks the boat as it crossed the Sea of Galilee.

I believe that when Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead that there were Jews who were trying to kill Him.  He was a marked man and the Fallen One sought to rob, kill, and destroy Him.

I have established that the Fallen One is trying to kill Jesus.  That has been firmly outlined in the pages of this book.  He is aware that Messiah has come to liberate mankind, as is evidenced by the sick who are being healed, and the demon possessed who are being set free.

Jesus has come to literally set the captives free; and He even proclaims this in a synagogue when He is given the scroll of Isaiah, and He reads:

(Isaiah 61:2 and Luke 4:18)  “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel – the good news – to [the] poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

In short, as Jesus recites this scripture He is challenging the rulership of the Fallen One as He is proclaiming that He is here to destroy his kingdom.  He is making it very clear what His mission is while on earth, to destroy the kingdom of the Devil and place it back into the hands of its rightful owner, man.

This is both a micro and macro declaration.  Micro, in that Jesus is healing people, one on one, on a personal level.  Lepers are healed, the dead are raised, and the sick recover, and on and on it goes.  It is the supreme act of mercy and love, bestowed by a benevolent God/man on those who were fortunate enough to be living during His time on earth.  Can a skeptic argue with that?

On a macro level His mission is to provide a way to redeem all of mankind, everyone who will come in the years after his death and resurrection.  He will literally reclaim through His death on the cross the title deed to the earth that the Fallen One usurped when Adam fell to temptation in the garden.  What is interesting about this chapter is when Jesus visits another synagogue a demon cries out:

(Luke 4:33)  Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!”

It would appear from this that the Fallen One has his spies everywhere because one was sitting in a synagogue on the Sabbath day; however, they  come undone when in the presence of Messiah. (I wonder how many of these “spies” sit in the pews on Sunday morning.)

So we see that Messiah is going about His mission of destroying the kingdom of the Fallen One, i.e. destroying the works of the Devil.

The Fallen One is alarmed at what is transpiring and is trying to stop it by the frequent and persistent attempts on Jesus’ life.  He knows something is up, but here’s the rub: he’s not sure what it is.

Again I will bring to your attention that the Fallen One is not all knowing.  While he can read the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, he does not fully understand the game plan of the Most High God. In fact, as we shall see in a few moments, his lust to kill Jesus actually plays into the divine plan to set the captives free – every man woman and child bound under the system of the Fallen One – and to reclaim the title deed to the earth!

Jesus informs His disciples that He is going to Jerusalem to die.  He mentions this several times.  In fact, when He is transfigured on Mount Hermon, He is discussing this with Moses and Elijah.  The disciples who are with Him don’t understand.  They don’t get the plan!

Here’s some speculation on my part.  I believe that the Fallen One and his minions are not able to read minds.  In other words, they can’t tell what we human beings are thinking.  They can, however, put thoughts into our minds.  They can suggest ideas, schemes or plans and I believe that they listen to what we say and from that get a good idea of what we are thinking.

I also believe that there were a group of fallen angles and demons specifically assigned to Jesus to monitor everything He did, everywhere He went, and everything He said. I also believe that at the same time the enemy had his troops in position, Jesus was surrounded by good angels, sort of an angelic team of bodyguards.

I think we get a glimpse of this in Gethsemane when Jesus is comforted by an angel as he sweats great drops of blood, and He informs those who have come to arrest Him that He is able to call a legion of angels and stop all of this if He so desires. (No man takes His life, but He lays it down willingly.)

That being said, is it possible that Jesus is talking of His death in a way that is baiting the Fallen One?  It would be like creating disinformation in today’s world of espionage.  Remember there is a heavenly war that is being waged and it is going full force while Jesus is on the earth.

The Fallen One has also infiltrated the ranks of Jesus inner most circle.  This again is a deliberate, strategic move because now he has a man on the inside that he can control.  Of course I’m speaking of Judas Iscariot, the one who would betray Him. It is no accident that Judas is in place.  It is part of the Fallen One’s plan to stop whatever Jesus’ mission is.  Remember, the Fallen One is not sure of what the mission is.  He is losing his kingdom of death and destruction to Jesus, because wherever Jesus goes He brings about the exact opposite, which is life and wholeness!

