Satan is defeated in one skirmish after another in the Gospel (the temptation, the exorcisms) but still has considerable battlefield strength that can inflict damage, and he will continue to resist. The slanderous attack on Jesus by the teachers of the law from Jerusalem is living proof of that. It might be compared to the Battle of the Bulge, when Hitler made one last desperate gamble and threw all of his forces into battle to try to halt the Allies’ advance after the successful invasion of Europe.