Lent 3
Lk
11:24-28
3/23/25
“China is a big country and other
countries are small countries, and that’s just a fact.” China’s foreign minister made this statement
to his counterpart from Singapore at a meeting of Asian nations in 2010. The Chinese foreign minister was asserting
that China could do what it wanted, and that other nations didn’t have any
choice in the matter.
China is a big country and it has a
huge population. In this century its
economy has grown at a remarkable pace, and its industrial output makes it a
world leader. China has spent an
incredible amount of money on its military, and it now possesses the largest
navy in the world.
China is a strong country, and in the
South China Sea it has done what it wants.
While a number of different nations lay claim to the water and islands
in this area, China has asserted that it controls them and that no one else can
sail there. It has occupied a number of
these islands, such as the Spratly Islands which are 800 miles south of
mainland China. Really nothing more than
reefs, China has expanded the size of these islands by dredging and adding
sand. It has turned them into military
bases with airfields, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-ship missiles.
The Chinese navy and coast guard
employ dangerous tactics to harass other nations that sail in this area. Their ships have collided with the ships of
other nations, and the Chinese coast guard has blasted ships with water
cannons. China is stronger than the other countries of the region, and so it
does what it wants. The problem is that
there is another strong country that is concerned about this strategic area –
the United States. The U.S. is now
rapidly trying to build up its capabilities in order to deter China from every
trying to prove it is stronger through military conflict.
In our Gospel lesson this morning,
Jesus describes how a stronger man overpowers his opponent and does what he
wants. We learn that Jesus is the stronger man, because the reign of God is
present in him. He has overcome Satan,
sin, and death in order to free us to be the children of God.
We learn in our text that Jesus was
casting out a demon who caused a man to be mute. When the demon had been cast out, the man was
able to speak. The people who witnessed
this marveled at what Jesus had done.
However, some did not react in wonder
and amazement. Instead, they said, “He
casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” Beelzebul was another name for the devil that
was used by Jews. These people were
saying that Jesus was able to cast out demons because he was in fact in league
with the devil. He was on the devil’s
side.
In addition to this, others kept
asking for Jesus to give them a sign from heaven. They did this in order to test the Lord. He had just cast out a demon, and yet somehow
this wasn’t proof for them. They demanded something more.
Our Lord knew what they were
doing. He knew their thoughts and so he
said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided
household 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 pointed out the absurdity of their
claim. If Jesus was allied with Satan in casting out demons, then Satan would
be fighting against himself! He would be
working to overthrow his own kingdom.
Satan is evil, but he is no fool, and he would never do this.
Those who opposed Jesus had claimed
that he was casting out demons by being in league with Satan. Christ had
refuted this claim. And now he went on
to state what was really happening. He said, “But if it is by the
finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you.”
Jesus’ words draw upon our Old
Testament lesson this morning. God had sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh with the
message that he must allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. God had worked
through them to turn the Nile into blood, and to cause frogs to come upon the
land. However, Pharaoh’s magicians had
been able to replicate these actions through their magic arts – through their
use of the demonic.
Then God had used Moses and Aaron to
bring gnats upon the land. Pharoah’s
magicians attempted to do this, but failed.
Confronted by this power that outstripped them, they said to Pharaoh,
“This is the finger of God.”
Jesus declared that he was casting out
demons by the finger of God – by the power of Yahweh who had rescued Israel
from slavery in the exodus. And since
Jesus was acting with the power of God, it meant one thing: the kingdom of God
had come upon them. The kingdom of God -
the reign of God that was overcoming Satan – was present in the person of
Jesus.
Our Lord then explained what was
happening. He said, “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 armor in which he trusted and divides his
spoil.” A strong man can defend his
possessions. But when someone stronger
comes along, he is overpowered and losses them. The devil is spiritually
powerful. But now, Jesus Christ, the
stronger One was present. He was
overcoming the devil and taking from him those he held in his power.
Our Gospel lesson this morning teaches
us that our world is a setting of spiritual conflict. There is a battle – a war that is going on.
You won’t read about it in news services online. You won’t hear about it, neither
on NBC, CBS, and ABC, nor on CNN and Fox.
