Exodus 8:16-24/Ephesians 5:1-9/St Luke 11:14-28
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Surprisingly they could mimic some of the plagues. By their secret arts, Pharaoh’s magicians could also turn the Nile River water to blood. By their secret arts they made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Thus Pharaoh either paid no attention or hardened his heart.
The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. Their secret arts are not so secret. They did not serve the God who gives life and calls into being that which does not exist; but bowed to the Prince of Flies, Lord of the Demons - Satan. The magicians said Pharaoh: “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh would not listen; his heart was hardened. He would persist in rejecting the God of Israel, even to his own destruction and the ruin of his land.
The miracle God performed through Moses and Aaron brought some to faith. Others persisted in their unbelief. So it is in the Gospel. Our Lord Jesus performs a great miracle. He cast a demon out of a mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. The people marveled. They had seen with their own eyes the words of the prophet Isaiah fulfilled: Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy (Is 35:4-6).
Yet others hardened their hearts in unbelief, saying, He casts out demons by prince Baal; insinuating that Jesus had made a pact with the devil; that He was in league with Satan. He was an agent of the Evil One.
Others, confused by the conflicting opinions of the crowd, sought to test Him, saying, “Give us a sign from heaven. Prove to us your on God’s side and not the demons.”
The omniscient Lord Jesus, challenges their presumptions. If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? The choice is clearly between God and Satan, even as Pharaoh’s magicians understood. Israel had a history of division and false worship. The golden bulls set up in Bethel and Dan were sites of worship of Baal. Through such idolatry, Israel became a kingdom divided against itself. Eventually both north and south were desolated because of their apostasy.
This is Satan’s m.o. He pits Adam against Eve. Cain against Abel. Jacob against Esau. He is not divided against himself. There is not a civil war in Satan’s kingdom. He is not his own enemy. Christ is his enemy and he would have you fighting yourselves as if you were the enemy. He wants you miserable, afflicted, torn down and discouraged. He wants you fearful and doubting, fighting each other.
And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, Jesus asks, by whom do your sons cast them out? For certainly there were other exorcists in Israel; some of whom even use Jesus’ Name! Did St John not say, Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your Name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us (Lk 9:49). Even the sons of Sceva the high priest invoked the name of Jesus (Ac 19:13-17)! Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus had not triggered a civil war in the demonic realm. Rather, Satan, that strong man, fully armed with his lies and deceptions by which he has made us his captives, guards his palace. He thinks we are all safely his. He forgets the prophesy of the Skull Crusher. He neglected the preaching of Isaiah and St John the Baptizer, that the Stronger One would come. And He was already bested by this One in the wilderness.
For Christ, the Stronger One, has come. He will show His strength not with signs from heaven and displays of power. His strength is displayed in weakness. He will disarm the strong man by suffering all the devil’s strength and attacks. He will empty him of his poison until he has no strength left; until he is spent. Satan will use everything he has to kill Jesus on the Cross. He will unleash the full armory of his kingdom against the true King. The full venom of his malice and lies. But the Stronger Man will overcome him. He will take away his armor. Satan will fall on his own sword. He will have no lies left, no accusations. The devil will be the mute one.
Even now Christ is taking hold of the spoils of war, liberating captives from the possession of Satan. Jesus is the Stronger One prophesied by Isaiah and John. As Psalm 2 says, Ask of Me and I will make the nations Your heritage, and the ends of the earth Your possession (Ps 2:8); and elsewhere, The reason why the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8).
But Jesus warns that the unclean spirits do not easily give up their prey. Rather, when driven forth, they are in misery and seek a way to return to their human host, the soul of men. Should they come back and find the house swept and put in order, but not filled with the Stronger Man, the condition of that person is even worse, for Satan overwhelms him and haunts his house with even more demons.
In other words, it is not enough that Satan be driven out. Surely Holy Baptism accomplishes that, as the liturgy confesses and the Word of God promises. For the watery finger of God was traced upon your forehead and heart, marking you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified; bought back, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death.
But the unclean spirit must not only be driven out, the Holy Spirit of Christ must find a domicile in you. That means that when the demon rings the doorbell, the Strong Man must go answer the door, or else you have no hope. If the Stronger Man, the Lord Jesus, dwells in you, then you have nothing to fear from demons.
A woman in the crowd cried out: Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed! She was thankful for the Lord and His teaching. Yet our Lord answers her: Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. We give all honor and deference to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord. Yet she is an example to us in faith and hope. For she loved and treasured and kept the Word spoken to her. She pondered them in her heart. And her Son now pointing the way to how He may dwell within us: He comes with His Word.
For where the Word of God finds a home inside of you, the Lord Jesus finds a home in you. As it is written, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him (Jn 14:23). This is what St Paul has in mind when he urges in today’s Epistle: Walk as children of light. Do not lose your inheritance given in Christ by letting the demons of sexual immorality, impurity or covetousness back in; do not invite them. Instead, as He who is the Light of the world lives in you, walk as children of the light.
Here at the Sacrament He who loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God on Calvary Tree - for He is the true Staff of Aaron - comes to you in mercy to fill you, in body and soul, with His own forgiveness, life and salvation. Here the finger of God touches us still. Here the Kingdom of God comes upon us. Here the devil must yield, not to me, a poor wretched sinner, but to the Word which our Lord Jesus left us upon earth. For here the Stronger Man gathers you to Himself. The demons cannot have you.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Surprisingly they could mimic some of the plagues. By their secret arts, Pharaoh’s magicians could also turn the Nile River water to blood. By their secret arts they made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Thus Pharaoh either paid no attention or hardened his heart.
