Jesus’ words sound bitter to some, sweet to others

Posted on April 3, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Judica – Lent 5

Hebrews 9:11-15  +  John 8:46-59

I’m sure you wonder sometimes why so many people in the world, even in our own community, have no interest whatsoever in listening to the Word of God, why so few wish to gather with us here, or in any of the right-teaching churches around the world. At the same time, many people around the world and in our own community wonder why on earth we would gather here faithfully every Sunday to worship this God in whom we believe. To us, it seems foolish for them not to join us in worshiping this God, and to them, we appear to be the fools. And that’s the way it’s always been. The truth is, Jesus’ words sound bitter to some, and sweet to others.

To whom do Jesus’ words sound bitter? They sound bitter to those who are still the devil’s children, to those who are in league with the demons. As Jesus asked the unbelieving Jews, If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is from God hears God’s words. This is why you do not hear, because you are not from God. The natural state of man—our natural state in which we’re born—is not good, is not godly, is not ready to listen to the Word of the Lord. Our natural state—the state in which the unbelieving Jews were still in—is one of hostility to God, unbelief, blindness, corruption, and wickedness. We trust in ourselves by nature, not in God. We want to listen to our own ideas, our own beliefs, our own desires, not the Word of God. We don’t want to hear that we’re sinners, and that God damns us for our sins, and that we can only escape condemnation if God Himself saves us. We don’t want to hear that our beliefs are wrong, that our actions are evil, that the Man Jesus is also true God and mankind’s only Savior. We don’t want to hear that we must change and become different people, people who live according to God’s commandments. And so, when God speaks—when Jesus speaks words that attack people’s natural wickedness and their natural faith in themselves and what they think is right, then His words of Law and Gospel sound bitter, not sweet.

But to us who believe in Christ Jesus, His words are sweet. He who is from God hears God’s words. When you hear and believe Jesus’ words about your sin and about the free salvation He offers and everything else, you have proof that you are from God, and you give thanks to God for calling you out of Satan’s kingdom and for bringing you to repentance and faith and for placing you on a new path of love and good works that ends in eternal life. To you, the words of Jesus are sweet.

But since Jesus’ words sounded so bitter to the unbelieving Jews, they attacked Him. The Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not rightly say that you are a Samaritan and that you have a demon?” They think they’re the smart ones, the righteous ones, the elites. They look down on Jesus as a simpleton, as a lesser person. He’s so “hateful,” so “wicked,” that He must be possessed by a demon. Again, why? What evil has He done or spoken against God’s Word? None. He has simply contradicted them and their words. He has revealed their errors and spoken the truth about their lies. But the truth sounds bitter to those who embrace lies, to those who are unknowingly in league with the father of lies, the devil himself.

You know it’s true. Those who speak simple truth and highlight simple facts are viciously attacked still today. And ridiculed. And spoken down to. Say in public that someone pretending to be a girl is actually a boy, say that homosexuality is evil and wrong, that sex is only for marriage, say that every religion except for the Christian religion is wicked and from the devil, and you’ll see just how bitter those words sound to the world.

But Jesus keeps speaking, and His words keep stinging those who remain in unbelief. I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it and who judges. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

Jesus claims to honor God the Father, and that the Father seeks honor for Jesus and judges those who refuse to honor Him. Those words sound bitter to those who will not accept Jesus as Lord, because He’s telling them that they’re doomed. And He assures them that they will see death, because they do not keep His word.

On the other hand, to those who believe in Jesus, His words are sweet, because we know that the Father will spare us from judgment for Jesus’ sake. In fact, we know that the Father loves us, not because we are so lovable by nature or so obedient, but because we have been baptized into the Beloved, baptized into Christ, and because we have been brought to love Jesus. And the sweet words of Jesus assure us that we will never see death. When it comes to each of us, it will not harm us; it will grudgingly usher us into the arms of our Savior.

