Jesus Christ is the Stronger Man!

Luke 11:14-26

Scripture Readings

Exodus 8:16-24
Ephesians 5:1-9

Hymns

144, 258, 413, 48

Hymns from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) (TLH) unless otherwise noted

Sermon Audio

Prayer of the Day: Lord Jesus Christ, Stronger Man and victorious Savior, You have bound the power of Satan and brought the kingdom of God upon us. By Your Word and Spirit drive out our unbelief, strengthen our weak hearts, and teach us to hear Your Word and treasure it. Guard us from the lies of the evil one, and keep us steadfast in faith until the day we share fully in the life You won for us by Your holy cross and glorious resurrection; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Jesus drove out a demon, which was mute. After the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others were testing him by demanding of him a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed. And a house divided against itself falls. If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. But if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So they will be your judges. Yet if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks him and defeats him, he takes away that man’s full armor, in which he had trusted, and divides up his plunder.

“The one who is not with me is against me. The one who does not gather with me scatters. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, but does not find any. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house, the one I left.’ When it returns, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and dwell there. The last condition of that man becomes worse than the first.” (EHV)

Magic tricks are fun to see. But we all understand what is really going on, don’t we… We are being deceived. They are not really making things magically disappear. They are not really sawing people in half. They are really not catching bullets in midair. Rather, they are using methods to make us think that they are doing these things. The crowd wonders, “How did they do that?” But, once you know the secret to the trick, it loses the mystique of impressiveness. It’s not really “magic”. Rather, it is trickery.

When Jesus arrived in His ministry, people thought that He was simply an illusionist. People were constantly torn over just who Jesus was. But when it comes to Jesus, popular opinion doesn’t really matter. Like the disciples, we know who Jesus is. As Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mat 16:16)

By faith, we have seen who He is. He is who He said He is. He is our Lord; He is our Savior; He is our God. He is at the same time true God and true Man. Jesus Christ is the Stronger Man! We pray: MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATIONS OF OUR HEARTS BE ACCEPTABLE IN YOUR SIGHT O LORD, OUR ROCK AND OUR REDEEMER, Amen.

In our text, Jesus drove out a demon from a man, and now he could speak. This was miraculous. But some people were not buying it. Some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others were testing him by demanding of him a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts.

This was blatant unbelief. They just refused to recognize that this was the Christ. They explained it all away. They claimed that He did this by satanic means. People were constantly asking Him by what power He did what He did. Even during Holy Week, chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” (Mat 21:23)

Some thought that He did things by Satan. And for others, what He did wasn’t ever enough. Unbelievers always demand a miraculous sign from Him. Notice the irony here. He just cast out a mute demon and had done countless other miracles. Yet still there were some who wanted a sign. Was that not enough? Of course it wasn’t enough. Unbelief will never be satisfied with a sign. Jesus said, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Mat 16:4)

The only sign was the sign of the prophet Jonah. That is, Jesus would be resurrected on the third day. And that wouldn’t be enough either! There is no sign unbelief will ever get on board with, no matter how strong.

Even rising from the dead wasn’t enough! Jesus proclaimed this in His parable about Lazarus and the rich man. The conclusion of that parable is: “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:29-31) Jesus fulfilled His own prophecy. He rose from the dead, and they still were not persuaded.

Jesus could see what they were thinking without them even expressing it. Mind-reading is another popular magic trick. But Jesus wasn’t a magician. Rather, He was the Son of God. How was He able to read their minds? Because He is God. Quite simply, Jesus is stronger than flesh and blood. How was He able to do what He did? It wasn’t a trick. Rather, it is like Jesus said, “I drive out demons by the finger of God.”

What does this mean for us? It is like John says, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31) Jesus is our Savior. He is our God. He has all power and authority. He is quite simply stronger than flesh and blood. He is flesh and blood. He is true man. But He is also true God. He can do all things!

This is comforting. Jesus is the One who does things by the finger of God. Since He can do the things that He did, (heal incurable diseases, turn water into wine, walk on water, and raise people including Himself from the dead) then what can’t He do for you? There is no problem too heavy for Him to lift.

Jesus sensed these doubts and this sign-seeking mentality in these people. He addressed it head-on: “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed. And a house divided against itself falls. If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. But if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So they will be your judges. Yet if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

We don’t commonly associate faith with logic and reason. Logic and reason can not explain the plagues in our Old Testament reading, nor can they explain how Jesus drove out a mute demon. But they can be helpful.

What is His point? It makes absolutely no logical sense that Satan would drive out demons. Jesus hadn’t just cast out this demon but many. What then is the only remaining conclusion? Jesus did these things by the power of God. And if that is the case, then His conclusion is very real: Yet if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

The devil rules many things in this world. He has many hearts he has bound to his will. But now the kingdom of God has come upon us. Whose camp are you in? Well, we know whose camp we were in… For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. (Tit 3:3) Paul writes about how we were in the camp of Satan. That is how we were born. Natural enemies against God, and natural allies of Satan.

Paul puts it like this in his letter to the Ephesians: “in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph. 2:2-3)

We once followed Satan. We were in his kingdom of the dead. We were children of wrath. We once followed the flesh. But now we follow Jesus.

Yes, it is our tendency to slip and fall away. But when you have Christ in your heart, like we do by the gift of the Holy Spirit through the sacrament and the Word, then He can overcome even the darkest of spiritual forces. Jesus explains: “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks him and defeats him, he takes away that man’s full armor, in which he had trusted, and divides up his plunder.”

That strong man was the devil. And we were his possessions. His houses if you will. He set up camp in us. But a Stronger Man came along. His name is Jesus. He tied Satan up, took away his weapons, and swept up and cleaned that house. Does the old man that serves Satan still reside in us? Yes, of course. But by the strong Man’s help, Jesus, we can continue to subdue our old man and serve the Strong Man instead! Jesus is the Stronger Man!

We take comfort in the strength of Christ. He is stronger than any man, and He is stronger than any spirit. His strength strengthens us as well. He promises just that. And you know that the Stronger Man’s promise holds. While he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Even more blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

We have been talking this whole time about how strong Jesus, our Savior, is. But, what about you? How strong are you? How strong are you spiritually? How strong are you at hearing the Word of God and keeping it?

Yeah, keeping the Word isn’t our strong suit. It is not mine anyway. Also, I am not so great with the hearing part either! And yet it is. How so? Because it is Jesus’ strength. Jesus did that. He did that for you, and He did that for me. And He now strengthens us through His love and through His Gospel to allow us to do just as He did. To hear the Word of God and keep it. The word “keep” here can mean several things: guard, keep, obey, treasure. Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and treasure it!

Jesus wasn’t some trickster. He is the Son of God. He is the Stronger Man. He showed that to be the case when He went to the cross. No one else had the strength to do that. Only He did. It was not by trick or sleight of hand that we were forgiven. Instead, it was His holy, precious blood shed for people like us. You are forgiven.

That can only happen by His strength of course. We, by ourselves, we have no strength. The only strength we had was the strength to sin, to rebel, and to die. That’s not strength at all. But He has called us. He has created new life and new purpose inside each of us. He strengthens us to be like Him, to represent Him wherever we go. Jesus is your God. Jesus is your Lord. Jesus is your payment for your sins. Jesus is your salvation. Jesus is your Stronger Man. He is your strength! That strength allows you to hear the Word, to keep it, and to hold on to it until eternal life itself is your sole possession. May He continue to strengthen us all for all the days of our lives. Amen.

—Pastor Pastor Ben Libby

Redeemer Ev. Lutheran Church
Cheyenne, WY

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