The secular world is oblivious to the reality because it is spiritually
blind, and is controlled by a power it doesn’t even believe exists.
This conflict is between God who
created all things, and the devil.
Created in the image of God and for fellowship with him, Adam and Eve
were tempted by the devil and fell into sin.
They lost the image of God, and instead became sinners who brought forth
more sinners. All of humanity became
sinners under the power of the devil. We
were conceived and born as people who were slaves of Satan. We belonged to him and were going to receive
the destruction that awaits him on the Last Day.
However, in his love God did not leave
us to this slavery and destruction.
Instead, he sent his Son into the world as Jesus Christ was conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
Anointed by the Spirit at his baptism, Jesus was the presence of the
kingdom of God – the reign of God – that was overcoming Satan, sin, and death.
Jesus demonstrated that he was the
presence of God’s reign by casting out demons. He healed the sick, gave sight
to the blind, and made the lame walk as he overcame all of the ways that sin
has marred physical life.
Sin is the power by which the devil
possesses people and separates them from God.
Jesus was in the world to bring God’s reign by freeing us from sin – by
winning forgiveness for us. His great
action to do this was not one of might and power. Instead, he the sinless One, offered himself in
death on the cross. He received the judgment against our sin.
Sin brings death. Jesus was the presence of God’s reign that
brought forgiveness. He was also the
presence of God’s reign overcoming death itself. On the third day God raised Jesus from the
dead through the work of the Spirit. In his resurrection Christ has begun the
bodily life that will never die – the life that will be ours when he returns in
glory.
Christ is now the risen and ascended
Lord. But as the Lord exalted to the
right hand of the Father, he poured forth the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Now, through work of the Spirit he calls
people to faith through his word and baptism.
The kingdom of God – the reign of God – continues to be present and at
work.
You have been rescued from the devil’s
power. In the water of baptism you were
born again through the work of the Spirit.
You are a new creation in Christ. You are a saint in God’s eyes – a holy
one – on account of Christ.
Now Jesus is your Lord. And in this battle between God and Satan,
there is no middle ground. Jesus says in
our text, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather
with me scatters.” You are with Jesus, and so you are different from the world
around you that is controlled by the devil. When wronged, you do not bear a
grudge and seek payback, but instead you forgive. When you see others who need help, you do not
ignore them, but instead you provide assistance and support.
Jesus Christ has brought God’s reign
to you. He has freed you from the
devil’s power, and made you a child of God.
But the devil is no quitter. He
is a fierce and tenacious opponent. He
wants to regain control over you. As the
apostle Peter warned: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.”
In order to remain a child of God, we
must continue to receive God’s saving reign.
The Spirit of Christ who called us to faith and gave us new spiritual
life continues to be present and at work in the Means of Grace. When we read God’s word during the week at
home; when we hear it read and proclaimed here in the Divine Service, the
Spirit nourishes and sustains us in faith.
We come to receive the Sacrament of
the Altar, for here Christ is present as he gives us his true body and blood
for the forgiveness of our sins. As we
heard on Wednesday night at the Lent service, Christ gives the Sacrament to us
as food for the soul for it nourishes and strengthens the
new man. It is food and sustenance by
which our faith is refreshed and strengthened so that it does not succumb in
the struggle against sin and unbelief, but instead becomes stronger.
You have
received God’s saving reign in Christ.
You no longer belong to the devil.
Instead, Jesus is your Lord. You
have a salvation that death cannot take from you, because to die is to be with
Christ and he will raise up your body on the Last Day.
But in
your life there are people for whom this is not true. They are under the devil’s power, and they
don’t even know it. They are sinners who
are trapped in sin, and have no forgiveness before God. They will face God’s
eternal judgment on the Last Day.
You are the
one by whom God’s saving reign can come to them. You have the Gospel – you know
that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all, and rose from the dead. When you speak this Gospel word to them, the
Holy Spirit works to create faith. The
reign of God in Christ is present to free them from Satan and sin. We cannot
control how this word is received. But because it is the Gospel of the risen
Lord we know that his words continue to be true each time we tell people about
Jesus: “the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
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