The Jews simply can’t believe that Jesus would dare to make such a claim, to have power death, to speak words that save people from death. “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets. And you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus answered, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your God. You do not know him; but I know him. If I were to say, ‘I do not know him,’ I would be a liar, like you. But I do know him and keep his word.”

Biting words. Bitter words. “I know God, and you don’t. I tell the truth, and you speak lies.” Jesus says the same thing to today’s world, and His Church echoes His words. “We know the true God, and all you who deny the God whom we preach and believe in—you don’t know God. And if you claim to know Him, then you’re lying.” Bitter words to those who cling to other gods, or who view themselves as their own gods.

But to Christians, even these words are sweet, because they’re true, and we can depend on them. There are not many Gods. There are not many paths to God. There is one true God and one path to Him, through His Son Jesus Christ. We know Him, and others don’t. We don’t speak those words in pride or to exalt ourselves. We speak them because the world needs to hear them, needs to hear that the path they’re on leads only to death, needs to hear where alone salvation is found, in Jesus the Christ, the promised Son of Abraham.

Jesus then presses the Jews on their relationship to Abraham and paves the way for His boldest claim of all. Your father Abraham was glad that he would see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced.” Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! And you have seen Abraham?”  Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Yes, Jesus, the Man in His 30’s, was claiming to be the eternal God, the LORD, Jehovah or Yahweh, who spoke with Abraham 2,000 years earlier, and whose birth Abraham foresaw by faith. Those words were so bitter to the unbelieving Jews that they picked up stones to throw at Jesus in order to kill Him.

But to us, those words are so sweet that we have abandoned everything in order to follow Him, because we know we’re not just following a great teacher or a great prophet. We’re following God Himself. And next week, as we remember the great suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ during Holy Week, remember throughout all of it that this Man is God, your Creator and your Redeemer.

And remember this, too, that many who find Jesus’ words to be bitter today will be changed by those very words tomorrow. St. Paul found Jesus’ words to be bitter for years while he continued to trust in his own works as a Pharisee, until Jesus’ words changed him and became sweet to Him. So keep believing, and keep speaking the bitter/sweet words of Jesus. Speak them boldly, and stand on them confidently, and pray that many who now find them bitter will finally embrace them for the sweet comfort of life and salvation that they bring. Amen.

 

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The Table of Duties: Slaves and Masters

Posted on March 30, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Laetare – Lent 4

Small Catechism Review: The Table of Duties

We come to what may be the most difficult part of the Table of Duties, the passages concerning servants or slaves and masters or lords. I call it difficult for three reasons. First, because the circumstances were so different in former times than they are now in 21st century America with regard to social structure and expectations. Second, because our own country’s experience with slavery, tied as it was to racial factors, was historically so different from the slavery mentioned in the Bible, which had little to do with race. And third, because, while the world’s moral understanding of slavery has shifted 180 degrees, it still doesn’t line up with God’s Word and with God’s morality.

First, let’s hear the relevant Bible passages from the Table of Duties from Ephesians 6:5-9:

Servants, obey those who are your lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as you would obey Christ; not with service done only before the eyes, as if pleasing men, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill, as rendering service to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive it back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or a free man [(Eph. 6:5-8)].

And you lords, do the same things toward them and leave threats aside, knowing that your own Lord is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him (Eph. 6[:9]).

The Greek word for “servant” in these verses is the same as the word for “slave.” Doulos. It could just as well be translated, “Slaves, obey…” But the verb, which is related to that noun, includes many forms of serving or service. St. Paul often calls himself the Lord’s doulos, the Lord’s “servant” or “slave.” He viewed himself as belonging, not to himself, but to the Lord. And that’s really what a slave was: someone who belonged to someone else, and was therefore bound to service someone else, who was called the person’s “master,” which is the same Greek word for “lord.” But clearly the relationship between Paul the slave and the Lord was a very good one, and, while Paul recognized that he belonged to the Lord, his service (his slaving) wasn’t an unwilling thing, nor was the Lord’s lordship a cruel thing. The fact is, no Christian belongs to himself or herself. As Paul writes, You are not your own. For you were bought at a price—the price of the holy precious blood of Jesus, who has freed us from slavery to sin and death and has made us slaves of righteousness and heirs of eternal life.

