St Luke 11:14-28/Exodus 8:16-24/Ephesians 5:1-9
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Our Lord suffered many accusations before His crucifixion. It was said that He broke the Sabbath; that He blasphemed; that He was a deceiver; that He claimed to be the king of the Jews; that He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Son of Man; that He misled the Jewish people and forbade payment of taxes to Caesar; that He was a rebel against Rome. But no charge was so blatantly evil as this: He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.
This is sinister. It is wicked. Satanic. For it takes that which is good – Christ Jesus, God in human flesh, who alone is good – and calls Him evil; in league with the devil, the lord of the flies. Isaiah writes, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness (5:20)!
But with a bit of Sherlockian logic, our Lord invalidates their claim and proves it to be illogical. Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided house falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
Jesus goes on, And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? There where other exorcists in Israel; some even cast out demons in the name of Jesus (Lk 9:49). Are they also in league with Satan? Either no one casts out demons by Beelzebul or everyone casting out demons does so by Beelzebul. And if Jesus is in league with Satan, then the prince of darkness undermines his own power and destroys his own kingdom. Satan is not against Satan. How then could anyone cast out demons? Their claim is utterly illogical.
Even though their accusation is ludicrous, their dichotomy is correct. Either one is with Christ Jesus, confessing Him as the Stronger One, the Mightier One, who conquers sin and hell, overcomes death by His death, and brings life and immortality; or one is an ally of Satan, the prince of demons, ruler of this world. There is no neutrality. No middle ground. No fence sitting.
Our Lord reserves harsh condemnation for the Church in Laodicea: I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Rev 3:15-16). Jesus is either the Lord God of heaven and earth in human flesh. Or He is a liar or a lunatic. There are no other options. Where one stands on the question is of eternal significance.
For there is a warning here for us, for the Church. To live with our differences in doctrine and practice, to agree to disagree, to have two homes under one roof, is to court disaster and ruin. A paper-plastered unity is no unity at all. It actually breeds disunity. True unity lies in the Word of God believed, taught, and confessed.
What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, writes St Paul (2 Cor 6:14-16a).
The Word of God teaches that we are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power, the kingdom of the devil until Christ claims us as His own. We would be lost forever unless delivered from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation. If you are not with Him, if you do not abide in His Word, then you are with the one who seeks to scatter the Church, you are in league with Satan.
Do not harden your heart as did Pharaoh. Repent. Confess that you cannot confess. Believe that you cannot believe. You are mute. You are blind. You are lame. Yet the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel.
For in Christ, the Kingdom of God has come upon you. He has come to deliver all who are mute, blind, and deaf. He is here for you, not in destruction as with Egypt and the plagues, but in mercy and healing. For the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. He anointed Christ in His Baptism. He is inseparably bound to the Word of God, that is, united to the very Word Made Flesh who attacks the strong man and overcomes him, and has taken away his armor in which he trusted and divided his spoil.
You are his palace and his spoil. The Father says to the Son: You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will make the Gentiles Your heritage, and the ends of the earth Your possession (Ps 2). The strong man, that is, the devil, has been broken. And his armor in which he trusted has been taken away.
What is his armor? In what does the devil trust? He trusts in the logic of the Law and the reasonableness of justice. He trusts in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. He remembers in the garden, before the fall, the Law which said, You may eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Gn 2:16-17). He remembers how he seduced our first parents to trust their emotions and their intellect over the certainty of God’s Word.
The devil was prepared to face the God of wrath, but not the man of mercy. The devil is not as strong as God become a Man.
Our Lord has taken away that in which the devil trusted. He has taken away the Law and justice and replaced them with mercy and sacrifice. Is it logical? No. It is grace. Undeserved, unmerited, sheer grace. It is the Righteous One dying for the unrighteous. It is the Chief Exorcist making Himself the plaything of demons in order to release you from Satan’s grasp. This is the Strong Man whom we preach: Jesus Christ and Him crucified, a stumbling block to those demanding signs and folly to those seeking wisdom, but to those who are called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:23-24).
By His illogical cross the King reigns and the kingdom of Satan is overthrown. So to in you. The unclean spirit has been driven out, your King and Lord takes up residence in you. You have been exorcised from darkness into light through Holy Baptism. You remain in Him and He in you by hearing His Word and keeping it.
Again, in Christ the kingdom of God has come upon you. For God’s kingdom comes when He gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace, we believe His holy Word. Thus you are a child of the light and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Christ and God.
