But that's the meat of it, Blogger! Satan triumphed when Chirst died. But that was short-lived because Satan soon realized that he was duped, as +John Chrysostom says in his Easter homily, 1600 years ago, "Death took the body, and found God." Oooops!
Satan did NOT triumph when Christ died!!!! Good grief! You really think that that puny little snake triumphed over God???? He thought he did. But God is, was, and ever more shall be Sovereign. Satan LOST when Christ died. Satan had lost long before that. He lost the minute he decided to set his heart against God. God owed Satan ZILCH. NADA. NOTHING. Christ's death satisfied God's justice, not Satan's greed. As Anselm stated "God owed Satan nothing but punishment."