"For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me."
That is a legal claim. He's got nothing on Me. And everything about peace hinges on it.
Scripture Focus: John 14:29-30; Romans 5:1; Isaiah 53:5
"For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me."
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
"He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed."
Jesus says, "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me." Jesus is sinless and where there is no sin, there is no hold by the devil.
Think about this. Abraham lied. Moses murdered. Elijah doubted. Noah got drunk. Paul was a terrorist. Peter denied Christ three times.
Jesus says, "He's got nothing on Me."
And that matters infinitely. Because the only way you and I can be at peace with God objectively is if the sacrifice made on our behalf is blameless. A penalty has to be borne, and it has to be a pure one.
You cannot understand the incarnation (Jesus' arrival in human flesh) without understanding Good Friday. And you cannot understand Good Friday without understanding Easter. These are not isolated holidays. They are one unbroken story.
God made a perfect world on page one. By page three, sin enters. And from that point on, the entire Old Testament is asking one question: Where is the coming Messiah? Who is the king that is going to slay death in the face? And Matthew 1 opens with the genealogy, tracing the line all the way to Jesus—the serpent crusher, the death slayer.
Isaiah 53, written 700 years before the cross, says He was pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace fell upon Him.
The chastisement for our peace fell upon Him.
Do you grasp that? The peace you need with God required that Jesus be crushed. It required a blameless sacrifice. It required that the ruler of this world have nothing on Him.
And because He had nothing—Jesus went to the cross, bore our sin, satisfied the wrath of God, and secured peace. Romans 5:1: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
This is not a feeling. This is a legal, objective, judicial reality. The judge of the universe has declared you righteous. The penalty has been borne. The chastisement for your peace fell upon Him.
That's your foundation. That's where peace begins.
1. Do you truly understand that your peace with God was purchased at the cost of the crushing of Jesus?
2. Is your peace with God objective and settled—rooted in the finished work of Christ—or is it something you feel you have to maintain by your own performance?
3. When the ruler of this world comes at you with accusations, do you know how to answer? He has nothing on you because he had nothing on Jesus.
Stay dialed in