Third Sunday in Lent , 2002
Luke 11:14-30

Harry Houdini astounded crowds in the United States and Europe for decades. He became legendary for his superhuman escapes. No handcuffs, straightjacket, or chains could bind him for long. He was sure to wriggle free. Wrapped up in a straightjacket 300 feet above the streets dangling upside down by has ankles from a rope, or locked in a metal box that sank into the ocean like a stone. It didn't matter. Houdini got away.

One of his few failures happened right here in Santa Ana. Houdini came up with the idea of being buried alive. In a field just outside of Santa Ana a hole was dug six feet deep. Houdini jumped to the bottom crouching on his hands and feet, and shovels of dirt started filling in over him. By putting a thick hood on his head he hoped to create an air pocket under his face and stomach. It didn't work. He simply underestimated the crushing weight of the earth. With only three feet of soil on top of him, he desperately thrust his arms up. His handlers saw groping fingers and pulled him out, gasping and spitting. The crowd was not impressed. That was the last time he tried that stunt. Henceforth Houdini would attempt to escape only from coffins buried in the earth.

Our Gospel text for today begins with a miracle performed by Christ, a miracle that did not amuse the multitudes. Surrounded by crowds of people, Jesus encounters a man who is unable to speak. He is mute; a demon has blocked his ability to utter words. Jesus therefore expels the demon, and the man begins to converse clearly. What is the reaction of the spectators? The people marvel. They are amazed. But notice what kind of amazement it is. It is hostile, not positive. To whom do they ascribe Jesus' power to cast out demons? To magic? To God? No, they give Beelzebub the credit. And to claim that Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons, is the source of Jesus' spiritual strength can only be a sneering insult. Beelzebub is known as the "lord of the flies." Jesus, in their view, is a maggot-fly borrowing miracle power from the maggot leader, Beelzebub. Not everyone however arrives at this conclusion.

[Works consulted: Commentaries by Darrell L. Bock, Arndt, and Barclay. Books on the kingdom of God by: Daniel Taylor, George Eldon Ladd, Peter Leithart, and Keith A. Mathison; Dante's Inferno , The Demise of the Devil by Susan R. Garett; J.C. Ryle's Holiness , and Death and the Magician by Raymund Fitsimmons.]

Others in the crowd demand a sign from heaven. Jesus performed one miracle; they ask for another. What sign in the sky do they want to see? A rainbow? Falling manna? The sun standing still? The moon disappearing? The text does not tell us. Jesus ignores their request, and directs his attention to the first group, to the people who allege that Beelzebub is behind His exorcisms.

The Lord declares: "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" (vv. 17-18).

What is the Lord's train of reasoning? Jesus argues that, in accusing Him of "casting out demons by means of the power of Satan," his opponents are suggesting that Satan has turned against his very subordinates. Why would Satan attack his own troops? Why would he instigate a civil war? It would be illogical and highly unlikely.

Now we come to the key verse of the passage: "But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (v. 20). What did the expulsion of demons signify? And how do the exorcisms of Jesus relate to the Kingdom of God? A careful reading brings out the fact that Jesus' exorcism of demons should be seen in the context of warfare against Satan, and they are signs pointing to the arrival of the Kingdom of God . This is the major theme of our message today.

A couple weeks ago, we studied the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4). We learned that Satan's temptation of our Lord was a skirmish of cosmic proportions. Satan had whipped the first Adam. Adam miserably failed his trial and lost the world to the serpent. The Second Adam triumphed against the devil, thereby regaining creation. Yet, the temptation in the wilderness was by no means Jesus' only battle with Satan. Like all good military campaigns, Jesus' assault on the devil involved several offensives. He constantly encountered demons in His travels through Judea and Galilee. Wherever He went, His main activities included not only preaching, teaching, and healing, but also exorcising demons. Casting out evil spirits should therefore be seen in the context of military invasion and spiritual warfare. The exorcisms were part of Christ's strategy to retake enemy territory and flatten Satan's soldiers.

