Stay by the One who is stronger than the devil

Sermon for Oculi – Lent 3

Ephesians 5:1-9  +  Luke 11:14-28

We’re presented in the Gospel with the reality of demons, for the third week in a row. First it was the prince of demons himself, tempting the Lord Jesus in the wilderness. Then it was a demon who was tormenting the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman. In today’s Gospel it’s an evil spirit that has entered into a man and has been preventing him from speaking, until the Lord Jesus comes along and drives the demon out. The devil is like a strong man, holding his prisoners captive. But Jesus is a stronger Man—the only One strong enough to conquer the devil and to release the devil’s captives. Those who are physically afflicted by demons are obviously under the devil’s power. But you don’t have to be demon-possessed to be the devil’s captive.

We hear in the Gospel an urgent warning to all unbelievers, who still remain in the “strong man’s” kingdom and whose souls still remain under the influence of the devil (whether or not their bodies are possessed). We hear great comfort for believers, who are safe from the devil as long as we take refuge with the Stronger Man. But at the same time we hear a warning to believers, that you should not take for granted the redemption that Christ has given you from the devil’s kingdom, lest you sweep the Holy Spirit out of your hearts and allow the devil to return with a vengeance. So stay close to Christ and His word. Only then will you be able to stand against the devil.

Jesus shows His power over the devil at the beginning of our Gospel as He drives out the demon from the man who was mute (Matthew adds that he was blind as well). Jesus released that poor man from the torment he was suffering at the hands of the devil. As Matthew tells us, these miracles, especially His power over the demons, were causing people to wonder, “Could this Jesus be the Son of David? Could He be the Christ?” Of course, they were right. But the Pharisees’ hearts were hard, and they couldn’t allow the people to put their faith in Jesus. So they had to come up with a blasphemous accusation to brand Him with. Don’t believe this Jesus! He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. They sound much like the fact-checkers of today who aren’t actually interested in the facts at all, but in maintaining the narrative of deception that the strong men of the world are trying desperately to keep in place. That tactic isn’t new. As long as there has been a devil, he has been conspiring to suppress the truth so that he can keep people captive in his kingdom of darkness.

Others tested Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven. It’s like showing people a video of certain events, a video that clearly contradicts what the strong men of the world have been saying. And then, after showing the video, you’re accused by those same strong men, “Show us some proof of what you’re saying!” As if the video didn’t even exist. So it was with many of Jesus’ miracles. He would show people a sign from heaven, and then in the very next moment, those same people would demand to see a sign from heaven! That’s how strong a grip the devil has on people’s darkened minds.

So, for the sake of the believers and those who would believe, Jesus chose to answer the accusations. First, He points out how foolish the accusation was that He was driving out demons by the devil’s power. Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to ruin, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan has turned against himself, if the demons are fighting with one another, then Satan’s kingdom will fall apart, and you have nothing to fear from him. Ah, but his kingdom is not falling apart. It is strong, and his demon allies are perfectly united in their hatred toward God and in their purpose to keep men trapped in their dark kingdom, blind to the truth of the Gospel (and blind to truth in general!), mute in their ability to confess the true God or to speak a word of praise. Or, if someone is plucked out of the devil’s kingdom by the Holy Spirit, through the Word of Christ and Holy Baptism, then the demons make it their united goal to entice those who have entered God’s kingdom to abandon God’s Word again.

Secondly, Jesus answers those who were looking for a sign from heaven. He challenges them, If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Matthew tells us that when Jesus cast out demons, the people marveled and said, “This has never been seen in Israel!” The Jews had no power over the demons, for as much as they apparently tried to cast them out. But now Christ is here, driving them out one after another by “the finger of God,” or as Matthew says, “by the Spirit of God.” (It’s the same thing.) You want a sign from heaven that Jesus comes from God? Look at His power over the demons, power that no doctor on earth has ever had or ever will! And beware, because if only Jesus has the power to drive out demons, then all who turn away from him will surely be lost to the demons’ control.

