Flee to the stronger Man for refuge

Sermon for Oculi – Lent 3

2 Samuel 22:1-7  +  Ephesians 5:1-9  +  Luke 11:14-28

The Sundays in Lent are powerful, aren’t they? They all focus on Jesus’ power over our enemies: the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. The demons came out in full force after Jesus began His ministry, but in every confrontation, Jesus defeated them. He defeated the head demon, Satan, in the Gospel we heard two weeks ago. He defeated another demon last week when He effortlessly cast it out of the Gentile woman’s daughter without even needing to speak to the demon directly. Today we see Him casting out a demon that held a man captive so that he couldn’t speak.

Except for the demons Jesus cast out during His ministry, the Bible really doesn’t say much about them. They’re powerful spirit-creatures, far less powerful than God, but far more powerful than any man. They were created as angels to serve God, but they soon chose vice over virtue, rebellion over service to God. So they were condemned, but not yet sent away to their eternal punishment, which will happen on the Last Day. For now, they roam somewhat freely around the world, though still bound by God’s hand, like pit bulls on a leash, so that they can go as far as God lets them and no farther. They continue to plague humanity, by God’s permission. Adam and Eve, our first parents, gave them that right when they submitted to the Devil’s rule in the Garden of Eden. As St. Peter warns in his first Epistle, your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

But the tactics of the demons have changed over the centuries. Outright possession was common in Jesus’ day. But over time, the demons found greater success using less overt tactics: hiding their existence from mankind, quietly influencing the political realm with all manner of wicked policies and wicked behavior in the governments of the world—we see it every day as true justice is replaced with tyranny, lawlessness, and persecution of Christianity; quietly influencing religions with all manner of false doctrine—we see it every day in both subtle and not-so-subtle false teachings that make the truth of Christ harder and harder to find; quietly influencing society in general with all manner of deception and temptation and blindness, both intellectual and spiritual—we see it every day in people’s hatred and animosity and in their readiness to believe anything except for the word of God. St. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

This is a daunting wrestling match! What hope do we have against these powerful rulers of the darkness of this age? They are strong! But Jesus is stronger. Even now, they must obey Him. Even now, they must follow His commands. In today’s Gospel, we learn to flee to the stronger Man for refuge!

We begin with Jesus casting out another demon, doing what no one else was able to do. Like His other miracles, this was meant to prove to the people of Israel that their Christ had finally come. Jesus wasn’t just a little different than the teachers who had come before Him. He was utterly unique in His power and in His preaching.

But the Pharisees hated Jesus so much that were able to find fault with everything He did. That’s what hatred does to people. It drives them insane. It causes a mental and spiritual derangement, if you will. It causes them to find fault where there is no fault and malice where there is no malice. He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. They claimed that Beelzebub—the Lord of the Flies, Satan himself—had given Jesus power over the demons.

Well, that’s not only blasphemy. It’s nonsense, as Jesus points out. Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Satan’s kingdom most definitely stands. The only way Satan’s kingdom falls, according to Scripture, is for the Seed of the woman—the Christ—to crush his head. His kingdom must stand until the Christ comes. Satan can’t be sending his demons to torment people on the one hand and at the same time helping Jesus to cast out the demons who are doing the tormenting. So it’s senseless to talk about Jesus casting out demons by Satan’s power.

Jesus has another question for those who seek a sign from heaven: If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? I think it’s clear from the context that the answer to this question is, “Our sons don’t cast them out! Our sons, our followers, can’t cast out demons at all!” They had to admit, “You’re the only One doing this, Jesus!” And if that’s true, then either God is not working through Jesus or through anyone to help His people against the demons, or…

If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Finally! The One who is stronger than the demons has come!

That’s the point Jesus illustrates in the parable of the strong man. The devil is like a strong man, fully armed, guarding his own palace. No one can get in. No one can take his possessions away from him. They’re his to own, his to control. Such are the people trapped in the devil’s kingdom. That’s not only a reference to those who are actually possessed by demons, but to all people who are born into the world. He who sins is of the devil, John writes in his first Epistle. There’s only one way out of the devil’s kingdom. Someone stronger than the devil has to overcome him and take away his armor and free those who are trapped in his house. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

That’s what Jesus did for the possessed by casting out their demons. That’s what Jesus has done for all people by coming into the world and by shedding His blood on the cross. He has invaded the devil’s palace, the devil’s kingdom here on earth, and He has opened the way into His own heavenly kingdom—a grand rescue mission to lead the captives out. Come with Me, He says. Come into My kingdom of grace! The way is open through the forgiveness of sins. Believe in Me and be released from the devil! Believe in Me, and even now the devil won’t be able to harm you!

But there are some warnings in our Gospel, too. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. If you don’t want to go with Jesus out of the devil’s kingdom, then you remain the devil’s servant. If you don’t want to work with Jesus to gather other people out of the devil’s kingdom, then you remain the devil’s ally. There are only two sides in this great struggle. If you won’t have Jesus as King, then you will have the devil. This is the danger for the one who doesn’t want to become a Christian in the first place.

Another warning follows. When a person is baptized and becomes a Christian, the demon is “cast out.” Not that the person was necessarily possessed, but that the person was previously owned by the devil and now is owned by Christ, rescued from the devil’s kingdom and brought into the kingdom of Christ. But the demon doesn’t just leave that person alone. It goes back to see if the person it previously owned is available again. Either the person’s heart is occupied with the word of God and faith and the Holy Spirit, or it’s vacant. And if it’s vacant, then the demon will go back, and he’ll take his demon buddies with him and make things even worse. This is the danger for the Christian who falls away.

Finally, a warning and encouragement for those who remain Christians. As He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

“More than that.” In other words, don’t think of it that way. The one who bore Jesus was, indeed, blessed. But the blessing of God wasn’t reserved for her alone. All who hear and keep God’s word are blessed. Think about that! You have the promise of the One who is stronger than the demons that, by hearing and keeping His word, you will be blessed by God. Not necessarily in a worldly way, but in all the ways that matter. Flee to the stronger Man for refuge, and you will be blessed even with protection against the demons; even with the forgiveness of sins; even with help for this life; even with hope for the next. Amen.