Common Sense Reborn

“Stranger Things” Part 3

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from satan, the prince of demons.” (Matthew 12:24)

Today wraps up our “At the Movies” series. As I have discussed previously, “At the Movies” seeks to extract Biblical truths from popular culture. While popular culture usually pulls us away from the Kingdom of God, because, in its nature, popular culture is “popular” as wise Christians, we cannot ignore it and just hope it will go away. Rather, we should embrace it and use it as a bridge to bring people closer to having a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Just yesterday, we took our kids to see “Inside Out 2“. It marked the first big screen movie for SGZ3 (the toddler in our trio of kids). It was a really fun movie, and even that movie had many Biblical truths I saw shining through the silliness of Riley’s emotions. So do not be surprised if you see a bonus scene next week from “At the Movies” when I have time to sit down and put something together.

But for today, this post will wrap up our “Stranger Things” Season Four series. Today, we look at the greatest threat to the world of this popular Netflix series, the prince of the demons: Vecna.

To draw a comparison between Vecna and satan is easy. Vecna searches out his victims by those that are haunted by mistakes in their past. Their depression and guilt make them an easy target for him to start invading their thoughts and giving ominous and haunting images to grow their fear and worry. Vecna’s curse begins and then culminates with Vecna using his telekinesis powers to break every bone in his victim’s bodies, leaving them a twisted and gnarled mess for the townspeople of Hawkins, Indiana to discover.

Just like Vecna, satan seeks his victims from those who allow the mistakes of their past and sin to control their present and shape their future. While satan does not take his victims in such dramatic fashion as Vecna, he seeks to control all aspects of their mind and body and use them to disrupt our world and turn each victim from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Season Four also reveals that Vecna is the ultimate ruler of “The Upside Down“. The Party of kids that have battled demogorgons, the Mind Flayer, and demobats in the past had recognized that all the creatures that keep emerging from gates to “The Upside Down” were part of a “hive mind” (all creatures working together, feeling pain together, attacking together). Now the “good guys” meet the one in control of the hive, and in Season Four, we get Vecna’s back story. I will not ruin that amazing plot device to you here, but if you can figure it out before it is revealed, let me know in the comments section. I had to cheat and GOOGLE the truth, because I could not wait any longer while we were watching this amazing season.

Well, again, an easy comparison. Satan is the “hive mind” master for hell and he controls all the demons he still sends out to cause chaos in our world and tempt people to commit devilish actions against their fellow mankind.

And also in the current season, and this little teaching block may include some spoilers, Vecna tries to teach Eleven that to harness her powers of telekinesis, she should use a memory that evokes the deepest rage she has ever faced. It works for her in the early days of channeling her special powers, but we see during the final battle between El and Vecna, it is not hate that gives her power, but rather love. Which I thought was a masterful touch by the writers of “Stranger Things”.

Season Four concludes in epic fashion, and I will not try to spoil that now, but I will say that it sets up the Series Finale for next season as being the final battle between good and evil. This is the battle we face every day. To think that hell is not here on earth and spilling out as it is at the end of episode nine, “The Piggyback“, is to live in denial. The devil is real, and he rules this world. We are in an eternal struggle with him, and we make the choice every day to allow his power to grow, or to lean into the one with true power over all creation, even death and the devil: Jesus Christ. So, do not be afraid of the battle ahead, because there is one that goes before you that has far greater power than all the dark forces of the physical and spiritual world. We know how our saga ends, with God and Jesus bringing final judgement to this side of creation; with Jesus defeating satan and sitting victoriously on the right side of God; with Jesus’ followers marching triumphantly into an eternal celebration in Heaven. And, finally, always remember that love wins.

To conclude, if you have time, and by “have time”, I mean that I do not recommend this if you do not have a strong schedule reading the Holy Bible every day, spending time with your family, fulfilling work and personal obligations. But, if you find yourself with a few extra hours each day and want to fill it with something highly entertaining that can also help lead you into the truth of God’s existence and glean some Biblical truths from, then by all means, start watching the “Stranger Things” series on Netflix. You will not regret it. I sure have not. For one, it has given me more epic music to fill the soundtrack to my battle against the devil, like the main theme from Season Four, a colossal remix of Journey‘s already classic “Separate Worlds“. Click the image below to see some of Season Four’s wonderful cinematography, mixed with this incredible score.