We should not envision the devil as being stupid or weak. Far from it. Jesus describes him as a “strong man,” well-armed, who guards his palace, whose possessions are secure. No man on earth can stand up to the devil or defeat him, or escape from his well-guarded palace, or rescue those who are held prisoner there, which is all people when they’re born into the world. This is Jesus’ third argument against His accusers. What Jesus is doing on earth is not helping the devil to gain a kingdom. The devil already has a kingdom! And he doesn’t need any help holding onto it. There is no one who can defeat him, except for the Lord Jesus. He is the one and only Person who is stronger than the devil. He is the Son of God. And He is the sinless Son of Man, unable to be accused by the devil of anything, and so unable to be overcome. He came to earth to redeem sinful men from the devil’s kingdom, to give His own life on the cross in the sinner’s place and so to tie up the devil so that he can no longer accuse or hold captive any who trust in Christ Jesus, the Stronger Man who came to destroy the devil’s work. So again, those who trust in Christ are delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and placed in the kingdom of Christ, while those who reject Christ remain trapped in the devil’s house, whether they’re actually possessed or not.

Now a warning: Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. To be with Christ is to trust in Him for help against our great enemies: sin, death, and the devil. To gather with Christ is to work with Him to gather people into His kingdom. Make no mistake, there is no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. There is no half-hearted Christianity. There is either genuine faith and justification by faith. Or there is unbelief and condemnation. See how urgent it is to heed Christ’s call to come to Him for rest and for mercy! Those who are not intentionally with Jesus are, intentionally or unintentionally, against Him, and, therefore, are on the devil’s side.

Jesus then issues a final warning. He describes what only someone who can see into the spirit-realm can know: what a demon does when it’s cast out. It wanders around for a while, and then goes back to check on his former home, the heart of the person whom he previously inhabited. And if he finds it swept and put in order, he brings along seven other spirits more wicked than himself, so that the last state of that man is worse than the first. In other words, if the demon finds that your heart has a vacancy sign hanging on it, without the Holy Spirit dwelling there, he will move back in. This isn’t just a warning to those who have been possessed by a demon and then exorcized. It’s also a warning to those who hear the Gospel and who received Holy Baptism, which first released them from the devil’s power and brought with it the Holy Spirit. But then they grow tired of hearing it. They return to sin, like a dog returns to its vomit, and they walk away from the Church and from the ministry of the Word. In doing that, they expose themselves again to the power of the devil. They drive out the Holy Spirit Himself from their hearts, and so the demons are able to take over again.

You see, God isn’t playing around here. The Christian faith is a matter of life and death, much more so than any earthly disease, or natural disaster, or national crisis. You’re either trapped in darkness, held captive by the strong man, or you’re set free by the stronger Man, Christ Jesus, who died for your sins, who brings you to faith by His Word and Spirit, and who then keeps you safe in the true faith by His Word, Sacraments, and Spirit—assuming you continue to use His Word and Sacraments and pay attention to His Spirit!

We see at the end of the Gospel an example of what often happens, though, as people lose focus on Jesus’ word and start to focus on the wrong things. A woman from the crowd makes a pious-sounding statement: Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed! How foolish! Christ wasn’t speaking to the crowds that day so that they could dwell on the blessedness of Jesus’ mother. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it! (or “guard it”). Christ taught the people so that they themselves could hear His Word and be blessed. In the same way, right now, Christ is teaching you, so that you may hear His word, believe it, and then go on to guard it, and be blessed forever. It does you no good against the devil to dwell on the Virgin Mary, for as blessed as she was. What does you good is to believe that that strong Lord Jesus came to redeem you from the devil’s kingdom by His holy, precious blood, and to bring you into His kingdom through Holy Baptism, and to keep you in His Kingdom, through His Word and Sacraments. He wants for you to be blessed, and as you hear and keep His Word as the treasure of your heart, you will be.

There is much darkness in the world, and your enemy, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. He is strong, and his influence is everywhere. But Jesus is stronger, and His blood has set you free from all the power of the devil, and by His Word He will keep you free and safe. So keep hearing His Word. Keep guarding His Word. And keep walking as children of the light, even as the world around you descends further and further into darkness. The darkness may make your life miserable for a time, but it can’t actually harm you if you walk in the light of Christ. And one day soon, He will come again and dispel all the darkness and cast the devil out once and for all. Amen.