When did Satan Know?

I was wondering the other day just when Satan figured out that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God. The case can be made that Satan didn’t know until Jesus was Baptized, received the Holy Spirit and was announced by God that He was his beloved Son.

Certainly in the revealed narrative of Jesus’ early life Satan is not mentioned even once... not once. One might think that if Satan knew Jesus was the Messiah that his attempts at temptation might have occurred sooner than when Jesus was thirty years old.

So either Satan didn’t know who Jesus really was or God was protecting Jesus from Satan.

What we do know for sure about Satan was that he really didn’t understand God’s plan or the nature of Jesus’ Messiahship. If Satan had known he would never have been complicit in manipulating people like Judas to effect the death of Jesus Christ.

Satan had great delight seeing Jesus tortured and dying on the cross. It was a really good day for him but when God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right side (in great triumph and victory) and poured his Holy Spirit upon all believers Satan’s day went from “good” to disastrous. Sad Satan.

Jesus’ first thirty or so years of life were normal and uncomplicated by Satan but his last three years (or so) of life had Satan actively campaigning against him… campaigning in a war of futility. Satan can never win against God and he can’t win against us either if we have God’s Holy Spirit protecting us.