Fear not, for though the hordes of hell swarm bout you like flies and false doctrine besieges you from without and within – for all false doctrine originates in men’s hearts – your Valiant One, the Stronger One, has endured all slander and accusations and attacks for you, on your behalf, and has undone the kingdom of Satan. He keeps you firm in His pure Word and doctrine. In this way, beloved children, you are imitators of God, walking in the love of Christ, gathered together with Him in fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Our Lord suffered many accusations before His crucifixion. It was said that He broke the Sabbath; that He blasphemed; that He was a deceiver; that He claimed to be the king of the Jews; that He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Son of Man; that He misled the Jewish people and forbade payment of taxes to Caesar; that He was a rebel against Rome. But no charge was so blatantly evil as this: He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.
This is sinister. It is wicked. Satanic. For it takes that which is good – Christ Jesus, God in human flesh, who alone is good – and calls Him evil; in league with the devil, the lord of the flies. Isaiah writes, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness (5:20)!
But with a bit of Sherlockian logic, our Lord invalidates their claim and proves it to be illogical. Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided house falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
Jesus goes on, And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? There where other exorcists in Israel; some even cast out demons in the name of Jesus (Lk 9:49). Are they also in league with Satan? Either no one casts out demons by Beelzebul or everyone casting out demons does so by Beelzebul. And if Jesus is in league with Satan, then the prince of darkness undermines his own power and destroys his own kingdom. Satan is not against Satan. How then could anyone cast out demons? Their claim is utterly illogical.
Even though their accusation is ludicrous, their dichotomy is correct. Either one is with Christ Jesus, confessing Him as the Stronger One, the Mightier One, who conquers sin and hell, overcomes death by His death, and brings life and immortality; or one is an ally of Satan, the prince of demons, ruler of this world. There is no neutrality. No middle ground. No fence sitting.
Our Lord reserves harsh condemnation for the Church in Laodicea: I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Rev 3:15-16). Jesus is either the Lord God of heaven and earth in human flesh. Or He is a liar or a lunatic. There are no other options. Where one stands on the question is of eternal significance.
For there is a warning here for us, for the Church. To live with our differences in doctrine and practice, to agree to disagree, to have two homes under one roof, is to court disaster and ruin. A paper-plastered unity is no unity at all. It actually breeds disunity. True unity lies in the Word of God believed, taught, and confessed.
What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, writes St Paul (2 Cor 6:14-16a).
The Word of God teaches that we are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power, the kingdom of the devil until Christ claims us as His own. We would be lost forever unless delivered from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation. If you are not with Him, if you do not abide in His Word, then you are with the one who seeks to scatter the Church, you are in league with Satan.
Do not harden your heart as did Pharaoh. Repent. Confess that you cannot confess. Believe that you cannot believe. You are mute. You are blind. You are lame. Yet the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel.
For in Christ, the Kingdom of God has come upon you. He has come to deliver all who are mute, blind, and deaf. He is here for you, not in destruction as with Egypt and the plagues, but in mercy and healing. For the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. He anointed Christ in His Baptism. He is inseparably bound to the Word of God, that is, united to the very Word Made Flesh who attacks the strong man and overcomes him, and has taken away his armor in which he trusted and divided his spoil.
You are his palace and his spoil. The Father says to the Son: You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will make the Gentiles Your heritage, and the ends of the earth Your possession (Ps 2). The strong man, that is, the devil, has been broken. And his armor in which he trusted has been taken away.
What is his armor? In what does the devil trust? He trusts in the logic of the Law and the reasonableness of justice. He trusts in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. He remembers in the garden, before the fall, the Law which said, You may eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Gn 2:16-17). He remembers how he seduced our first parents to trust their emotions and their intellect over the certainty of God’s Word.
The devil was prepared to face the God of wrath, but not the man of mercy. The devil is not as strong as God become a Man.
Our Lord has taken away that in which the devil trusted. He has taken away the Law and justice and replaced them with mercy and sacrifice. Is it logical? No. It is grace. Undeserved, unmerited, sheer grace. It is the Righteous One dying for the unrighteous. It is the Chief Exorcist making Himself the plaything of demons in order to release you from Satan’s grasp. This is the Strong Man whom we preach: Jesus Christ and Him crucified, a stumbling block to those demanding signs and folly to those seeking wisdom, but to those who are called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:23-24).
By His illogical cross the King reigns and the kingdom of Satan is overthrown. So to in you. The unclean spirit has been driven out, your King and Lord takes up residence in you. You have been exorcised from darkness into light through Holy Baptism. You remain in Him and He in you by hearing His Word and keeping it.
Again, in Christ the kingdom of God has come upon you. For God’s kingdom comes when He gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace, we believe His holy Word. Thus you are a child of the light and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Christ and God.
Fear not, for though the hordes of hell swarm bout you like flies and false doctrine besieges you from without and within – for all false doctrine originates in men’s hearts – your Valiant One, the Stronger One, has endured all slander and accusations and attacks for you, on your behalf, and has undone the kingdom of Satan. He keeps you firm in His pure Word and doctrine. In this way, beloved children, you are imitators of God, walking in the love of Christ, gathered together with Him in fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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