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And Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” And others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “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. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” And it happened, as Jesus spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”(Luke 11:14–28)
In the beginning, Adam and Eve were not mute. Their lips were not bound. But they could hear, speak, smell, and touch. They were able to express their praise toward God and their love toward one another.
But along comes Satan. From his mouth came lie after lie. He attacked God's Word. He called evil good and good evil. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve listened to Satan's lies and, of their own free will, ate the forbidden fruit.
Adam and Eve tried to cover up their sin by sowing fig leaves together. They hid from God among the trees in the garden. When God confronted them, they blamed each other, and they even blamed God. God now becomes their greatest enemy.
Adam and Even are now spiritually mute. They are spiritually dead and will someday be physically dead.
Just as Adam and Eve cannot overcome Satan, we cannot overcome him in and of ourselves. Just as Adam and Eve tried to cover up their sin with fig leaves, we cover up our sin by lying. Just as Adam and Eve hid from God, our sinful flesh wants to hide from God on Sunday morning. Just as Adam and Eve blamed God, when we suffer from the consequence of our own sin, we like to blame God. When you are clearly in the wrong, do you confess your sin or do you blame the other person?
Satan is certainly strong. He is fully armed. Even today, he tempts us — as our Epistle lesson stated — with sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. Satan is real. He uses the television, movies, the internet, the computer, social networks, drugs, alcohol, and money in order to pull us away from Christ.
None of us are immune to Satan's attacks. None of us are stronger than Satan in and of ourselves. All of us are sinful by nature and have, at one time or another, listened to Satan.
The demon possessed man in our text for today could not talk. He was mute. Who caused this man to be mute? Satan caused this man to be mute. Satan was the cause of this man's inability to speak, and Satan is the cause of our many problems today.
But along comes Jesus. Jesus cast the demon out of the man who was mute. The man was now able to talk. His lips were no longer bound. He was now able to express his thanksgiving to Jesus.
Jesus is more powerful than Satan and his many demons. Jesus casts out demons with the “finger of God.”
After knowing this, would you like to be on Jesus' side or on the side of Satan? Would you like to be in the kingdom of darkness or in the kingdom of light? You cannot remain neutral. There is no middle ground. Jesus even said in today's Gospel, “He who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (v. 23).
The scribes mentioned in our text, were they on the side of Jesus or on the side of Satan? Since they were against Jesus and did not assist Him in gathering the lost lambs, they were on the side of Satan.
They were very sly in their attack of Jesus. They were hoping to convince the people that Jesus was in league with Satan. They tried to scare people into thinking that Jesus got His ability to cast out demons from Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. But nothing can be farther from the truth.
Jesus does not act on behalf of Beelzebub. Jesus is not in league with Satan. Jesus has come to defeat Satan. 1 John 3:8 says that Jesus appeared here on earth “to destroy the devil's work.” Jesus is against Satan and is attacking his demonic world.
Everyone knows that a house divided against itself will fall. So if Satan is casting out Satan, his kingdom would fall. Satan does not attack his own kingdom, but He seeks to divide God's house, God's kingdom.
Even today, Satan would love for the church to be divided against itself by schism and by every false doctrine. The blame for division within the church is not on those who are faithful to the Scriptures. Those who promote false doctrine are the cause of divisions within the church.
Satan would also love for the Christian to be divided against Christian even within Faith Lutheran Church. Satan would love to destroy marriages and families.
Satan would love for you to be divided away from the church. He is like a wolf which will attempt to scatter you away from God's fold. He will prevent you from keeping God's name holy. He will prevent God's kingdom here in this place from coming to you. He wants to take your faith away.
Satan is real and he is very active. He will tempt you to fall into sexual immorality and to be impure in what you think, say, and do. He will tempt you to be greedy and to covet the things God has made and to worship them. He will attempt to mislead you “into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice.” He will use the television, movies, and the internet to pull you away from Christ. He will use other people to tempt you to follow the way of the evil world.
Can you overcome Satan on your own? No! Everyone here has given into Satan's temptations. There is none righteous, no not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Who is stronger, you or Satan? Satan is stronger. You have no strength on your own to overcome him.
We need a Savior who is human like us yet stronger than Satan. We need a Savior who will defeat our enemy Satan. In other words, our Savior must not only be human but, also, God Himself.
The Good News is that God the Father had mercy upon us sinners and sent His only–begotten Son into our world. This Savior was born of the virgin Mary and was named Jesus.
Satan is certainly strong. He is fully armed. He guards his own palace and protects his goods. However, Jesus is stronger than Satan. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus never gave in to those temptations. Throughout Jesus' ministry, He showed His strength against Satan and the demonic world by casting out unclean spirits on several occasions.
Again, Satan is strong, but Jesus is stronger. It was by a tree that the devil overcame Adam and Eve, but it was also by a tree — the tree of the cross — that Jesus overcame Satan. The blood shed on the cross was the purchase payment for your sin, my sin, and the sin of the whole world. The sacrifice on the cross was Jesus — the very Lamb of God.
Jesus is stronger than Satan, but on Good Friday, many people thought that Jesus lost. But, in order to defeat death, Jesus needed to go through death, so He willingly gave up His spirit and died. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead defeating our enemy, death, forever.
The good news is that Satan is defeated. The war is over. Satan has been conquered.
Just as Jesus freed many who were demon possessed, so also, you are free. In your baptism, an exorcism took place. Satan was cast out, and Jesus took up residency within you. You are no longer the possession of Satan. You are children of light. You are sheep within God's fold and within His kingdom.
Again, Satan is defeated. The war is over, and he has been conquered. But Satan refuses to quit. He is still very active. Satan, who once left, wants back in. Jesus said in our text for today that, when and unclean spirit goes out of a man, he wants to return. Satan will attack the Christian, because all others are already on his side.
Therefore, by God's grace and strength, resist the devil, standing firm in the faith (1 Peter 5:8–9). Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation (Mark 14:38).
Most importantly, remember your baptism. You were baptized into Christ. You are a baptized child of God, and this gift will carry you into eternal life.
The Gospel not only came to you in your baptism, but also enters your ear, now, as you hear preaching. This precious Gospel is for you. It declares you forgiven in Christ. It puts the forgiveness of sins into your ear. Jesus said it this way in our text: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (v. 28). The Gospel also touches your mouth by means of our Lord's body and blood as you receive the Lord's Supper today.
Jesus said in our text that “the kingdom of God has come to you” (v. 20). I say unto you, now, that the kingdom of God is within you and among you. God's kingdom comes to you from the font, the pulpit, and the altar. This is the very thing that Satan does not want, because the Gospel is your strength and power over him. Greater is Christ who is in you, than Satan who is in the world.
As a result of the Gospel, your lips are not mute. They are not bound. But they express praise and thanksgiving toward God and love toward one another. Amen.
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