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Sermon for Oculi – Lent 5
Ephesians 5:1-9 + Luke 11:14-28
Of the first five Sundays in the Lenten season, only one of them, the 4th Sunday in Lent, doesn’t mention the devil, or the demons that follow him. All the rest do. That’s to remind us who our real enemy is in this world. It’s easy to identify the human enemies. But the devil attacks us in ways unseen, through temptations and through trials, through causing such chaos and violence and deception and celebration of wickedness in the world that the Christian almost wants to give up.
And, yes, the devil can attack people in more invasive ways, too. When Jesus was conducting His ministry on earth, we come across almost an explosion of demonic possession, something experienced neither before nor since, at least on that scale, where demons took control of people’s bodies, sometimes spoke through a person’s mouth, and sometimes, as in today’s Gospel, prevented a person from speaking at all. Now, demon possession is not impossible today, but those who cling to Jesus in faith, who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them since the time of their baptism, don’t have to worry about outright possession. Still, that doesn’t necessarily rule out lesser physical, or even non-physical afflictions, where a demon targets people to annoy them or frighten them. Truly we are living in enemy territory, ruled by Satan, the prince of this world.
Still, no matter how much and in how many ways the devil and his demons attack, today’s Gospel holds out the comfort and the strength we need. We may be living in enemy territory, but Jesus and His Spirit will keep the demons at bay.
Jesus casts out another demon in today’s Gospel, one that was keeping a man from being able to speak. Most people were amazed. No one had seen anything like the power Jesus was displaying, casting out demons, not with prayer, not elaborate spells or incantations, but with a simple, powerful word. They knew there are only two possible sources of supernatural power: Either God, or the devil. Many of the Jews believed Jesus’ power came from God, but some started to claim it was coming from the other source. He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Still others remained skeptical and would only believe God was the source if Jesus gave them (still more) proof from heaven.
Jesus addresses their accusation. He said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to ruin, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? In other words, it makes no sense to claim that Jesus’ power comes from the devil. That would mean the devil was divided against himself, which can’t be true. A divided kingdom soon falls. But Satan’s kingdom isn’t falling, at least, not from self-destruction. His kingdom stands, and will stand until the end of the age. That argument alone should have made it clear how ridiculous their accusation was.
But Jesus offers another argument: And 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. No one, try as they might, had been able to do what Jesus was doing, casting out demon after demon. If the devil was giving Jesus the power to cast out his own demons, then the devil was doing more for the Jews than God was! But that wasn’t the case. It was God, the Finger of God, the Spirit of God who was empowering Jesus to cast out the demons, and that meant, “the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The reign of God in the world had already begun, with Jesus as the King in this kingdom. So those who accused the King of being on the devil’s side? They should take care! As it says in Psalm 2 about the Messiah, I have set My King, the Son of God, on My holy hill of Zion. So Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Jesus goes on to demonstrate just how strong He was—not in order to boast, but because people needed to get on the right side of things. There are only two sides in this cosmic battle: God’s side, with Jesus at the head, and the devil’s side, which is destined to be destroyed, but which will take down as many people with it as possible. He presents the devil as a strong man, holding men prisoner in his fortified house. But Jesus is stronger. He comes against the devil, overpowers him, strips him of his armor, and sets his prisoners free, by freeing men’s bodies from demons that were possessing them, yes, but on a much grander scale, by removing the devil’s power to accuse any who trust in Jesus, or to drag them away to hell. Jesus came to destroy the devil’s works. And all who believe in him can say with the apostle Paul: God has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Another warning to get on the ride side, before it’s too late: Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. There is no fence-sitting when it comes to Christianity. Either you follow Jesus alone as the King of the kingdom of God, and trust in Him alone, who suffered and died for your sins, or you’re on the losing side, the devil’s side.
And it’s not enough to have a demon cast out of you. That doesn’t make you safe forever. Jesus goes on to describe what happens when a demon is cast out. It wanders around for a while, and then checks back on the person from whom it was cast out. And if it finds the person’s heart swept and put in order, then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. As long as we live in enemy territory, that is, as long as we live on this earth, during this last age of the world, everyone is susceptible to the devil’s attacks. And if a person’s heart is vacant, then the devil will be happy to fill that empty space. And the only way to fill it so that the devil can’t get in, is by letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly, by which the Spirit of God will also dwell in you richly. The Word of Christ and the Spirit of God will keep the demons at bay.
Jesus drives home that point in the last part of today’s Gospel. A woman in the crowd, who was so overcome with emotion by Jesus’ words, so impressed with His knowledge and wisdom, thought she should praise Him by praising His mother. A certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!” Yes, Mary was blessed, but she wasn’t more blessed than anyone who knows and trusts in Jesus. He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Only one woman in the world had the chance to be Jesus’ mother. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. In fact, God gives everyone this way to be truly blessed: by hearing, and also keeping, the word of God. That you can do! That, by God’s grace, is within your grasp!
Now, reading the word of God is very good, and something all of us can do in our homes to a much greater extent than anyone could in Jesus’ day. But it’s still “hearing it” that He focuses on. That includes hearing the reading of Scripture itself, but also what you’re doing right now, hearing the preaching of God’s word, on the basis of God’s word, filling your heart with it, and your mind, while battling against the devil’s temptations to turn your thoughts elsewhere.
Then there’s the keeping of the word of God, which is just as important. That means recognizing what sins are and repenting of them. It means faith in the Lord Jesus and approaching God only for His sake, who died for your sins and who lives as your Mediator and Advocate before the Father. And it means walking as children of the light, as Paul said in today’s Epistle, thinking about how you live, the things you do, the things you think and say, and guarding your life, so that you put aside all the deeds of darkness, and selfishness, and filthiness, to walk in the light, to walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God, to be a sweet-smelling aroma.
The demons that roam the earth are fearful and cruel. But you don’t have to fear them, if you rely on the One who is far stronger than they. Through His Word and through His Sacraments, Jesus and His Spirit will keep the demons at bay. And you’ll make it safely through enemy territory to the safety of your Father’s heavenly home. Amen.
