Lent 3 - Oculi March 3, 2024
Luke 11:14-28
Overcoming the Strong Man
v.21-22, 28 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overwhelms him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil...Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!
Dear friends in Christ, it is many peoples' worst nightmare--home invasion! The sound of breaking glass in the middle of the night--of strangers invading your home, binding you up and taking your belongings--hurting your family. This tragic reality is becoming an all-too common phenomenon in our day and age. And it scares us. We buy expensive home alarm systems, we buy special doors and locks, we may even buy dogs or guns to help protect us, our family, and our property--all to avoid this scary situation.
Would it surprise you to learn that human beings are not the only ones afraid of this type of thing? Indeed, Satan also fears this greatly. For he has set himself up quite nicely in every human heart that is conceived and born in sin. He has made himself quite comfortable in the heart of fallen man--your heart and my heart--and he is not too keen on giving up his spot. For he has embedded himself with lies and deceit--walling us in with accusations of our sin and barring the door with the deadbolt of death. Satan preys upon our weakness and fears--binding us with chains we cannot loose.
Fortunately for us, Satan doesn't have the final say on how things go in our hearts. No, indeed, as John writes (1 John 3:8b), "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." We see Jesus doing just that in our text where He was casting out a demon that was mute. Though Jesus' opponents immediately try to detract from this wondrous work by stating He is only able to do so by the power of Beelzebul (Satan) himself, Jesus points out the illogical nature of their denouncement. For a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. But, the good news for us is that the kingdom of the devil cannot stand against the power of God.
Jesus says, "If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil." Herein Jesus points the Jews back to the Scriptures--particularly our O.T. reading for today where God's mighty work of the plagues in Egypt was described by the unbelieving magicians as the work of the "finger of God," against which they were powerless.
You see, each of the 10 plagues that God sent against Egypt so that Pharaoh would free His people, was a direct attack on a particular Egyptian deity. The Egyptian God Hapi was the god of the Nile river. What does the Lord do? He turns it into blood? Essentially saying, "I have killed this god of yours in which you so foolishly trusted." In the O.T. reading the third plague of gnats showed the Lord's power over Geb--the Egyptian god of the earth. Up until this point Pharaoh's magicians had been able to poorly imitate the plagues God had sent, but with this plague they recognized the true power behind Moses and Aaron--"This is the finger of God."
The fourth plague of the swarms of flies demonstrated the Lord's power over the god Khepri--the Egyptian god of creation, movement of the sun, and rebirth--who had the head of a fly. More importantly, however, with this plague the Lord now distinguishes His people from the Egyptians--causing harm only to fall on the unbelievers, while preserving His faithful people--setting them apart. God ruined the land of the Egyptians and their false god was powerless to stop Him.
This is the God in whom we believe and trust--the Holy One of Israel--who casts out demons with a Word--whose little finger crushes all who oppose Him--even false gods. These acts were used by God to demonstrate that He alone is the true God and all people should worship Him. Jesus says, "if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Where Jesus is--forgiving sins--casting out demons--healing diseases--teaching the Scriptures--raising the dead to life--THERE is the kingdom of God--for God in the flesh has come upon us.
But even with all of these examples of God's great power and might throughout the Old and New Testaments, we still worry and fret and doubt, don't we? Is Jesus really strong enough? After all, look at the world around us--war between Palestine and Israel, Ukraine and Russia--we see sexual immorality embraced by our culture (and, sadly, even in our churches!). We see human life treated with disdain–with the destruction of the unborn, along with the elderly and infirm among us. When we honestly examine our lives we see the ruin and hardship of financial distress, relationship problems, health crises, and the list could go on and on. Perhaps, Jesus isn't really as strong as we first thought.
And THAT is the great lie of the Strong Man--Beelzebul--the Devil--who seeks to build a fortress in the heart of every man, woman, and child on this planet. This great Deceiver seeks nothing else than to destroy faith in Christ in peoples' hearts. He desires nothing more than to accuse you of your sin--convince you that your offenses are too great--that God couldn't possibly love YOU--that Jesus' would never die for such a horrible person as YOU. Satan wants you to fear him and to doubt the forgiveness of sins that Christ earned for you--Satan wants to surround you with death and devastation--so that you will give up on the Life that Jesus has worked so hard to give you. He wants you to abandon church--forget about God's Word (not just the commandments, but even more so, the Gospel of Jesus Christ)--He wants you to despair--and to die.
