ROBERT JOHNSON AT THE CROSSROADS
The old legend about Robert Johnson has been repeated so long that many people treat it as truth. They say he could barely play, vanished for months, and then returned with astonishing skill. And somewhere along the way, a story grew that he met the devil at a lonely crossroads and traded his soul for talent.
In the 1960s, white rock musicians who — in my opinion — did not understand Black culture romanticized this tale. They imagined the Mississippi Delta as a haunted, cryptic landscape. They acted as if “the blues” came from some supernatural darkness or voodoo. But we need to say this plainly:
That is racist nonsense.
Blues musicians were not mystical figures. They were normal working artists. And their songs played on jukeboxes just like country, swing, or any other popular music of the day. People listened to Robert Johnson like people listened to Hank Williams or Glenn Miller: because they enjoyed it, not because they thought it was ghostly.
And as for those “mysterious” months, historians have done the real work. Johnson went to Alabama. He found a man who could teach him well. He studied. He practiced hard. A musician took him under his wing — likely Ike Zimmerman, as some have reasonably argued — and he learned what he had not yet been taught.
This is exactly how musicians grow. You find someone better than you. You listen. You imitate. You work. There is nothing supernatural here, nothing eerie, nothing involving pacts or spirits or magic. Just a young artist determined to get better and a teacher patient enough to show him how.
But beyond the history lies a deeper truth, and Scripture speaks to it with clarity: no one can sell their soul to the devil. The soul belongs to God. He created it. He owns it. He alone has authority over it.
Jesus said that only the Father can destroy soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28). Paul told believers that they were bought at a price by Christ (1 Corinthians 6:20). And through Ezekiel, God declared that every soul is His (Ezekiel 18:4). Even when Satan tried to “offer” Jesus the kingdoms of the world, Christ exposed his lies and rejected him outright (Matthew 4:8–10). If the devil cannot purchase anything from Christ, he certainly cannot purchase anything from ordinary people. The devil is not a buyer. He is a deceiver and a thief. And thieves steal what does not belong to them.
So when people speak of “deals with the devil,” they speak of something that Scripture never supports. What they describe is usually the tragedy of sin or addiction or despair, but it is never a literal transaction where Satan gains ownership of a human soul. Christ alone holds that authority. He breaks the chains of darkness; He binds the strong man; He plunders the house of the enemy and sets captives free (Mark 3:27). Satan cannot buy what Christ came to redeem.
In the end, the Robert Johnson legend does not reveal anything about devils at crossroads. It reveals how easily people can twist real human stories into myths, and how racism helped turn normal Black musicians into exotic characters in the imaginations of others. Some simply do not understand the psychosis of racism. It runs deep and it will cause you to believe some ridiculous things.
The truth is far better.
These men were artists. Their songs played in juke joints and poured from jukeboxes. They filled the weekends of ordinary people who wanted to dance or relax or forget their troubles for a few minutes. Nothing haunted about that. And over all these stories stands the greater truth of Christ, who alone owns the souls of men, and who alone gives life, hope, and redemption to anyone who calls on His name.
BDD