"If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." The "finger of God" is also significant. For Jesus' Jewish listeners steeped in Old Testament imagery, the phrase the "finger of God" would evoke the Exodus from Egypt. You remember the story. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and Pharaoh would not let them go. How were they freed? Moses confronted the evil magicians of Pharaoh and overcame their miracles. One plague after another confounded the evil magicians. In exasperation they blurted out: "This is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:18). Their power could do nothing against God's finger. The magicians recognized a divine work in Moses.

"If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." Jesus is claiming that this same finger of God that liberated the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt was now liberating the world from Satan's rule. Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden by partaking of the forbidden fruit. And how did God punish their rebellion? He delivered the totality of mankind into Satan's bondage. He allowed creation to be taken by the enemy. Rousseau once said: "Men are born free and are everywhere in chains." That statement is a complete falsehood. The Bible teaches the opposite: all men are born in chains and need to be set free. By faith in Christ, it is the finger of God that frees us from slavery to sin and Satan.

"But if I cast out demons with the finger of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." If the finger of God is bringing in the kingdom, what kind of kingdom are we talking about? The Old Testament helps us understand. God told Abraham that his offspring would one day be more numerous than the sands of the seashore, brighter than the stars of the sky. The Psalmist foretold the defeat of all God's enemies by the Messiah. Isaiah observed the nations streaming to Zion; a New Heavens and a New Earth. Ezekiel got a glimpse of a global paradise; waters of blessing flowing from the altar to fill the whole earth. Daniel envisioned the setting up of a kingdom that would never be destroyed (Genesis 12; Psalm 2; 110; Isaiah 2, 65; Ezekiel 36, 47; Daniel 2). These images tell us something of the scope and grandeur of God's Kingdom. It is not merely a spiritual dominion. The kingdom has both spiritual and physical consequences. Satan enslaved both body and soul, so body and soul must be freed. The relationship between spiritual and physical is indeed mysterious, but once the kingdom is inaugurated by the Messiah, the power unleashed will renew all nations and restore creation. The total fabric of human life will be redeemed.

"But if I cast out demons with the finger of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." Jesus states that the kingdom of God has arrived and is moving. The words of Jesus refute the popular teaching of our day that the Kingdom of God waits some future epoch. True, the kingdom is not fully manifested and revealed, the New Heavens and New Earth have not yet been consummated. But to deny the establishment of the Kingdom of God at Christ's First Advent is sheer nonsense. It flies in the face of Jesus' declaration: "The kingdom of God has come upon you."

The purpose of the many exorcisms in the New Testament points to Christ's kingdom. Freeing persons from demons is big, but the Lord is bringing about something much bigger. The exorcisms indicate that an invincible, world-transforming potency has been set in motion. The visions of the Old Testament prophets are being fulfilled! The Kingdom is here! It is being established! Either Jesus was right, and the kingdom of God did come during Jesus' lifetime, or Jesus was wrong. The latter conclusion is not an option. Jesus spoke the truth; His ministry did inaugurate a kingdom, a kingdom of peace and justice that will stand forever.

Moving on with Luke 11:21-22. [Read them.]

Let's identify the strong man and the stronger man. Who are they? The strong man is Satan, and the Stronger Man is Jesus. The passage assumes that the strong man possesses citadels, leads his troops, and is armed to the teeth. Perhaps his prisoners are chained in the dungeons below the palace. A state of war exists between two camps.

An old friend of mine was one night watching television with his wife. They were growing sleepy and getting ready to go to bed. The television program was interrupted for a special announcement. A crazed man had taken a woman hostage in some local store. TV so often shows car chases and robberies that my friend Monte and his wife barely paid attention. Then the phone rang. It was the boyfriend of Monte's daughter. His voice was frantic, "Monte, some lunatic grabbed your daughter Amber at work. He has a gun to her back and is holding her hostage." Stunned, Monte ran out of the house and raced down to the scene. Police cars had surrounded the building.

