Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, hear my warning AGAIN this week: the Evil One, Satan, the Devil and the Dragon, who is called Beelzebub, the “Lord of the Flies” wants you to die eternally. The one who prowls around like a roaring lion looking for people to eat up is like Pharaoh who did not want to let the Israelite slaves go but instead crush them even harder under the cruel lash of his slave bosses. You, as Christians, are marked for death by this Old Evil Foe. The same one who went after God's son in the desert. The same one who stole a Canaanite woman's daughter from her. That same Devil seeks to drag you down with his power—away from Jesus and His Word, away from the Spirit, away from your Father in heaven. Down, down, down into hell with him for all eternity. But Jesus drove Satan away from Him in the desert with God's Word. By a word, Jesus healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman. By His Word, your Lord has rescued you from the devil's power, brought you into His kingdom and will keep you there even unto death. Watch out! There is an Enemy who seeks to destroy you. But you need not fear the Evil One. For Christ your Champion has fought and fights for you, putting the hurt on the enemy who would dare to hurt you!
Jesus does away with the ridiculous notion that He is working with the devil to drive out demons! A house divided against itself falls. Simple as that. But He does explain to his critics about how HE does things. The devil, if you will, is like a king who feels nice and secure in his palace. The devil is sure he has you and this world under his power. But when a Stronger Man comes along, he knocks the little guy out of the way and takes over. That is what Jesus does. He comes into this world, the Son of God in the flesh, as the one who is Stronger than the Devil, to take down the Devil. How? By looking not at all strong! Is a baby in a manger stronger than the Devil? He is if He's the Son of God. Is a guy getting baptized in the Jordan stronger than the Devil? He is if He's the Son of God. Is a guy who hasn't eaten for forty days and nights stronger than the Devil? You know it: He's the Son of God! Is a guy getting captured and dragged off to face wicked accusers stronger than the Devil? He is if He's the Son of God! Is a guy hanging on the cross stronger than the Devil? He is because He's the Son of God! In each and every instance, where Jesus appears weak and defenseless and puny, He endures the power of the Devil and overcomes. He who is the Strongest of all appears weakest of all so that by His hidden strength, He redeems us who think we're strong but are really weak and incapable of saving ourselves. Jesus is the Stronger Man who enters the Devil's palace of this world and casts Him out. He is the Stronger One who descends even into Hell itself, the very heart of the Devil's domain, to declare and announce that the Devil has no more power. Sin is defeated. Death has been rendered harmless. Victory is to the Lamb and to the slaves who were once the Devil's but now are redeemed by the Lamb's blood. Jesus' suffering and death is the work in which the Stronger Man takes down the weaker Devil. That Evil One, that lying snake, is finished!
So what does he do, that wicked and deceitful one? Knowing he cannot defeat Christ, his only hope for ruining you is to drag you away from Christ. For in Christ you are the Devil's master! But apart from Jesus and His Word, you are the shackled slave of Satan. In the Days of Moses and the plagues, the Devil can ape the Lord's works for a little bit—the pagan priests could duplicate some of the plagues. That's the devil, trying to prove that he is as powerful as the Lord. Now to the Gospel lesson: The devil stirs up some in the crowd to think that Jesus is of the Devil. Nothing like having people believe that Jesus is really just the Devil's man and not the Son of God and Savior! Or, distract them by asking for a sign from heaven! Jesus just drove out a demon and made a mute man speak. What else do they want? How about you? Do you ever long for something other than the signs Jesus gives? Something more exciting and dynamic and wow! than your baptism, or a sermon or Bible Study or the Lord's Supper? Even some woman gets in the game when she shouts to Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that bore you!” Go, St. Mary! Yet even she, the Mother of Our Lord, is not the Big Deal. ANYTHING the Devil can do to distract us from Jesus and His Word is his plan. Whatever sins he can get you to commit and feel so guilty you'd never set foot in church again. Whatever crazy ideas he can put into you head that make what you hear in church sounds like the nonsense. Whatever disasters or even good things he can get into your life to cause you to deny Christ or to think you no longer need a Savior. Whatever it takes, he'll try it. Understand that the Devil has been cast out of you by Christ and now he returns with seven more evil spirits and deceptions to try and take you over again. To ruin you and get you to fall from Christ! There is our repentance, brothers and sisters: that we let ourselves get distracted by the Devil and all his silly nonsense. That we begin to think little of learning Christ's Word, living in our baptism and rejoicing to receive the gifts of Jesus here in His church. That we wish for “signs from heaven” as if the Lord's Word is not enough. Beware such sneaky tricks of the Devil! Flee to Christ who saves you by His Word and forgiveness.
Jesus ends our Gospel reading with
this: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Never mind Beelzebub. Never mind a sign from heaven. Never mind even
those godly saints like Mary whom the Lord gives us to learn from.
One thing and one thing only matters: Christ's Word! His Word and
water. His Word of forgiveness. His Word of the Gospel preaching what
He has done for us. His Word giving us His body and blood. Cling to
Christ's word! Hold fast to His promises. Never let them go. They
keep you safe from the Devil's power. As long as you have Christ's
Word, the Devil cannot harm you. That's why it's so important,
parents, that you don't let you kids miss Sunday School and
Catechesis. It's why you, Mom and Dad, need to be hearing and
studying God's Word. And you, older kids: join us on Sunday mornings
and Tuesday and Wednesdays to hear more of God's Word. Am I beginning
to sound like a broken record yet? Good! Because I can't tell you
enough or too strongly or too much that Christ's Word is our truest
and greatest defense against the Devil. Don't think for a minute that
you have it in you to out sneak the Devil. Don't think you can just
brush him off while not learning and growing by the Spirit in
Christ's Word. He's smart! He's crafty. And he's been at it a lot
longer than you. But in Christ, in His Word, the Devil doesn't have a
chance! So hear my warning! Hear my plea! Continue in Christ's Word
and drive the Devil away!
I remember one of my favorite lines in
the movie “Twister” about tornadoes. The tornado chasing
scientists were discussing the tornado scale. They mentioned the
highest possible tornado the “F5.”
“What's an F5?” asked
a lady. “The scientists got quiet and one said, “The finger of
God!” When Pharaoh's magicians couldn't keep up with the Lord's
powerful plagues, they told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”
Jesus told the crowds that by the finger of God He drove out demons.
THAT is the power of the Lord! That in His finger is more power than
anything the Devil has. That powerful finger of God can bring down
Pharaoh's kingdom and bust out His children from slavery. That finger
can open the mouth of the mute and drive out the Devil. That finger
can open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf. That is the
finger by which the Lord splashes you with water at the font. The
finger that traces the sign of the holy cross as the voice speaks
your absolution. It is the finger that holds the Body of Jesus and
Cup of His blood. The finger of God is what drivers Satan away and
brings God's kingdom. That finger is Jesus' Word, the power of His
Word to cast Satan out! It is the finger of God that comes not to
destroy you, but to save and rescue you from Satan's power.
Dear Christians, Lent is the time to crank up your Homeland Security Threat Level Color because your Enemy, the Devil, is out to get you. And Lent is the time because it's the time we focus intently upon the Suffering and Death of Jesus. The Word that preaches that saving death and His victorious resurrection from the dead is what drives Satan away. Give up that Word, ignore it, and despise it, and you'll be a sitting duck when the evil spirit brings back seven others to take you down. But with that Word which brings you Christ, you are safe, protected and defended from the Evil One. Not even death can destroy you. For that Word is the Word of the Stronger man who casts out Satan, not by tricks, but by the finger of God in the flesh: Jesus' victory over devil and hell for you. Amen.