I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

The Strong Man is Overcome

Lent 3 Oculi – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Luke 11:14-28 “The Strong Man is Overcome”
March 3, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church

In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, You have sent Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh, that He might overcome the devil, and defend us poor sinners against the adversary: We give thanks to You for Your merciful help, and we beseech You to attend us with Your grace in all temptations, to preserve us from carnal security, and by Your Holy Spirit to keep us in Your Word in Your fear, that we may be delivered from the enemy, and obtain eternal salvation; through the same, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 153)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)

The sermon text for today is taken from the 11th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:

But [Jesus], knowing their thoughts, said to them, “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. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
“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. Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.

These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)

In Christ Jesus, who is the stronger man, bringing about the kingdom of God, commanding the devil to take flight, saving you from his grasp, dear fellow redeemed:

One of my favorite games that I like to play is called Risk. It is a game where you take control of an army and you have one goal, to take over the world. You work from territory to territory. Now what makes this game fun is when the other armies are controlled by your friends. Like any friendly war, there are alliances that will eventually turn into back stabs. It is apparent who your enemies are on the battlefield. It is also apparent that you wouldn’t invade your own territories. Why would you invade what you already have? This is what Jesus tells the Pharisees in our text for today. It doesn’t make any sense for Satan to attack his own forces. Jesus informs the Pharisees there is only one way for the strong man to be overcome and he is overcome by the stronger man, the man Christ Jesus.

The stronger man reveals to many that the strong man has no power over Him. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He cures those who are demon possessed. Now [Jesus] was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” while others, to test Him, kept seeking from Him a sign from heaven. You would think all would rejoice because this man was cured from having the devil physically control him. We see Jesus’ enemies don’t care at all about the good that Jesus does. They are running out of ways to explain why Jesus can help those in need without going to the truth, that Jesus is the Christ. So, they try to convince those who were witnesses that Jesus is possessed Himself and He has His power from Satan.

With this lie, the enemies of Jesus, reveal whose side they are on. If they can’t get people to believe that Jesus is on the same side as the devil, then they want to test Jesus, they want to see a sign. That sounds familiar. Two weeks ago, we heard the devil tell Jesus to turn the stones into bread. They are not seeking a sign so that they can believe that Jesus is the Savior. The truth of the matter is that they have witnessed the sign as Jesus has just cast out a demon in front of them. These signs will not convince them of anything else. All they want to do is prove that Jesus is a fraud. Jesus informs them that He not only knows what they are thinking about, which is another proof that He is the Son of God, but their reasoning for how Jesus performed this miracle makes no sense.

But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “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. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Like an army that will never attack its own territories, Satan would not attack what he already has. With that being the case, Jesus raises another point. There were devout Jews who could perform exorcisms as demons existed before Christ came into the world. With the Pharisees attacking Jesus, they attack their very own people, and this is what the devil wants.

The devil wants to distract us from who the real enemy is. He tries very hard to get us to turn on one another. St. Paul tries to remind us that Satan is the enemy when he says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12), yet most of the time, that falls on deaf ears. As we get ready to deal with the election this year, will we keep these words in mind that St. Paul says, or will we end up more like the Pharisees, finding any excuse we can think of to not trust God and the way that He takes care of us. Whether we pray for it or not, God’s kingdom certainly comes. We leave it behind when we fail to live godly lives. The strong man wins the day when he gets us to fall into temptation and he gets us to turn on those whom God tells us to love. The Pharisees failed to show love and looked to trick Jesus. The strong man looks to make his palace in our hearts, and when we have given into temptation, he has the joy of letting our hearts know that he has succeeded.

As the devil looks to live in the hearts of people, Jesus lets the Pharisees know that the strong man has been kicked out by the stronger man. “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.” The strong man thinks that he has all the power. He tempts many to sin, and he stirs up people’s grief, gloating over them. Our text shows the extreme of Satan holding someone by physically possessing them. He thinks that he has made a forever home, but his home is not in people. His home is in hell. The strong man is driven out by the stronger man with one word.

The Pharisees want a sign from Jesus, and right in front of them is a man who had the strong man possessing him. The strong man is overcome by Jesus and His Word, and we see that the man is able to speak. Here is the finger of God at work. Satan’s kingdom doesn’t stand. It doesn’t attack itself and even when it makes alliances with Jesus’ enemies, Jesus shows that it is no match. The finger of God is there in Jesus’ presence. Jesus lives the perfect, godly life that no one can live. As He lives this life in the place of those who love Him, all His enemies can do is scatter. Jesus cleans house!

As Jesus cleans the hearts of those who are demon possessed by commanding the demons to leave, He performs the greatest exorcism for the world. “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:31-32). The kingdom of God is on full display when Jesus continues to follow His Father’s will to the end. The stronger man not only cleanses individual’s but He cleanses the world as He is lifted high on the cross for all to see. The strong man strikes the heel of the stronger man, but the strong man is overcome as his head is crushed. The world stares at Christ on the cross who hangs for the sins of all. Jesus reveals the status of Satan’s kingdom, it is destroyed.

With Satan’s kingdom destroyed and the ruler of this world cast out, the comfort and relief of your sins hangs in front of you. Jesus knows who the enemy is. He stayed the course. He confronts the enemy head on. And as the Pharisees attack Him with the vilest of attacks saying that His power is from Satan, He does the one thing that it can be so hard at times for you to think about. He loves them and the forgiveness that He gave on the cross was for them as much as it was for you. The stronger man never gave in to the temptations and He lived a perfect, godly life in your place. He has freed you through His death and keeps His promise to you through His glorious resurrection.

As you look toward Jesus’ and His promises given to you through His death and resurrection, Jesus also gives you the sad reminder needed in this fallen world. As forgiveness is found for all who look to the cross, there will be those who reject it. They will see the light, only to go back to their sinful ways and then as someone against Jesus they scatter. Since the devil can tempt again, Jesus gives a warning to those who had been cured from their demonic possession. “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.” Old habits die hard. The demons come out of the shadows to go back into the person who has turned to his old ways. When the devil comes back to tempt you into your old ways of sin and you fall to his tricks and lies, it can feel like the end of the world. Like we should be able to best him. The godly life is found in the work done by the stronger man who died on the cross. It is the cross that our hope is found in the evil day, and you find the strength to carry on.

The ultimate exorcism of the world is found on the cross of wood. It is not the power of Satan, but the kingdom of God that commands Satan out. The strong man looked to have his foot planted firmly in the world. He continues to do battle, tempting you to sin against God. Jesus comes to you and gives you His Word. He says, “blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” The Word is your guiding path, your bright light from the devil and his demonic hoard. As you are in the Word, this Means of Grace brings forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. It gives you what you need because it is the only thing you need. It is Jesus’ Word that commands the devil to take flight. So, you can have confidence as the great hymn says, “one little word can fell him” (ELH 250 v. 3, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”). Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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