The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. Their secret arts are not so secret. They did not serve the God who gives life and calls into being that which does not exist; but bowed to the Prince of Flies, Lord of the Demons - Satan. The magicians said Pharaoh: “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh would not listen; his heart was hardened. He would persist in rejecting the God of Israel, even to his own destruction and the ruin of his land.
The miracle God performed through Moses and Aaron brought some to faith. Others persisted in their unbelief. So it is in the Gospel. Our Lord Jesus performs a great miracle. He cast a demon out of a mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke. The people marveled. They had seen with their own eyes the words of the prophet Isaiah fulfilled: Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy (Is 35:4-6).
Yet others hardened their hearts in unbelief, saying, He casts out demons by prince Baal; insinuating that Jesus had made a pact with the devil; that He was in league with Satan. He was an agent of the Evil One.
Others, confused by the conflicting opinions of the crowd, sought to test Him, saying, “Give us a sign from heaven. Prove to us your on God’s side and not the demons.”
The omniscient Lord Jesus, challenges their presumptions. If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? The choice is clearly between God and Satan, even as Pharaoh’s magicians understood. Israel had a history of division and false worship. The golden bulls set up in Bethel and Dan were sites of worship of Baal. Through such idolatry, Israel became a kingdom divided against itself. Eventually both north and south were desolated because of their apostasy.
This is Satan’s m.o. He pits Adam against Eve. Cain against Abel. Jacob against Esau. He is not divided against himself. There is not a civil war in Satan’s kingdom. He is not his own enemy. Christ is his enemy and he would have you fighting yourselves as if you were the enemy. He wants you miserable, afflicted, torn down and discouraged. He wants you fearful and doubting, fighting each other.
And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, Jesus asks, by whom do your sons cast them out? For certainly there were other exorcists in Israel; some of whom even use Jesus’ Name! Did St John not say, Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your Name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us (Lk 9:49). Even the sons of Sceva the high priest invoked the name of Jesus (Ac 19:13-17)! Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus had not triggered a civil war in the demonic realm. Rather, Satan, that strong man, fully armed with his lies and deceptions by which he has made us his captives, guards his palace. He thinks we are all safely his. He forgets the prophesy of the Skull Crusher. He neglected the preaching of Isaiah and St John the Baptizer, that the Stronger One would come. And He was already bested by this One in the wilderness.
For Christ, the Stronger One, has come. He will show His strength not with signs from heaven and displays of power. His strength is displayed in weakness. He will disarm the strong man by suffering all the devil’s strength and attacks. He will empty him of his poison until he has no strength left; until he is spent. Satan will use everything he has to kill Jesus on the Cross. He will unleash the full armory of his kingdom against the true King. The full venom of his malice and lies. But the Stronger Man will overcome him. He will take away his armor. Satan will fall on his own sword. He will have no lies left, no accusations. The devil will be the mute one.
Even now Christ is taking hold of the spoils of war, liberating captives from the possession of Satan. Jesus is the Stronger One prophesied by Isaiah and John. As Psalm 2 says, Ask of Me and I will make the nations Your heritage, and the ends of the earth Your possession (Ps 2:8); and elsewhere, The reason why the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8).
But Jesus warns that the unclean spirits do not easily give up their prey. Rather, when driven forth, they are in misery and seek a way to return to their human host, the soul of men. Should they come back and find the house swept and put in order, but not filled with the Stronger Man, the condition of that person is even worse, for Satan overwhelms him and haunts his house with even more demons.
In other words, it is not enough that Satan be driven out. Surely Holy Baptism accomplishes that, as the liturgy confesses and the Word of God promises. For the watery finger of God was traced upon your forehead and heart, marking you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified; bought back, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death.
But the unclean spirit must not only be driven out, the Holy Spirit of Christ must find a domicile in you. That means that when the demon rings the doorbell, the Strong Man must go answer the door, or else you have no hope. If the Stronger Man, the Lord Jesus, dwells in you, then you have nothing to fear from demons.
A woman in the crowd cried out: Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed! She was thankful for the Lord and His teaching. Yet our Lord answers her: Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. We give all honor and deference to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord. Yet she is an example to us in faith and hope. For she loved and treasured and kept the Word spoken to her. She pondered them in her heart. And her Son now pointing the way to how He may dwell within us: He comes with His Word.
For where the Word of God finds a home inside of you, the Lord Jesus finds a home in you. As it is written, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him (Jn 14:23). This is what St Paul has in mind when he urges in today’s Epistle: Walk as children of light. Do not lose your inheritance given in Christ by letting the demons of sexual immorality, impurity or covetousness back in; do not invite them. Instead, as He who is the Light of the world lives in you, walk as children of the light.
Here at the Sacrament He who loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God on Calvary Tree - for He is the true Staff of Aaron - comes to you in mercy to fill you, in body and soul, with His own forgiveness, life and salvation. Here the finger of God touches us still. Here the Kingdom of God comes upon us. Here the devil must yield, not to me, a poor wretched sinner, but to the Word which our Lord Jesus left us upon earth. For here the Stronger Man gathers you to Himself. The demons cannot have you.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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