Lent III (Oculi) [Luke 11:14-28] (20-Mar-2022)

 

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

In these first three Sundays in Lent, there is a particular mention in our readings of the devil and Satan. In the readings for the First Sunday in Lent, we read about Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness, in Matthew chapter 4. We read there about the way in which the devil tempted Jesus with different temptations, and how Jesus won the victory over him, and sent him away, using the Word of God.

In the Second Sunday in Lent, we read particularly about a woman who goes to Jesus and prays to him, asking for him to heal her daughter who was oppressed by a demon.

In our reading today, we read about some wonderful teaching that Jesus gives about his victory as the Son of God over the evil one.

Now, if we go to our Gospel reading today, we see that just before our passage, we read about how Jesus was teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, and also teaching them many things about prayer. And this gives us a good background to our reading today, because prayer is the wonderful gift that Jesus gives to us, which connects us with him in his mission, and in his work.

So for example, when Jesus was with the devil in the wilderness, we see that he won them victory over the devil. The temptations were very strong and even quite subtle. Many of us fall into all kinds of temptations, and we are often very weak. But Jesus is the strong one, and he is the only one who wins the victory over the devil. Now, for us Christians, for us disciples of Jesus, followers of Jesus, believers in Jesus, Jesus actually shares his victory with us. The victory over the evil one has already been won, and already belongs to us. We should always have it in our mind when we are struggling in life, or find ourselves with all kinds of troubles, that the battle has already been won, the victory is already ours. Our starting point is always one of victory, not of defeat.

And so, many times in our lives, Jesus calls us to turn to him in prayer, and to train us in prayer, just like he did in the reading last week with the Canaanite woman. The reason for the training is not because Jesus is stingy or snobbish, or reluctant to help us, but he wants to lead us and train us and strengthen us and bless us. And so, before our reading begins today, we read how Jesus also teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, and teaches them many things about prayer. For example, he says: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Now, at the beginning of our reading today, it says: Now [Jesus] was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marvelled. Here we see that Jesus performs an exorcism. In this case, it was a situation where an evil spirit, or as it is called here, a demon, causes a person to be mute. They were not able to speak and they weren’t able to hear.

Now, as Christians today, we should realise that sometimes the devil and his demons cause all kinds of trouble and mischief for people. In this case, it caused a person to be deaf and unable to speak. But this doesn’t mean that every situation we come across today where a person is deaf or mute means that they have an evil spirit, and need to be exorcised. In another passage, in Mark chapter 7, we read about how Jesus heals another man who is mute, but in that situation, there is no mention of evil spirits or demons. In that case, Jesus simply heals the person.

Now, it is true, that if it weren’t for the fall into sin, and the way in which the devil tricked and seduced and tempted our first parents in the Garden of Eden into sin, we wouldn’t have all these kinds of sicknesses, and troubles, and illnesses, and disabilities. We wouldn’t even have death. And so, when Jesus comes, he actually heals sicknesses and illnesses, he casts out demons, he gives a remedy for people’s troubles, and he restores people who are disabled in their bodies in various ways. In the first letter of John, he writes: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus is destroying the works of the devil when he restores people and heals them and casts out the demons.

Now, in John chapter 14, we read where Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. On one hand, Jesus says that his disciples will also join him in these kinds of works. On the other hand, Jesus says that on the Last Day, there will be various false prophets. And Jesus says: On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

So, first of all, when it comes to the church today, Jesus says that who believe in Him will also do the works that he does; and greater works that these will he do. In the Book of Acts, we see some incredible miracles that the Apostles perform. It says: They even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. These wonderful miracles that the Apostles performed was the way in which God established the authority of the Apostles. Paul says about his own ministry: The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.

Now, the reason why the Apostles were given these wonderful signs and miracles was not simply so that we would always be performing these signs and miracles too. Sometimes, miraculous things happen, and they can even happen through us. But sometimes, they don’t, and that’s okay. The reason why Moses performed miracles was so that we would listen to Moses. The reason why the Apostles performed miracles was so that we would listen to the Apostles. 

However, in the case of Jesus, we know that he is true God and true man in one person. On the last day, he will actually raise our mortal bodies to be like his. Even in this life, we read in Romans, If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. If we are deaf, we know that when we are raised from the dead, we will hear better and clearer than we have ever heard before. If we are blind, we know that when we are raised from the dead, we will see better and clearer than we have ever seen before. We will have no sin, no weakness, no sadness. As St John writes in Revelation: He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

So, when we preach these things, and hear these things, and speak these things, and learn these things, even on this earth, in the church, we are actually doing greater works than what Jesus did. He cast out demons, he made the deaf here, he made the blind see, but here in his church, when we preach his Word, and speak the forgiveness of sins, we actually give to people the full resurrection of their bodies from the dead. That’s what happens in Baptism too: we are not simply washed with water, but we are raised from the dead, through the Word of God, so that we have eternal life with Jesus. Even in the Lord’s Supper, we are given the body and blood of Christ, for the forgiveness of sins, and also as a guarantee and down-payment of the resurrection from the dead which is to come. So these are wonderful things that we do in the church.

And so, also, many times, we are dealing with people who are troubled, and who need supernatural help, the kind of help that only Jesus gives. In the case of helping people who are troubled by evil spirits, it is only Jesus who has the power to help them. Particularly, we are seeing many people today in our country who are troubled by the evil one, because in their naivete, many people kind of experiment with dark things, or occult things, like Ouija boards, or strange cards, or spells, or seek mediums and clairvoyants, and things like that. What they don’t realise that is that for them, these things don’t come for free, but always come at a price for the person who does them, and many times they find themselves in trouble, in a kind of spiritual bondage, and don’t know how to free themselves. Sometimes, they don’t even want to be free, and don’t know that they are enslaved, and can’t see it themselves, but people around them can see it.