Now, it was commonly accepted in the world at Paul’s time that some people belonged, not only to God, but to other people, either permanently, as a slave, or temporarily, like a worker or a house servant. Sometimes people made themselves slaves to another in order to pay off a debt. Sometimes people were captured in war and made slaves. Or sometimes, people just became what we would call today employees of someone else. Hired hands. Domestic servants.

St. Paul’s words to the Ephesians apply to all those circumstances, even to Christian slaves, even to Christian lords or masters. Yes, a person could be a Christian and a slave. And yes, a person could be a Christian and a slave owner, a “lord according to the flesh.” Today’s twisted version of Christianity in the world denies that, and today’s world despises that. But in the truly Christian worldview, it is not the Christian’s highest goal in life to have earthly freedom or to create a society where everyone is equal. Those things do actually flow from Christian morals, but Christianity does not require them or make them a primary goal for Christians. On the contrary, the Christian faith allows for that kind of slavery and that kind of inequity in social structure.

But while the Lord allows Christians to live with those inequities in society, He doesn’t allow bad behavior in those societal roles. In both slave and master, worker and boss, He requires love. And how does He define love in those roles?

Well, for Christian slaves, and in our context, for Christian workers, who work for someone else, love looks like obedience at the workplace. It’s the Christian’s duty to make sure there’s no one who works harder than you at your job. It means showing up on time, and maybe early. It means doing everything that’s expected of you, and more, if possible. It means looking out for your boss’s best interests instead of your own. It means working diligently the whole time you’re on the clock, and not just when people are watching, but even when no one’s watching, even when no one knows, because Christ knows, and it’s Him you’re really serving.

For Christian masters or employers or bosses, love looks like fair and kind treatment of your servants or workers. Your duty is to make sure there is not an employer out there who is fairer or kinder than you. It means not having a haughty attitude toward your workers, as if you’re better or more important than they are. Your duty is to remember that you, too, have a Lord in heaven who sees how you treat those who are under you. So if you don’t want to be treated badly by your Lord, then you’d better not treat your servants badly, either.

Christians can behave this way in these earthly roles because we know that’s all they are: earthly roles that will one day pass away. Already God has made all Christians equal in Christ in His sight, of equal worth, all of us free and beloved children of God, even if a person is a poor slave here on earth. There is no partiality with God. He doesn’t favor the rich more than the poor, or the master more than the slave. He favors all the same in Christ. And when this short life is done, and we all stand before God at the Last Day, then these earthly roles will all pass away, and we’ll all live in the perfect freedom of the new heavens and the new earth.

Now, as always, more could be said about masters and servants, employers and employees, but these midweek services are only meant to serve as a general review of our Christian duties. Where you have failed to do your duties, where I have failed to do mine, let us repent and look to Christ, who fulfilled His duties perfectly and gladly, including His duty to His Father to suffer and die for our sins. Throughout this Lenten season, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as He fulfills all His blessed duties for us, so that we have all the motivation we need to fulfill our duties to Him. Amen.

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The freedom that comes from the Bread from heaven

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Laetare – Lent 4

Galatians 4:21-31  +  John 6:1-15

You all remember the story from the Old Testament when Moses handed down God’s Law from Mount Sinai and sealed with the people of Israel the covenant under which they would live for the next 1,500 years, the covenant of the Law. Do you remember what happened not long before the children of Israel reached Mount Sinai? Well, about two months earlier, they had celebrated the first Passover, when God spared the Israelite children from the plague of death that struck the firstborn of Egypt. The Lord led them miraculously through the Red Sea. And then, when they grew hungry on their journey to Mount Sinai, the Lord rained down that special bread from heaven that they called “manna.” A sign of His goodness, a token of His care, an incentive for Israel to embrace the covenant He was about to make with them, because He is a good God who cares for us poor sinners. And that bread was also a daily reminder that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

When did we hear those words last? Well, it was just three weeks ago on the first Sunday in Lent, when Jesus was forced by His dear heavenly Father to spend forty days in the wilderness without eating any bread at all. And the devil tried to take advantage and tempt Him. Forty years God provided bread for the children of Israel, while His beloved Son was allowed to suffer hunger.

