The Stronger Man
St. Luke 11:14-28
March 24, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
Samson was God’s judge, a man of God. You can read about him in the OT book of Judges. For some reason Samson wanted a bride from among the Philistines. He wanted his bride from among God’s enemies. On the way to find his bride a young lion rushed out at Samson. He had no weapon in his hands, but the Holy Spirit rushed down upon Samson with such strength that he tore the lion apart like you tear apart a rotisserie chicken.
It makes for a great Sunday School story. Sort of sounds like one of our superhero stories, but it is no mere story. When you read true stories like Samson you wonder why did God raise up Samson? Why did Samson want a Philistine bride? Why did the Holy Spirit include this judge’s story in the OT and inform us of Samson’s weakness for Delilah which eventually cost him his strength and his life?
This week I learned from a really old Lutheran preacher (Johann Gerhardt) who lived about 450 years ago why Samson lived. I should have known. Samson lived and did what he did because of Jesus. Jesus also set His eyes on a bride from among God’s enemies. He set His eyes on you. Jesus took His bride from among unbelievers. Along the way to marry His bride Jesus also encountered a roaring lion. That’s what today’s text is all about.
The Devil is powerful. He set a demon upon this poor man in the text. We learn from the other Gospels that this man was not only mute, but he was also deaf and blind. Such is the power of the demon that this man cannot see, cannot hear, and cannot speak. It is hard to imagine such a miserable existence. But that is you. That’s your condition at birth. You are completely captive to the devil. You are born sinful and as such the devil has complete and absolute control over you. Before faith you are deaf to God’s Word, mute when it comes to confessing your sins, and blind to God’s ways. Luther says it simply in the catechism, “I believe that I cannot believe.”
The Devil has one strength, one piece of armor to defend his right to you. You are a sinner. As long as you are a sinner the Devil has complete right under God’s Law and justice to claim you and hold you captive for all eternity. His stronghold and armor is the righteous decree of God that the soul who sins is the one who dies. Can you say that you haven’t sinned? Do you have any defense against God’s law? Can you acquit yourself? Or claim you do not deserve death and hell? If not, the Devil’s got a strong case and a firm grip on you.
Until the greater Samson, the stronger man, Jesus of Nazareth comes along looking for His bride, looking for 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.” (Luke 11:21–22, ESV)
Christ has a weakness for you. It’s called love. But in the wisdom of God His weakness is His strength. His death is His power. His captivity to sin and death is your freedom. When Christ Jesus laid down His life for His bride Satan’s palace was ransacked and he was stripped of his armor. If your sins are taken away what power does Satan have over you? He cannot threaten you with God’s law. In Christ you are forgiven. He cannot claim you as his own. In baptism the Holy Spirit washed you in the blood of Jesus and the Father adopted you as His own. Satan only has rights to sinners. He can only claim the souls that are filthy with unrighteousness. Satan is the Beelzebul – the Lord of the flies, the Lord of the dung heap. He only rules over that which is unclean and filthy and that is not you, for you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 6:11)
The proof of your Stronger Man’s victory is this. Christ Jesus rose from the dead. Yes His death looked like defeat. His strength looked like weakness. His love appeared foolish, until that third day. Then His tomb was open and Angels were preaching and crying women were telling the joyful news and cowardly men like Peter and James and John began preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Devil thought he had Jesus right where he wanted Him — loving a loser, weakened by His passion, nailed to a cross, dead in a tomb, but the evidence is all there that Christ won. He is the stronger man. His tomb is empty. Graves were opened. People believed. The Church grew. And at every baptism and conversion Satan loses ground.
There are two other lessons to learn from this text. Jesus, in defending Himself against the charge that He is actually the in league with the Devil makes this boast, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Did you hear the boast? Jesus cast out this demon by the “finger of God” – not the mighty hand and outstretched arm, but by the finger of God. This is how strong our Lord is. He’s got more strength in one finger than a deaf, mute, and blind demon has. That’s how our Lord is – His weakness is stronger than man’s strength. So He uses the simple and small to bring you His great might – a simple supper of bread and wine under which is the strength of Christ’s risen and living body and blood. A small sermon (ten to fifteen to twenty minutes at most) to deliver the great good news that Christ Jesus died for sinners, that for some reason Jesus chose you, an unbelieving Philistine to be His bride and He laid down His life for you.
Jesus concludes his teaching with another parable about the Devil and his demons. “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.” (Luke 11:24–26, ESV)
What does this parable mean? It means the Devil doesn’t want to lose you. He hates being homeless. His greatest joy is to possess and torment souls. So once Jesus evicts him (the old word is exorcises him) the Devil misses his old abode. And so he is always trying to return. If you leave your house empty, if you depart from faith, if you don’t receive Jesus frequently in His Word and Sacrament, your house will be wide open, clean and vacant, and that Demon will return and invite 7 of his friends for a house burning party. The angels in heaven rejoice when one sinners repents. The Devil and His demons rejoice when one person skips church – it’s an opening. They keep patrolling the neighborhood and once they find that you’ve evicted Jesus and forgiveness from your life, they move in. They come back in number. They don’t want to lose you again. And so the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
It’s the third Sunday in Lent, the third Sunday in a row where Jesus has faced off with the Devil. If you’re keeping score it’s hat trick for Jesus. 3-nothing. Why must we hear so much about the Devil and his demons in the Lord’s house during Lent? Because the Devil had you and wants you back He’s a strong man, but remember there’s a stronger Man who has a weakness for you. His name is Jesus. Amen.