The final hours leading up to the death of Jesus on the cross have been commented on for centuries.  I will not do so here because there are books that would most likely fill several library shelves on this subject.  What I would like to do, however, is point out in the narrative the workings of the Fallen One and how his actions, which he believes will bring him victory or checkmate in the cosmic chess match, will in the end prove to be his ultimate un-doing.  We will look at what happens to Judas. Here’s the text:

(Luke 22:3) Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.

This immediately begs the question: how could Satan, the Fallen One, have access to Judas to do this. How did he possess him? When did this relationship begin?

The Fallen One had his man on the inside and it was Judas.  When the right moment came and the Fallen One had his “ducks” lined up, he entered into Judas personally.  I call your attention to the fact that the texts show us that this was of utmost importance to the Fallen One, so much so that he was not going to trust the task to anyone other than himself; so he enters into Judas.

This brings up the subject of demonic or satanic possession.  I believe that Judas had an ongoing relationship with the Fallen One.  He at some point opened himself up fully and willingly to the lies that were whispered in his ear.  Then we see the plan unfold as Satan immediately goes to the chief priests, the religious leaders of the time, the very ones that Jesus calls white-washed tombs and broods of vipers, and betrays Him!

The Fallen One has found his allies and now because he believes the opportunity is presenting itself, he enters into Judas that he may bring about the fruition of his plan to kill Jesus. Jesus has tipped his hand in saying:

(Matthew 26: 2)”You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

The Fallen One may have been acting on these very words.  His spies may have reported back.  However, like the false invasion plans that were given to the Nazis before D-Day, the Fallen One is playing directly into Jesus’ hand.

So Judas is about to betray Jesus and for that he gets 30 pieces of silver.  By the way, this is also one of the many prophecies that occur in a 24- hour period surrounding Jesus’ death.  These prophecies, taken together as a whole, paint a vivid description of what awaits the Messiah at the crucifixion.  If the Fallen One had been able to piece them together, he would never have had Jesus killed! He would have done exactly the opposite.  He would have had His life prolonged and protected at all costs. However, he did not put the pieces together and so remained ignorant of what was to ultimately become his defeat or checkmate!

Next we see that Jesus is arrested in the garden.  This is where we get a hint that He has at His command legions of angels:

(Matthew 26:53) Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?

While in the garden Jesus sweats great drops of blood.  He is in agony because He knows what lies ahead.  He asks if this cup can be taken from Him but then says, nevertheless, thy will be done.  Those words will change the very fabric of the universe in my opinion!

Then Judas enters the garden and with a kiss, betrays the Savior of the world.  At this point the disciples scatter and in the following hours, Jesus will undergo torture, humiliation, and rejection by the Jews and finally, His death.

The Fallen One is ecstatic as he believes that he has won the match. He is about to have Jesus killed and thereby protects his kingdom; at least this is what he believes at this time.

Most of us know the story so I won’t belabor it here.  In short, Jesus is crucified and then as he hangs naked and broken on the cross in the murky darkness that has covered the land of Palestine for three hours,  He utters His final words: It is finished.  At this point He gives up the ghost.  A great earthquake shakes the land, and the tombs of the righteous dead are opened and those who were long since dead are seen walking in the streets of Jerusalem.  The veil in the Temple that is a heavy, woven, thick piece of cloth is torn from top to bottom.  It is the mega-shift in all of history.  It is the singularly most important event since the foundations of the world were laid.  It will have repercussions that will break apart the kingdom of the Fallen One.  It will, in fact, spell his doom.

We are told in an account what happened after Yashua/Jesus “gave up the ghost.”  Here is the text that explains to us what happened next. It is taken from 1Peter 3:18:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,

20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. (Emphasis mine)

What we see here is that Jesus went to where the spirits were imprisoned, and He proclaimed to them victory!  We are told in the texts who these spirits were and I will once again call your attention to the Genesis 6 account in the early chapters of this book.  The spirits he preaches to are, in my opinion, the same ones that Jude tells us:

(Jude v.6)And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.

The bottom line for me is that this is a victory cry; He is pronouncing, checkmate!  What the Fallen One thought would end the mission by crucifying Jesus actually spelled his ultimate defeat.  He didn’t understand what was taking place.  He didn’t realize that Messiah, the Anointed One, would shed His blood once and for all for the remission of all the nasty stuff we human beings do on a daily basis!