Then, in today’s Gospel, we see Jesus not allowing His followers to go even one day without bread. Instead, He provides for them miraculously. Once again, Jesus suffers what He doesn’t deserve to suffer, but freely gives gifts to those who don’t deserve the gifts.

It’s a simple account. John tells us that the Passover was near. So the people of Galilee already had to be thinking about their plans to make the annual journey to Jerusalem, to commemorate the God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt, and the wilderness wanderings, and the manna, and the covenant established through Moses at Mount Sinai. With those things at least in the back of their minds, the people had spent the day with Jesus, listening to Him and being healed of their diseases. He had compassion on them, because it was growing late and there was nowhere to get food in the place where they were. So before they could even notice their hunger, Jesus had His disciples search for some food for the people, and they only came up with five loaves of bread and two fish—not nearly enough to satisfy 5,000 men, plus women and children. But Jesus blessed the bread and started handing it out to His disciples, who then handed it out to the people. And the bread and the fish just kept being handed out in that fashion until everyone had enough. And more than enough! They collected twelve baskets of leftover pieces.

And so, again, we see the kindness and goodness of Jesus, His desire and His ability to provide for those who follow Him. We see His divine power. We see the same God who provided bread from heaven to Israel now here in the flesh, still providing free gifts to His people. Who wouldn’t believe in this Man who is God? Who wouldn’t want Him for a Savior?

But John’s Gospel ends this account on a sour note. When the people saw the miracle Jesus had done, they said, “This man truly is the prophet who is to come into the world!” But Jesus knew that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, so he departed again to the mountain by himself, alone.

What happened? How did the people go from thankful and amazed to the conclusion that they should grab Jesus and force Him to be their King?

Well, this highlights one of the two errors that Israel fell into over the centuries. Throughout much of the Old Testament, they rejected the God who made the covenant with them through open idolatry, turning away from His covenant openly, openly worshiping idols, outwardly disobeying His commandments, not fulfilling their end of the covenant while still expecting God to fulfill His end.

There were still some in Israel who lived like that at the time of Jesus, but for the most part, Israel had fallen into a different error. While outwardly showing great zeal for the covenant God made with them on Mount Sinai, they inwardly put their trust in themselves and their works, in their circumcision, in their obedience to the Law, in their descent from Abraham. They thought, we’ve kept our end of the bargain. We’ve done our part in the covenant. We’ve kept the Law. Now God has to do His part. They still looked for the Christ to come, but not to save them from sin, death, and the power of the devil. They wanted a Christ who would be an earthly King, someone who would make all sorrow and sickness vanish for them, someone who would conquer their earthly oppressors, someone who would satisfy their bellies and make their lives comfortable and make their nation glorious. Isn’t that what the covenant of Mount Sinai was all about?

No. It never was. What few realized at the time of Christ was that the Law given on Mount Siani was pointing them away from the Law, to the salvation that the coming Christ would bring because of their disobedience to the Law. Everyone’s disobedience, from the open idolaters to those who simply trusted in themselves. The Law pointed ahead to its own fulfillment and to its own replacement, to a new covenant of grace and forgiveness of sins. The Law was there to guide them to Christ.

