Guest Preacher is The Reverend David Juhl, Pastor-Elect of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Momence, IL.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost
Did
you notice all the references to eyes and eyesight in today’s Propers?
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord…let the heathen be judged in Thy
sight…Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the
heavens. Seeing is believing. But Jesus does not walk the earth now.
How do we know what He said and did is Truth?
Jesus casts out a
demon from a mute man. When the mute man speaks, there are three
different reactions. One group marvels at this sign. Another group
scoffs at the sign when they say He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the
ruler of the demons. A third group wants to test Jesus, seeking from
Him a sign from heaven.
We see signs and wonders every Lord’s
Day here. Sins are forgiven. Bread and wine are shown to be for us the
True Body and True Blood of Jesus Christ. Children young and old are
brought to the font to be united to Christ in Holy Baptism. The Kingdom
of God has come upon us.
It’s no good to mention those who
believe Jesus casts out demons by Beelzebub now. Those who say such
things rarely darken our doors. These are they who cannot believe Jesus
is Lord. The Lord God tells the prophet Isaiah to tell these people:
Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not
perceive. This is the faith of the scribes and Pharisees. We will hear
more about how Jesus deals with them in two weeks.
There are
those who see, but wish they had not seen. Casting out a demon can be
done by just about anyone. Magicians and so-called mentalists on
television work with confederates who are in on the scheme. Though
these confederates play innocent, they know exactly what is going on.
They look on in amazement during the trick. They act in awe. They play
their part quite well.
Jesus meets with the same skepticism
today as 2,000 years ago. People today believe Jesus was the great
deceiver. People who believe this are looking for other signs. Just
like the X-Files, the truth is still out there. Just like “King Herod’s
Song” in Jesus Christ Superstar: So, you are the Christ, you're the
great Jesus Christ/Prove to me that you're no fool; walk across my
swimming pool/If you do that for me, then I'll let you go free/Come on,
King of the Jews.
Words on a page, words from a preacher’s
mouth, water, bread, and wine all carry forgiveness, life, and
salvation. That’s a heavy trip. So heavy that even God’s precious sheep
often cannot believe it. So they look elsewhere for a sign from God.
They demand preachers stop preaching about sin, forgiveness, death,
life, eternity, and Jesus. They would rather hear feelings, emotions,
funny stories, “ain’t it cute” moments, and generic deity talk. God’s
Word steps on too many people’s toes.
The Gospel is the power of
God unto salvation. Yet we do not trust the Holy Spirit to work through
Word and Sacrament. Instead we package the Gospel in catch phrases,
gimmicks, and worldly methods. Our eyes have lost focus of the Lord and
found a new focus: ourselves.
Jesus says, Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a
house falls. No wonder the Church is in such shambles. The creeds of
the Church are irrational. The Bible is a book of stories. Jesus is an
ancient Houdini. What is left for the Church? It’s a social club that
helps people help themselves, while trying to fulfill Jesus Christ’s
moral mandates as merely moral mandates instead of proclaiming Christ
in you, the hope of glory.
Are you looking for a sign from God?
Jesus Christ is that sign. Jesus says, An evil and adulterous
generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except
the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The sign you
seek is before your eyes today. Jesus Christ reigns victorious over
sin, death, and the grave. Death has no more dominion over you because
Jesus Christ conquered death. Christ’s death upon the cross pays for
your sins and the sins of the whole world.
This is the sign
the skeptics in Saint Luke chapter eleven wanted to see. They wanted
Jesus dead, thinking His death would be the end of Him. What they see,
but do not want to believe is that Jesus died for their sins too.
Jesus
Christ is the Stronger Man. Jesus Christ overcomes Satan’s strong grip
upon you, takes his armor away from him, and tears him to pieces as
Samson tears a lion to pieces in Judges chapter 14. Samson was on his
way to take a bride. A lion comes roaring against him. Using nothing
but his bare hands, Samson tears the lion apart. Samson visits the
woman and on his return home he sees the lion’s carcass with a swarm of
bees and honey in the carcass. Samson takes the honey and eats of it,
giving some to his father and mother. (Bl. Johann Gerhard)
This
account foreshadows Christ’s victory over the ravenous lion named
Satan. Jesus rips apart Satan’s spoils and redeems sinners with His
blood. Within the carcass of death there is life: Jesus Christ’s True
Body and True Blood given and shed for you for the remission of sin. As
often as you eat His Body and drink His Blood, you show forth His death
until He comes again.
Blessed are you who see more than the
finger of God working here. Blessed are you who hear God’s Word, keep
it, cling to it, receive it in His Word and His Supper, and proclaim it
through your calling in life. Lift up your eyes and see the Savior
ready to give you life.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost