Oculi, the 3rd Sunday in Lent + Luke 11:14-28 + March 4, 2018

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The apostle John writes 1 John 3:8, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” In today’s Gospel lesson Christ shows us this by pulling demon who was mute out of a man. When the man spoke, those who were present marveled at this incredible work of Jesus. Some however, blasphemed and said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”  They accuse Jesus of being in league with the devil. They imagine that Jesus has some sort of an agreement with Satan by which He may cast out Satan’s associates. These men prefer darkness to light. They would rather live with the works of the devil than the work of Christ. Luke then writes, “Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.” While the first group blaspheme Christ by calls the work of God the work of the devil, these others reject the blatant sign from heaven that has just been performed in front of their eyes. These men are those whom St. Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:4, those “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” This is the unbelieving world; calling the works of God the works of the devil, while pretending the work of the devil is the work of God.

Christ knows their thoughts and so answers their unbelief. “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.” Jesus points out the ridiculousness and irrationality of this unbelief. If an earthly kingdom, a nation, is divided against itself it will not stand for long. The house divided against itself cannot prosper. This is even true for the kingdom and house of the devil. Division in the devil’s ranks will only retard his work. What is the devil’s work? Temptation and sin, with the ultimate goal of bringing death, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In Mark 9 a man brings his demon-possessed son to Jesus’ disciples. The father tells Jesus that “often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him” (Mark 9:22). The devil’s work is the same as it has been from the beginning of creation. Destroy mankind by leading men into temptation and sin, so that sin “when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:15). The devil’s kingdom is far from divided. It’s goal is clear. The devil does not want God’s name to be hallowed. He wants men to be blind to the gospel. He does not want God’s kingdom to come. He wants to rule over mankind. He most certainly does not want God’s will to be done. He wants to keep mankind in the slavery to sin and in the captivity of death. Jesus is not an agent of the devil, deceiving people through sleight-of-hand. He casts out demons with the finger of God, the Holy Spirit. This means that “the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The Son of God goes forth to war against the devil, one demoniac at a time, one terrified sinner at time.

Jesus’ victory over Satan’s temptations in the wilderness was just the opening round. Every time Jesus casts out a demon, it is a prelude, a skirmish, not the final battle. By defeating the devil in the wilderness, Christ broke Satan’s power of temptation and He did so using the Word of God. Thus He opened a way for all men to stand firm in the hour of temptation to sin. Every time He healed a demon-possessed person He shows on a small scale what the finger of God can do. Each time He forgives someone their sins and absolves them of the guilt of their sin, He is showing us what the coming kingdom of God looks like. “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). He declares sinners to be righteous when they believe the gospel, so that their sins are no more. He brings peace to the soul troubled the evil spirits, so that they are no longer tormented by rest in the mercy of God. But all of this still points forward to the great battle. He says, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.” The devil is strong. His kingdom is well-guarded. Humanity is held fast in His sway with this his weapons of sin and death. So Christ dies to atone for our sins. “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Death covers all humanity like a pall. So Christ dies our death, is buried in our tomb, and rises on the third day, vanquishing death and turning death into doorway to everlasting life and paradise. This is how Christ, the Stronger, overcomes the strong man, strips his armor and despoils him.

His victory over belongs to all who believe the Gospel that Christ was crucified and resurrected for sinners. The faith the Spirit creates in our hearts is our righteousness because faith receives Christ’s perfect merits as its own, simply because God has promised it is so. When the finger of God strikes you so that you repent of your sins and believe the Gospel, your sins are forgiven and your house is swept clean. The kingdom of God is not a house divided, and when it comes among you it purifies the house of your heart and unities it as well. The house swept clean is a beautiful picture of the forgiveness of sins and the casting out of the devil. But that is not the end. Jesus goes on, “When 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 from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” The devil is cast out. He wanders through waterless deserts and then decides to go back to his former home. If he finds it swept clean and empty he’ll move back in and he’ll bring with him other demons which are far worse than he! The state of that man, whose heart is the house, is far worse than his original condition. He had known the forgiveness of his sins. He had enjoyed the peace with God that faith produces in the heart. But houses aren’t made to sit empty. Houses are meant to be dwellings. And empty houses will always find willing occupants.

This is why Jesus warns the man whom He has just healed, and all of us, with these words. You have received a house swept clean, a heart purified by the blood of Jesus. “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Jesus says we have to be on guard against the devil. He is not one to give up easily. He’s a tenacious adversary. He’s a scrapper in the fight for our souls. If the devil comes back and finds the house of our hearts empty he will move back in, settling in deeper than before, with more companions, temptations, and vices than before. How do we make sure this doesn’t happen? We need another occupant for the house of the heart. That occupant is Christ, whom Paul says in Ephesians 3:17, dwells in our hearts by faith. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. This means that we cannot feel Christ’s presence, for faith is only concerned with things unseen and unexperienced. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith and “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Jesus says in John 14:23, “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.” Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, and faith comes by hearing the Word of God. So we are to keep God’s word as Christ tells us. We are to read it frequently. We are to hear it regularly and meditate on it daily. This is how Christ dwells in us and preserves our faith against the temptations and pesterings of the evil one.

Jesus says this much at the end of today’s Gospel lesson. Once He finished speaking, a woman from the crowd cried out, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed you.” Jesus responds, “More than that,” meaning, “Yes, that much is true, but more than that, ‘Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.’” Keeping the Word by faith is how we enjoy the benefits of Christ’s victory over the devil. Guarding the Word in our heart is how the Spirit works in us to keep us from sin and fortifies us in the hour of temptation. Christ sweeps the house of the heart clean when we believe the Gospel, which comes through the Word, and He uses the same Word to dwell in the house of heart. The devil wants only to murder and destroy you. He is the tenant whose goal is the slow destruction of the house through sin and unbelief. The Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, is a far more gracious occupant, who wants to dwell in your heart to daily cleanse it of its sin, purge it of its guilt, and keep you steadfast in the truth faith.

Keeping the Word, we then also fight against the sins that so easily entangle us. This is why we have the epistle lesson we do today. Since Jesus has destroyed the works of the devil, St. Paul says don’t go back to those works. Instead, be imitators of God, walking in His love and imitating that love toward those around us. Not only are we to walk in love for our neighbor. We are to cast off the works of darkness, the works of the devil, which are still at works in the sons of disobedience. Fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, and foolish and course speech, along with all sins, are to be cast out of the heart through daily repentance and faith. In this way we walk as children of light, not allowing the devil a foothold back into our hearts. For as Christ became incarnate the destroy the works of the devil, so He dwells in the house of our hearts by faith for the same purpose, destroy the devil’s works in us by forgiving our sins and strengthening us to renounce all destructive works and ways. May God strengthen this faith in us all and keep us in His Word, so that we may truly blessed.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.