And so, about a year before fulfilling the Law and instituting that New Covenant in His blood, Jesus performed a miracle similar to the miraculous feeding of Israel in the wilderness. He fed the hungry people of Israel with bread, a sign of who He was—the same God who provided manna in the wilderness. A sign of His care and compassion, of His goodness and love, a sign that a New Covenant would soon be instituted, a sign that they should put their trust in Him, not only for their bodies, but also for their souls. That was the intended message behind the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus is the Prophet, the promised Messiah, who will save you from your sins.

But because the people were still in love with the Old Covenant, the message they received was: We should take Jesus and force Him to be our King, to provide earthly peace and comfort and security. We don’t need a Savior from sin. We don’t need a new covenant.

And the result? Jesus left those people behind. He departed again to the mountain by himself, alone.

This is what St. Paul was referring to in today’s Epistle. The people of Israel who rejected Jesus as the Christ who would offer Himself as an atoning sacrifice to save them from their sins—those people were actually enslaved under the Old Covenant. They pretended that they were keeping the Law, but they didn’t really read the Law or listen to it, because if they had, they would have recognized that their thoughts, words, and deeds were impure, that they had broken God’s Law and deserved only His wrath and punishment.

But Christians know and believe that Christ Jesus has freed us from the condemnation we deserve by suffering, not what He deserved to suffer, but what we deserved to suffer. We believe that Christ Jesus has freed us from having to “keep our end of the bargain,” because we can’t keep the Law as it must be kept in order to earn our salvation by it. We believe that we are saved by faith alone in this good and gracious Savior, who provided the sacrifice for our sins. And we don’t look to Him to take away all our problems and struggles in this world. We look to Him to help us through them, to provide the relief that we need, when we need it, even as He once provided bread in the wilderness to His followers. And we look to Him to bring us safely into His heavenly kingdom, and to the resurrection of the dead, when He will take away all our problems and struggles.

Until then, hold onto the freedom that comes from faith. Hold onto Christ as your Redeemer who loves you. Hold onto the Sacraments, where Christ gives you both forgiveness and strength to live a new life. Live in the freedom of the children of promise. Not free to sin, not free to treat people badly or free to ignore the Word of God. But free to serve your neighbor in love. This freedom from the Law, this freedom from salvation by works, this freedom through faith in Christ, is also the freedom to serve God without fear and to love freely, even as you have been freely loved. May Christ, the true Bread from heaven, keep you firm and steadfast in this faith and in this freedom, by the power of His Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

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The Table of Duties: The Family

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Oculi – Lent 3

Small Catechism Review: Table of Duties

This evening our Table of Duties turns our attention to the family and to the duties of husbands and wives, parents and children.

We begin with husbands, and our Bible passages are taken from 1 Peter 3 and Colossians 3. Husbands, dwell with your wives with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. And…do not be bitter toward them. We might also add Paul’s words to the Ephesians in chapter 5: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her…So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

It’s a given for both St. Paul and St. Peter that marriage is only between a man and a woman, and that marriage is for life, that there should be no adultery, no straying, no unfaithfulness, and no divorce among Christians, unless husband or wife falls into the sin of adultery. It’s also a given that sexual relations are to be reserved for marriage. Both apostles speak of those things in other places. So with those things understood about marriage, the question is, how is a husband to live within the bonds of holy matrimony?

Well, he is not to be gruff or uncaring or bitter toward his wife. Ever. Even when he’s tired. Even when he’s frustrated. Even when she’s said or done something he doesn’t like. Instead, he is to love and cherish her and honor her as his coheir of eternal life whom God intentionally made to be the “weaker” vessel, that is, the one who is softer in demeanor, less forceful, less physically strong. He is to love her as his own body and never do anything to harm her, but should be ready to sacrifice his own life for her. That kind of love goes beyond a feeling. It’s a daily choice that a Christian husband is to make, as a sinner who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ and who now wishes to serve the Lord Christ in his duties as a husband.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. We might also add Paul’s words to the Ephesians in chapter 5: Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