The cross was the ultimate defeat, as Jesus who seemed to be out-maneuvered by the Fallen One, in fact, lays down His life willingly and then in His death travels to the place where the fallen angels had been chained and proclaims to them that the game is over and the Most High God has won.  Listen to another verse that amplifies this victory:

(Ephesians 4:8) Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 

9 In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

Bullinger has a short paper on this, and I would highly recommend reading it as he believes as I do that this was a victory cry, a proclamation that the title deed of the earth, the Luciferic system, the reign of the Fallen One had now officially come to an end.

I have enclosed part of a novella that I had written a number of years ago when I was under contract with Zondervan Publishing house.  While it is a fictional account, it will give us an insight into what may have happened.  In verse 8 above we see that He led a host of captives with Him as He ascended to heaven. Many believe that until that time the souls of men and women were in sort of a holding area.  In other words, because the entire universe had been corrupted by the Fallen One (which is why we are told that all creation groans) there was no way for these spirits to be released. This is part of what the cross and Jesus’ sacrifice was all about, the release of the captives who had been held in this area from the time of the death of Abel, and Adam and Eve, up to the time of the crucifixion itself when Jesus tells one of the thieves who is hanging next to Him: today you will be with me in Paradise! 

What follows three days later is the resurrection.  Jesus rises from the dead and emerges from the tomb.  In His resurrected body He is seen by His disciples and then later by more than 500 different witnesses.

Then He gathers His disciples and goes to the Mount of Olives where He ascends into the heavens.  We are told that an angel then tells the men and women who witness this that He will return in the same way that He left, and when He does His feet will split the Mount of Olives in half!  I believe that this is literal and not hyperbole!

His disciples are told to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit.  Later, this happens as the power of the spirit of the Most High God descends on those who are gathered in an upper room and the building shakes.  It is paramount to our discussion to realize that this was the first time since the fall in the garden that the Spirit of the living God once again in-dwelt men and women.  This is the experience, being born again, that created the Christian church.  The wall that had separated the Most High God from men had been torn down and allowed the reconnection of our spirit to the Creator of the universe.  Sadly, this experience has been cheapened by some of the so called tele-evangelists who have made more of a carnival side show out of it.  The media has made the phrase born again almost a by word of ridicule.  The fact of the matter is that there is nothing more important in a person’s life than becoming born again.  Without that happening we will remain natural men and women, and will never be able to understand the things of the spirit.

It is important to note that the disciples thought that Jesus’ return would be soon.  They were expecting it, and I believe the Fallen One thought so, too. However, that was almost 2000 years ago and even though checkmate was declared at the cross, the Most High God has not actually claimed the prize yet.  I must admit to you that this has baffled me to the point that I have laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling for hours in contemplation wondering why He tarries or delays.  He has His reasons, but in the meantime the Fallen One continues to create as much havoc here as he possibly can.  He knows that he has lost the match. He knows that he will ultimately lose the place where he now resides, the second heaven, but in his twisted dementia he believes that somehow he can pull victory from the ashes of defeat.

Recap:

The cross is the game changer.  In essence it is checkmate in that the title deed that was usurped back in the garden by the Fallen One has now been taken back.  This was accomplished by the man who was without sin, and offered his life, willingly, as a sacrifice, for all people throughout all time, which is why we are told that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

It is as Jesus proclaimed moments before He died, it is finished. Those words have a deeper connotation than most of us think because it is a proclamation that the cosmic chess match is over and the victor is the Most High God.  However, as we shall see in Part Two of this book, the Fallen One wants to drag as many people with him as possible to an eternity of separation from the Most High God.  He wants a re-match, and although this isn’t formally granted, the Fallen One acts like it has been!  This is why we see a continuation of move and countermove by the players right up to the present day.  In other words, even though the match is over there still is a war that is raging and will continue to rage until the second coming when Jesus will finally take control of the kingdom.

The bottom line is that the Fallen One still believes that he will ascend to the throne and be worshiped as God. We shall see in Part Two, that this is his end game and he will spare no expense to accomplish his goal.

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