Grace, mercy, and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
If
you go to the movie theatre, on the wall there’s a visible theme in the big
ads. The theme is power: guns blazing, swords twirling, trains smashing, strong
men plotting, aliens invading and you get the drift. Today’s text follows that
line too, doesn’t it? Who can bind the
strong man and plunder his house? Jesus
is casting out demons, and what a Hollywood
scene that would make. We’d want to see a big battle, lots of broken stuff and
half of New York Hollywood
What would you say if there? Would you
accuse Jesus of being in league with evil, or demand He fit into your
expectations to win your allegiance? We’re folks asking “Is He really powerful
enough to follow?” That’s not even asking if Jesus is good enough to follow. The answer to the question doesn’t lack
evidence. The difficulty is what it means to admit where His actions come from
and what His words reveal. What is revealed? Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
the Living God! That’s enough reason to follow Jesus. He is God, God incarnate.
Then He’s’ going to come out on top one way or another. And that’s something
sinners, sinners like us, don’t swallow easily. If I trust Him, how can I
choose what I want above what He says? Shall I really be dependent on Him?
Shall I trust His promises are true for me? That leads us to the question if He
is good. These are not academic questions, but real ones, even in us redeemed
sinners. They lead us somewhere, somewhere where the sakes are high.
His word leads us who believe in Him,
and not only to mountain tops. He leads His sheep into some dark valleys. He
may lead us away from the security we crave, a comfortable life, healthy,
wealthy, but not too wise; with excitement without real risk and without scars.
He leads us away from idolatry in order to bring us to worship, to receive His
gifts. He bids us to believe what He promises to give. He calls us to receive
everything needful from Him. Faith is a challenging road, a Lenten road. Look
what happened to the prophets, look what happened to Him! Look what happened to
the apostles. The norm of the true church, the believing church, is a cross.
It is easier to say “Jesus is of the
devil. I don’t have to listen to him.” It is easier to say “Jesus, I want more
proof before I trust you.” But there is a risk in that too isn’t there? Jesus
warns us that unbelief ends in hell. Is
Jesus sufficiently strong, he who promises to lead us along a narrow, difficult
road? Can He really give eternal
life and bring us into the kingdom
of God
The Evangelist Luke reported another
clue: Not only did Jesus know their thoughts; He knew what to do about them.
Did He zap the doubters, the arrogant, the self-centered and the scared? Does
He smash things and shatter the walls gloriously? He speaks common sense, and
what’s powerful about that? If Satan also
is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that 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. That deceiver Satan
will not destroy himself. And if the devil is cast out in the name of God by
the sons of Israel
Even the demons know if their former
habitation does not repent from unbelief in the true God, they are free to
return. If one is cast out, although the victim orders his life, but without
the order of faith, the demon may bring more evil with it. Apart from faith in
the strongest of the strong, we cannot resist the evil that is stronger than
we. We cannot even resist the evil of original sin that resides in us. We need
the one who binds the darkness with an everlasting light. There is someone who
is strong, stronger, strongest. There is
one who cannot be bound but has power to bind. He is the one who let himself be
bound for slaughter. He is the Lamb Slain who rose from the dead, who did that
not for Himself, but for you.
He is ready to bless, even more than
His mother was blessed to bear the incarnate God. He is ready and powerful to
bless you, to bless all who receive His word by faith. To believe in Jesus is
to receive all He promises to give you. So why do we hesitate to trust in Him?
That is to ask why some said he cast out demons by the devil, or why some asked
for more signs, just one or two more… His power is not manifest where we
naturally look for strength, but is hidden under the cross. Yet that answers
not only questions about power, also about goodness. The issue is not simply
power, although that is necessary for a real Saviour. The question is also if
God is good, and good toward you. So the
answer about power is veiled under the answer of goodness; yet is revealed
powerfully if we will receive it.
What sign did Jesus promise the sign-hungry
crowds? He gave them the sign of Jonah.
He gave them His death and burial, returning to life the third day. That’s the
power that cast Satan down, Jesus’ sacrificial death for sinners. And He hides
that power in other unadorned signs. What sign declares His power overcomes the
sinner’s sin, the world and the devil? The sign of water with the Word. What
sign declares He powerfully works life and salvation through forgiveness? A
bite of bread and a sip of wine He said to be His very body and blood. What
overcomes the world? Faith that is created by the word, by the word declaring
the glory of Jesus’ death for sinners that overcomes the world. …he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear
the word of God and keep it!”
Blessed are those who hear and keep
the word of God, of God! More literally, blessed are those who guard the word
of God. That word works what it says because it is God’s word, and God always
wins. That word is worth keeping, guarding, watching if you want to be blessed.
We who receive it guard it like a night watchman in a bank, like a bank teller
watching for counterfeit bills, like the banker who receives the deposits. We
hear and guard what is given us, the Word that created the heavens and the
earth. This is the Word that became incarnate for us sinners. Blessed are those
who hear, who receive that word. Blessed is the Word born of Mary, God made
visible, humble in a manger with dirty diapers. Blessed is the revelation of
God’s mercy toward Adam’s fallen race; shown also when Jesus cast out demons.
Blessed is the power of God revealed upon an instrument of shame and death,
reconciling enemies with their rightful king.
This is God’s Word, no deception of
demons, no lunatic raving, and no unlivable philosophic speculation. This Word holds the world together, it saves
and it judges too. This Word sustains all who believe until the day of
glorification. Who else can we trust ourselves to other than the Living God,
the good God? Blessed are those who
hear. Blessed are those whom this word enters, for to hear is more than sitting
in a theatre assaulted by the noise, lights, action. It is to ponder, to weigh,
to receive what is spoken into you. Do not resist the Holy Spirit who says
Jesus is powerful, and powerfully good. This word changes you. It remakes you.
It will save you. It is a treasure. This reason alone tells you the word is to
be guarded. Blessed are those who keep, or guard Jesus’ word. Blessed we are to
be like someone with a winning lottery ticket held tightly all the way to wherever winning lottery tickets go. We
received a treasure. This treasure does more than a winning ticket. It bears
all your burdens, giving you what is promised in due time.
Take it for what it is. But do not
take it lightly, as if it does not contain heaven and earth, as if He did not
make heaven and earth. Let us repent our unguarded lives and hear again Jesus’
warning over the battle for your soul, for your life, your future. The devil
wants you to share his punishment. But Jesus He bore your punishment to forgive
you and give you life. Guard that powerful word, remembering that Jesus cast
out the demons because He is stronger than the destroyer. Listen to that word,
our hope, our confidence, our certainty of life. And here you are, listening,
hearing, pondering, receiving, and believing. For that Word shall keep you,
guard you, feed you, sustain you, protect you, provide for you even as it
washed you and forgave you. It shall also resurrect you. The Son of God went
forth to war, and conquered. We shall follow in His train. His strong word that
created all, that bespeaks us righteous, shall bring us into glory.
The peace of God which
passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord
(amen)
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