How is a wife to live within the bonds of holy matrimony? This matter of submitting to her husband is not the least bit palatable to the world anymore as the world seeks to demolish every good creation of God and every good design of the Creator. The world would have women on the front lines of battle, just as physically strong as a man, and, actually, even stronger. The world would have women be loud and forceful and in your face, submitting to no one. But the Lord would have wives submitting joyfully to their husbands in love, not as a slave submits to her master, but as the Church submits to Christ, not as one who is being forced into submission, but as one who wants more than anything to please the Lord Jesus. He would have women pursue the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Again, that’s not the message that women hear from the world or that bubbles up from our sinful flesh, but then, the world and our flesh have never been friendly to Christians or to Christ.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, lest they become discouraged, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

St. Paul speaks to fathers, but the word can also include mothers. How do fathers and mothers provoke children to wrath? By being cruel toward them, never satisfied with them, dismissing them as a bother or a nuisance. No, that is not the duty of a Christian parent. Christian parents are to raise their children with love and compassion, raise them to know the Lord, to know right and wrong from His Word, to know who God is and what He has done for our salvation. That takes teaching, it takes training, it takes discipline, and it takes sacrifice.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

The world, in its degeneration, has nearly abandoned this simple teaching, that children are to obey their parents. But even if the world makes children the masters and the parents the servants, Christian children are to be different. They have been given a duty straight from the Lord, to honor their father and mother, which includes obedience, but also more than that. It includes respect. It includes gladly setting aside their own desires in order to carry out their parents’ wishes. Not sometimes, but all the time.

Now, more could be said about husbands and wives, parents and children, but these midweek services are only meant to serve as a general review of our Christian duties. Where you have failed to do your duties, where I have failed to do mine, let us repent and look to Christ, who fulfilled His duties perfectly and gladly, including His duty to His Father to suffer and die for our sins. Throughout this Lenten season, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as He fulfills all His blessed duties for us, so that we have all the motivation we need to fulfill our duties to Him. Amen.

 

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Be sure you’re only falsely accused of walking in darkness

Posted on March 20, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Oculi – Lent 3

Ephesians 5:1-9  +  Luke 11:14-28

No one likes to be falsely accused of things. It always stings, because you know the accusation isn’t true. The accuser is lying about you, whether knowingly or unknowingly. But, of all the false accusations that have ever been made in the world, can any be more obviously false than the accusation that Jesus was working together with the demons? I mean, really. His entire life, Jesus had walked in the light, had walked as a child of God, doing only good things, decent things, showing compassion, walking according to God’s commandments at all times, being kind to people. Every word He preached was in perfect harmony with the Old Testament Scriptures. He even drove out foul demons from people. And they still accused Him of working with the demons.

But who are the ones who are truly in league with the demons? Well, they’re the ones who aren’t in league with Jesus, who are impenitent and unbelieving. They’re the ones who walk as the demons walk, who distort the Holy Scriptures, who behave as the demons behave, as children of darkness rather than as children of light. So let’s dig into today’s Gospel a little bit and heed the Holy Spirit’s warning: Be sure you’re only falsely accused of walking in darkness!

Jesus was casting out a demon as our Gospel begins. It wasn’t the first. He had been amazing people for a long time already with His healing miracles, including the casting out of demons. What’s more, He had shown Israel what kind of a Man He was. Kind and good, merciful and gentle, although still a forceful preacher of both the Law and the Gospel. It was that preaching that turned so many in Israel against Him. He told them their works weren’t good enough. He told them their physical ties to Abraham weren’t good enough. He exposed the darkness of their actions and of their hearts. And He called them to repentance, telling them about the goodness of God, who didn’t want to punish them for their sins, but who would forgive them freely through faith in Christ Jesus—and only through faith in Christ.

For that, some accused Him of working with the devil. He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Others demanded a sign from heaven, as if casting out demons wasn’t sign enough.