Beloved, fear not! For these are all lies of one who is already beaten--defeated by the blood of the Lamb. Satan has already lost--he has been tossed out of heaven on his keister by the Lord Jesus who has bound him and destroyed the armour of sin and death in which he trusted.
You see, Jesus is the Stronger Man--and even though Satan is strong--even though he trusts greatly in his armour--binding us to sin and death--yet Jesus sweeps in and knocks the devil flying. He undoes all his evil works--through one, extraordinary act--His suffering and death on the cross for your sins and mine.
So the next time Satan comes to you and accuses you of your sin--pointing out that sin ends only with eternal suffering and death in hell--we tremble not, unmoved we stand--for Jesus' clear Word of forgiveness and life is stronger still. Jesus took YOUR sin--ALL of it--into His own body and bore the punishment of death that you and I deserved. In return, Jesus has bestowed upon you His perfect and everlasting life and salvation.
You see, because of Jesus' holy cross and passion He is able to exorcise and free you from the domination of the evil one--by simple water and Word--Holy Baptism. The strong man's weapons of power have been broken down and destroyed--by the Stronger Man's humiliation, death, and resurrection. Jesus has cast out the devil from his stronghold in your heart by the power of His own Holy Spirit. He did so not by the power of His muscles, or even His heavenly armies, but rather through weakness and shame--dying on the cross in your place.
That was the price of your redemption--not in silver or gold--but with the holy, precious blood of the Lamb of God who was slain. You have now been set apart for God--like the people of Goshen. You are holy and blameless in the sight of God because Jesus, God's own Son--has suffered and died in your place--and now declares you to be holy and righteous--washed clean by His blood and righteousness.
This is the great promise and gift of the One true God. Jesus is your refuge and strength. He has delivered you out of all of your troubles--taken all your sin into Himself--and conquered it on the cross. He continues to strengthen and sustain His place in your heart through the forgiveness of sins that He richly and freely provides for you in Word and Sacrament. Blessed indeed, are those who hear this good Word of God about Jesus Christ crucified for sinners and guard it safe and treasure it until life everlasting. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Luke 11:14-28
Overcoming the Strong Man
v.21-22, 28 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overwhelms him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil...Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!
Dear friends in Christ, it is many peoples' worst nightmare--home invasion! The sound of breaking glass in the middle of the night--of strangers invading your home, binding you up and taking your belongings--hurting your family. This tragic reality is becoming an all-too common phenomenon in our day and age. And it scares us. We buy expensive home alarm systems, we buy special doors and locks, we may even buy dogs or guns to help protect us, our family, and our property--all to avoid this scary situation.
Would it surprise you to learn that human beings are not the only ones afraid of this type of thing? Indeed, Satan also fears this greatly. For he has set himself up quite nicely in every human heart that is conceived and born in sin. He has made himself quite comfortable in the heart of fallen man--your heart and my heart--and he is not too keen on giving up his spot. For he has embedded himself with lies and deceit--walling us in with accusations of our sin and barring the door with the deadbolt of death. Satan preys upon our weakness and fears--binding us with chains we cannot loose.
Fortunately for us, Satan doesn't have the final say on how things go in our hearts. No, indeed, as John writes (1 John 3:8b), "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." We see Jesus doing just that in our text where He was casting out a demon that was mute. Though Jesus' opponents immediately try to detract from this wondrous work by stating He is only able to do so by the power of Beelzebul (Satan) himself, Jesus points out the illogical nature of their denouncement. For a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. But, the good news for us is that the kingdom of the devil cannot stand against the power of God.
Jesus says, "If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil." Herein Jesus points the Jews back to the Scriptures--particularly our O.T. reading for today where God's mighty work of the plagues in Egypt was described by the unbelieving magicians as the work of the "finger of God," against which they were powerless.
You see, each of the 10 plagues that God sent against Egypt so that Pharaoh would free His people, was a direct attack on a particular Egyptian deity. The Egyptian God Hapi was the god of the Nile river. What does the Lord do? He turns it into blood? Essentially saying, "I have killed this god of yours in which you so foolishly trusted." In the O.T. reading the third plague of gnats showed the Lord's power over Geb--the Egyptian god of the earth. Up until this point Pharaoh's magicians had been able to poorly imitate the plagues God had sent, but with this plague they recognized the true power behind Moses and Aaron--"This is the finger of God."