Meanwhile, inside the building, with one arm around her neck the madman had dragged Amber into one of the back rooms and threatened to rape her. Fortunately the police got there quickly and entered. He had to change his plans. He yelled out for the cops to back off or he would shoot her. Amber was held hostage. Things remained at a standstill until one of the policeman quietly crawled to an advantageous position. He called out to the other officers: "I have a bead on him." In response, the maniac loosened his hold on Amber to avoid being shot and Amber ran to freedom. The police rushed in and handcuffed the criminal.

In a sense, people who reject the saving power of Christ are in Satan's clutches. They are held hostage to sin and selfishness. That is why we need Christ and His Kingdom. The Stronger Man attacks the strong man, incapacitates him, and binds him. Then the Stronger Man plunders the weaker man's palace, freeing all the slaves.

What happened after Amber's near scrape with death two years ago? Different things. On the negative side she still suffers neck pain that needs treatment, and she has gone through a lot of counseling to get over the trauma. On the positive side, she has become a much more mature Christian. The demonic wickedness of the madman alerted her to the tenuousness of life, the struggle between good and evil, and God's grace.

One of the lessons we need to learn on the Third Sunday in Lent is the theme of warfare and battle. Jesus was no Oriental guru proclaiming love and nonviolence. His love was a passionate love that hated the reign and oppression of the devil. As a conquering warrior, He came to wage holy war against Satan, and rescue His people.

We need to be involved in the same battle. The atmosphere of earth is populated with angels and demons; the demons incite more evil than we are aware. They cause great harm when we ignore them.

The 19th century Anglican bishop J.C. Ryle taught eloquently about the spiritual fight of the Christian. He wrote: "It admits of no breathing time, no armistice, no truce. On weekdays as well as on Sundays, in private as well as in public, at home by the family fireside as well as abroad, in little things, like management of tongue and temper, as well as in great ones, like the government of kingdoms, the Christian's warfare must unceasingly go on. The foe we have to do with keeps no holidays, never slumbers and never sleeps. So long as we have breath in our bodies we must keep on our armor and remember we are on an enemy's ground. 'Even on the brink of Jordan,' said a dying saint, 'I find Satan nibbling at my heels.' We must fight till we die."

And what happens if we do not fight? Jesus states: "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." Neutrality is impossible; it is a sin. We are in one army or the other. There is no neutral country.

Dante depicts the results of the sin of neutrality. The neutral ones are the first people Dante sees upon entering Hell. He describes their plight:

"And so I looked and saw a kind of banner: rushing ahead, whirling with aimless speed as though it would not ever take a stand; behind it an interminable train of souls pressed on, so many that I wondered how death could have undone so great a number. . . . At once I understood, and I was sure this was that sect of evil souls who were hateful to God and to His enemies. These wretches, who had never truly lived, went naked, and were stung and stung again by the hornets and the wasps that circled them. And made their faces run with blood in streaks; their blood, mixed with their tears, dripped to their feet, and disgusting maggots collected in the pus."

What is the explanation of this vision? A couple things: First, the souls who in their early lives had no banner, had taken no side, but had sat on the fence, now run forever after a banner in Hell, a banner going nowhere. Second, since they attempted to avoid all cares and worries on earth by remaining neutral, now they are stung ceaselessly by hornets and wasps.

The Gospel reminds us on this Third Sunday in Lent that we are engaged in a war to the death against the forces of Satan. Jesus has established the Kingdom of God, and the power of that Kingdom comes from Christ Himself. He graciously grants us that power in the Church through His Word, His sacraments, the fellowship of His people, and through the war wounds we suffer. Come now to the Eucharist and receive the power of that Kingdom. There is a special strength in the body of Christ; there is power in the blood. Come, refresh yourself for the battle.

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