Ephesians 5.1-9 & Luke 11.14-28
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus casts a mute demon out of a man. Once the demon is exorcised, the man begins to speak and the multitude marvels. But not everyone. Some say within themselves, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Others ask Jesus for a sign from heaven, as if exorcism they just witnessed wasn’t a sign from heaven. Jesus takes on both groups simultaneously. He first points out the absurdity of the thought that He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. “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.” Why would Satan drive one of his demons out of a man and lose ground in the war for men’s soul’s? Why would Satan allow one of his servants to cast another one of his servants out of man, and lose that man from his kingdom? No. Satan has a kingdom, and kingdom divided against itself doesn’t stand. A house, a business, a marriage, a family, all of these will fall into ruin if they are divided. Their argument is absurd.
Jesus keeps going, though, because the question of whose work He’s doing is of vital importance. He asks them, “And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.” Were their sons actually casting out demons? Luke tells us in Acts 19 about itinerant Jewish exorcists who attempted to cast demons out using the name of Jesus. Seven of these men were brothers, the sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest. Luke tells us that when they told a demon, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches,” the demon responded, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” then the demoniac proceeded to attack and overpower all seven, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded (Acts 9:13-16). If this is any indication, then there were itinerant Jewish exorcists, but they weren’t very successful. Jesus, however, is casts them out by commanding them directly to leave, and the demons, who so often would overpower other men, willingly submit to Jesus’ word. If their sons could not cast out demons but Jesus could, they would be one more witness that Jesus casts them out by another power.
And the only power is God’s power. So Jesus says, “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Jesus casts out demons, not by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. He casts them out by finger of God—the Holy Spirit. That phrase alone should have made these Jews think twice about Jesus’ power. In the days of Moses, when Jannes and Jambres couldn’t replicate the plague of lice, they told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Ex. 8:19). When Moses was on Mt. Sinani, the Lord gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God (Ex. 31:18). Just as the Lord, with His finger, destroyed the gods of Egypt with ten plagues and engraved His will in stone for Israel, Jesus destroys Satan’s reign in this individual, frees him from the devil’s slavery, and shows us His holy will: to break and hinder every evil plan and will of the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh that sets itself against His will.
Jesus comes to bring God’s kingdom to men, to reign in men’s hearts with His word and Spirit. And to that means that men must first be freed from Satan’s kingdom. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger one than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.” Jesus is the stronger one. He enters the world, the devil’s palace which he rules, fully armed with deep guile and great might. Jesus overcomes the devil, strips him of his armor which He used to keep humanity imprisoned in his kingdom. Jesus, victorious over the strong man, divides the spoils of Satan’s kingdom, making those He rescues His victory over the devil as well. This is Jesus’ work: to destroy the work of the devil by to earn forgiveness of sins for all mankind, to earn perfect righteousness for all mankind, and to clearly teach us God’s word and will, so that all who believe in Him have the forgiveness He won, the righteousness He earned, and the Holy Spirit so that they, too, might be victorious over the devil’s temptations each and every day. No, Jesus is not in league with the devil, for “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” It is the devil who scatters. It is the Christ who gathers men into His kingdom and give them freedom from all the devil works and ways.
Jesus still frees sinners from the captivity of the devil using the finger of God. Demon possession is a real threat to those who do not believe in Christ, especially those who play around with demonic instruments masquerading as games and silly outings. But demon possession, for the Christian, is a picture of life apart from faith in Christ. There is no middle, neutral ground between Christ and the devil. One’s heart is either a home for evil spirits or a home for the Holy Spirit. All people are, by birth, enslaved to the devil and captives in his kingdom and the devil is strong. Never doubt that. Jesus calls him a strong man, fully armed. But Jesus is one stronger, and He rescues sinners from Satan’s servitude by baptizing them and by preaching His Holy Spirit into their hearts. He creates faith in our hearts through the means of grace, and that faith receives the forgiveness of sins and justifies us in God’s sight. The faith He creates in us through baptism, preaching, He sustains and grows through baptism, preaching, and the sacrament of His body and blood, strengthening His reign in our hearts, for 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.” He dwells in our hearts by faith, reigns over us by His gospel, and give us the Holy Spirit so that He might be victorious over the temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh by the same power with which He cast out demons.
He does not free us from the devil’s kingdom so that we might then build our own kingdom, reign over our own hearts, and live however we see fit. To receive the gospel and imagine that it frees us from devil but does not put us in God’s kingdom, where we live under His will and rule, is to have Him sweep the house of our heart and garnish it but leave it empty. But houses are built to have an occupant. And the house that is unoccupied will soon find itself occupied by squatters. Jesus warns against receive God’s grace in vain by telling us what happens 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.” When we imagine God frees us to ourselves and not to His kingdom, the strong man will return with other temptations and sins, and occupy the home of our heart, and the latter end is worse for us than the beginning (2 Ptr 2:20).
This is not Christ’s will for us. He frees us from Satan’s kingdom so that we might live with Him in His kingdom, enjoying the forgiveness of our sins and growing in our love for God and our neighbors. How does He keep us in His kingdom? And how do we keep Him in our hearts? A woman cried out at the end of today’s gospel, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” She is correct. All generations shall call Mary blessed. But Jesus points us to a better blessedness than being the mother of God when He replies, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” The one who hears God’s word and keeps it before their eyes, in their hearts, and lives according to it, is truly a blessed one. For the Son of God only dwelt in Mary’s womb for nine months, but He dwells perpetually with His grace and mercy in the hearts of all those who hear the word of God and keep it. Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil, in His ministry, by His suffering and death, by His resurrection, ascension, so that He might bring you out of the devil’s kingdom into His own and keep you there even as you hear His word and keep it. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