The fourth plague of the swarms of flies demonstrated the Lord's power over the god Khepri--the Egyptian god of creation, movement of the sun, and rebirth--who had the head of a fly. More importantly, however, with this plague the Lord now distinguishes His people from the Egyptians--causing harm only to fall on the unbelievers, while preserving His faithful people--setting them apart. God ruined the land of the Egyptians and their false god was powerless to stop Him.
This is the God in whom we believe and trust--the Holy One of Israel--who casts out demons with a Word--whose little finger crushes all who oppose Him--even false gods. These acts were used by God to demonstrate that He alone is the true God and all people should worship Him. Jesus says, "if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Where Jesus is--forgiving sins--casting out demons--healing diseases--teaching the Scriptures--raising the dead to life--THERE is the kingdom of God--for God in the flesh has come upon us.
But even with all of these examples of God's great power and might throughout the Old and New Testaments, we still worry and fret and doubt, don't we? Is Jesus really strong enough? After all, look at the world around us--war between Palestine and Israel, Ukraine and Russia--we see sexual immorality embraced by our culture (and, sadly, even in our churches!). We see human life treated with disdain–with the destruction of the unborn, along with the elderly and infirm among us. When we honestly examine our lives we see the ruin and hardship of financial distress, relationship problems, health crises, and the list could go on and on. Perhaps, Jesus isn't really as strong as we first thought.
And THAT is the great lie of the Strong Man--Beelzebul--the Devil--who seeks to build a fortress in the heart of every man, woman, and child on this planet. This great Deceiver seeks nothing else than to destroy faith in Christ in peoples' hearts. He desires nothing more than to accuse you of your sin--convince you that your offenses are too great--that God couldn't possibly love YOU--that Jesus' would never die for such a horrible person as YOU. Satan wants you to fear him and to doubt the forgiveness of sins that Christ earned for you--Satan wants to surround you with death and devastation--so that you will give up on the Life that Jesus has worked so hard to give you. He wants you to abandon church--forget about God's Word (not just the commandments, but even more so, the Gospel of Jesus Christ)--He wants you to despair--and to die.
Beloved, fear not! For these are all lies of one who is already beaten--defeated by the blood of the Lamb. Satan has already lost--he has been tossed out of heaven on his keister by the Lord Jesus who has bound him and destroyed the armour of sin and death in which he trusted.
You see, Jesus is the Stronger Man--and even though Satan is strong--even though he trusts greatly in his armour--binding us to sin and death--yet Jesus sweeps in and knocks the devil flying. He undoes all his evil works--through one, extraordinary act--His suffering and death on the cross for your sins and mine.
So the next time Satan comes to you and accuses you of your sin--pointing out that sin ends only with eternal suffering and death in hell--we tremble not, unmoved we stand--for Jesus' clear Word of forgiveness and life is stronger still. Jesus took YOUR sin--ALL of it--into His own body and bore the punishment of death that you and I deserved. In return, Jesus has bestowed upon you His perfect and everlasting life and salvation.
You see, because of Jesus' holy cross and passion He is able to exorcise and free you from the domination of the evil one--by simple water and Word--Holy Baptism. The strong man's weapons of power have been broken down and destroyed--by the Stronger Man's humiliation, death, and resurrection. Jesus has cast out the devil from his stronghold in your heart by the power of His own Holy Spirit. He did so not by the power of His muscles, or even His heavenly armies, but rather through weakness and shame--dying on the cross in your place.
That was the price of your redemption--not in silver or gold--but with the holy, precious blood of the Lamb of God who was slain. You have now been set apart for God--like the people of Goshen. You are holy and blameless in the sight of God because Jesus, God's own Son--has suffered and died in your place--and now declares you to be holy and righteous--washed clean by His blood and righteousness.
This is the great promise and gift of the One true God. Jesus is your refuge and strength. He has delivered you out of all of your troubles--taken all your sin into Himself--and conquered it on the cross. He continues to strengthen and sustain His place in your heart through the forgiveness of sins that He richly and freely provides for you in Word and Sacrament. Blessed indeed, are those who hear this good Word of God about Jesus Christ crucified for sinners and guard it safe and treasure it until life everlasting. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.