In these cases, we ask for Jesus to help them in prayer, we commend people to him, and we ask for him to work with all of his power, according to his will, and in his time. The glory belongs to Him alone, and not to us. As it says in Psalm 115: Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory. Sometimes, these things are resolved quickly, and sometimes these things are resolved slowly, depending on the will of Jesus. We are not the experts in these things, but he is the expert, and he leads us and trains us and makes us of us how he wills, not for our glory, not to bolster our pride, and to do something special that makes us look powerful, or whatever. We ask Jesus in prayer to bless a person, or to bless a house, or to bless a particular place, and we leave it to him to cast out the evil one, as he has promised. In the meantime, Jesus has placed into his church’s hands the wonderful gifts of His holy Word, the absolution—the forgiveness of sins spoken by the pastor for the benefit of sinners, and the sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. These are the wonderful medicines that Jesus has given to us for the healing of his people in body and soul. These are the gifts we turn to regularly and as often we can, which receive from the hands of Jesus himself.

So what happens in our reading today is that when Jesus casts out a spirit from this man, some people say: He cast out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. All the way throughout the life of Jesus, we often see those who receive his Word gladly, and those who grumble. Even on the Day of Pentecost, the same happens: there are those that listen to the Apostles, and those who think that they are drunk. Here, there are people that think that Jesus is using demonic power to cast out the demons.

Jesus explains: Every kingdom divided against itself it laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Here, Jesus, is saying that it is a completely crazy idea that the devil, or demons, or Beelzebul, would want to be going around casting out their own spirits from people. They are trying to build up and establish a kingdom of darkness. Why would they want to be going around destroying their own work?

Even Jesus mentions the exorcisms that the Jews themselves carried out, and that there is some effectiveness in what they were doing. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. With the Jews, there was an acknowledgement that there were evil spirits, and that they needed to be cast out. But with Jesus, he is not simply using a formula, or trying to solve a problem. He is the Lord of heaven and earth—he is not subject to a particular formula, or anything. He doesn’t come to them, trying to work out how to solve a problem. He knows the problem before they have even thought about it, and he casts them out because he has the power in Himself.

So Jesus says: If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus is saying that his work comes about by the finger of God. In Matthew, it says: the Spirit of God. It is amazing to think just how much God can achieve and work with his finger, and we know that the Holy Spirit is the powerful Spirit of the living God. And so, Jesus is encouraging these people, and all of us too, to think about what’s going on, and to ponder it over in our own mind. If Jesus is destroying the works of the evil one, does he then come from the evil one? No—He is from God, He is God, He is the Son of God, and He works with the finger of God, and with the Spirit of God. And when he works in their midst, and even in our midst, where He promises to be with two or three who are gathered, where he promises to be with his Word and Sacrament, the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus is not building up the kingdom of the evil one, but the kingdom of God.

And so, Jesus teaches a few more things about how all these things work, for our benefit. He says: 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. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Here, Jesus calls the devil a strong man, who is fully armed, guarding his own palace, so that his goods are safe. The devil is strong, because of his lies, because of his deceit, because of his deceptions. But Jesus is stronger, because his kingdom is built on truth and is a kingdom of light. And so, Jesus has a greater power than the evil one. He is a stronger one who attacks the devil and overcomes him, and he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Jesus rescues people, bringing them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, as St Paul says in Acts 26. Jesus is building a kingdom which is completely the opposite of Satan’s kingdom. This is why Jesus then says: Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Jesus then gives a warning. He says: When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes though waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

What Jesus is saying here is that a person should never be empty. If the devil is kicked out, Jesus must come in. We must be filled with the Word of God as Christians, and continually learn it, and be fed by it. We should continually receive the absolution, and the forgiveness of sins, and return constantly to the wonderful gift of our baptism, and draw great comfort and strength from it. We should continually be fed by the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. These gifts Jesus gives to us to fill us, and to build us up into his kingdom.

But if we remain empty, even though the devil has been driven out, there is a great danger for us to be filled by darkness once again, and in an even worse state than before. So, if a person is rescued from a great darkness, they can’t just go back to way things always were with them, and just get filled with the darkness. The life that Jesus gives to a person is a new life, it is a wonderful life, it is a life that comes from the Word of God.

And so, right at the end of our reading, we have a little incident which is almost a bit random. A lady in the crowd calls out: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed! In other words, she says: Your mother would be proud of you! What a wonderful woman she must be. Jesus says: Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

Here, we see the whole point that Jesus has been saying the whole time. Our great weapon against the evil one is the Word of God! The weapon against the devil isn’t Mary, the mother of Jesus. She also heard the word of God, and said, Let me be to me according to your Word. She also pondered all these things and treasured them in her heart. She filled her heart with the Word of God. She heard the word of God and kept it.

And so, for us too, we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and have been brought into the kingdom of light. We have been transferred from the power of Satan to God. We are baptised into Christ, and with Jesus Christ, we are being built into a wonderful kingdom. We have his Word and his Sacraments. And we commend our bodies and souls, our loved ones, and all those who are troubled in all kinds of ways, into his loving hands. The kingdom, the power and the glory all belong to Him. Amen. 

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.