Colossians 2:15 “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them.”

Ever wonder why we celebrate D-Day (June 6, 1944) and not VE-Day (May 8, 1945)? After all, VE (Victory in Europe) Day is when Germany officially surrendered to Allied Forces, while D (Decision) Day is when Germany’s Nazi forces were crushed at the Normandy invasion and the march to Berlin began.

War historians say it was at the D-Day landing that the Allies won the war. The moment they established a beachhead on the European mainland, they crushed the head of the Germans. Evil was defeated.

But notice it was not for another year – not until May 8, 1945 – that Germany surrendered. Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945 in the Battle for Berlin, as Allied troops closed in all around him. Between the D-day landing and Hitler’s complete defeat, many more people died as World War II raged.

You see, the Nazis did not give up after D-Day. It took a year of intense fighting before they surrendered.
But on VE-Day, total victory was achieved. The Allied forces triumphed and dismantled the Nazis.

This is an awesome illustration of what was accomplished at the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (God’s “D-Day”) and the future 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ (God’s “VE-Day”).

In the blockbuster movie “The Passion of the Christ,” as the Romans first scourge Jesus and then force Him to carry His cross to Calvary, Satan moves through the crowds taunting Him as He is made a public spectacle who pays the ultimate penalty – His own death – at the hands of His enemies.

The crowds cannot see Satan, the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). To all onlookers, Jesus has lost and is being mercilessly tortured. His followers hoped He had come to free them from the Romans and set up God’s Kingdom on Earth. But now, all is lost. Evil has triumphed over good and innocence.

But once Jesus died on the Cross, everything changed. Satan is in agony, no longer moving through the crowds in celebration of the murder God’s only Son. Satan is now alone and screaming. His plan completely backfired against him. Satan was defeated. It was Jesus’s achievement on the cross – His sacrificial death – that has instead made a public spectacle of Satan by triumphing over evil.

That is the meaning of this week’s verse. How did Jesus triumph over Satan and the powers of darkness?

The preceding 2 verses of Colossians 2:13-14 explain: “You, being dead in your trespasses and sins, Jesus has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you ALL trespasses, having wiped out the certificate of your debt with its requirements that was against you. He has taken it out of the way, having NAILED IT TO THE CROSS.” Your debt owed to God, for all sins you have and ever will commit, was nailed with Jesus Himself to the Cross. And His death paid for your debt certificate. Now, verse 15 matters.

God actually pronounced this very event – Jesus’s death on the cross and the complete crushing of the enemy Satan – back in the 3rd chapter of the first book in the Bible – around 1400 BC – after Satan had successfully enticed Adam and Eve to sin against God: “I will put enmity between … your seed and her Seed (Jesus). He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Jesus’s heel was bruised at the Cross. But Satan’s head – his power over mankind – was crushed. That is why Satan screams in agony in the movie. He has lost his power over any who trust in Jesus Christ.

But, just as with the year between D-Day and VE-Day, evil is still active and war still rages. The evil enemy – Hitler and the Nazi’s – had been crushed, but they did not surrender until a year later. Some of the bloodiest battles of World War II were between D-Day and VE-Day. Germany was a defeated enemy, but they were not going down without a fight. The Germans fought fiercely but fought a losing battle.

We are living right now between God’s D-Day and His VE-Day, between Jesus’s Death and Resurrection and His Second Coming. Because of D-Day, Satan is a defeated enemy. Jesus won total victory.

But just like the Germans, the devil is not raising the white flag of surrender. But Revelation 20:10 tells us of the future complete destruction of Satan: “The devil… was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
“The Evidence of Faith’s Substance” _ Article #610