But Jesus very patiently points out the flaws in their accusation. If Jesus is driving out a devil by the power of the Devil, then the devil’s kingdom is divided. But a divided kingdom cannot stand. And Satan’s kingdom must stand, according to Scripture, until the Seed of the woman crushes the serpent’s head. Then and only then and only in that way can Satan’s kingdom fall. So Jesus cannot be fighting against the devil by the power of the devil. His power must come from somewhere else, and there’s only one other place it can come from. From the Finger of God, that is, from the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, Jesus’ power over the demons was just more proof that He was the promised Seed of the woman, anointed with the Holy Spirit, who would crush the serpent’s head.

That should be obvious. After all, as Jesus points out, if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, well-armed, guards his palace, his possessions are secure. But when a man who is stronger than he comes against him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides the spoils. Jesus was practically shouting the message that He was the promised Christ who would overpower the devil and save fallen mankind from him, and from death, and from the condemnation we deserve for our sins. Jesus’ casting out of demons by His own authority was a powerful proof of that.

But again, so was His perfect preaching, in perfect line with the Law and the Prophets, and so was His perfect life of love.

All of those things combined cried out to the people of Israel, “This is your God walking among! This is your Savior standing in your midst!” And that means, you can’t remain neutral. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Either you listen to your God, or you oppose Him. Either you repent and believe in Christ, or you remain God’s enemy. Either you follow Him and learn to imitate Him and walk with Him in the light, or you remain a child of the devil, and you walk with him in the darkness.

Jesus then issues a somber warning for those who would remain neutral, or who would continue to walk in darkness. Whenever an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house out of which I came.’ And when he arrives, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they go in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. In other words, yes, Jesus drives out demons. But that’s just the beginning. If He drives out a demon and the person remains neutral, if He drives out a demon and a person’s heart isn’t filled with the Holy Spirit and His Word, if He drives out a demon and the person still continues to live as if he were in league with the demons, then that person will end up worse than he was before.

A woman in the crowd that day thought she would praise Jesus by praising His mother. She cried out, Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed! But Jesus corrected her. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.

You see, praising Jesus with the lips only is, in the end, just as useless as falsely accusing Jesus. Yes, those who lump Him in with the demons will perish. Those who openly reject Him will perish, if they do not repent. But so will those who praise Him with their lips, but who continue to walk as the demons walk, as children of darkness.

If you walk, impenitently, as a child of darkness, if you behave as one in league with the demons, breaking God’s commandments and refusing to repent, then the charge of working with the demons isn’t really false, is it? But if you walk as a child of the light, in daily contrition and repentance, seeking to avoid all sexual immorality and all uncleanness or greed, as Paul wrote in today’s Epistle, seeking to avoid all filthiness, and foolish talking, and coarse joking, if you a live life of open thanksgiving to God in Christ, then, when people still accuse you of working with the devil, or of being a mean and hateful person, then you can rejoice, because they’re lying about you, and in so doing, they’re treating you just like they treated Jesus, because you’re walking as Jesus did.

So what’s the lesson for today? Those who want to make Jesus the bad guy are both wrong and foolish, because not only is He not the bad guy. He’s the only One who can save anyone from sin, death, and the devil. You know that already. You’ve been baptized in His name. You’re here to worship Him this morning. And if you believe in Him, then the Lord calls on you also to imitate Him, as dearly loved children, to not only hear the word of God, but to keep the word of God, and to walk as Jesus did, at all times, both outwardly and inwardly. When you fail, don’t ignore it. Repent of it. When you struggle, pray. When you need strength to walk with Jesus, here is His word! Here is His Sacrament, where He offers both forgiveness and strength. Make use of them. And then recommit yourself today to go out from here as a child of the light, that all may see your light and know who Christ is by watching you who bear His name as Christians. You may still be falsely accused by the world of being mean, and hateful, and foolish. But if you are, you’re in the best of company. Walk with Jesus in the light, as is fitting for baptized saints, and you will overcome, not only the world, not only the devil, but even death itself, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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