Oculi (Lent 3)

Oculi (Lent 3) – March 23, 2025

Psalm 25; Exodus 8:26-24; Ephesians 5:1-9

St. Luke 11:14-28

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The exorcism of the mute man reveals the reality that satan rules over a kingdom. There are many nations, or kingdoms, in our temporal world but there are only two spiritual kingdoms – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of satan. These kingdoms are invisible to the eye but are as real—arguably more real—than the kingdoms of the United States, Germany, and Russia. We are accustomed to thinking about the kingdom of God but our Lord’s sermon on the occasion of this exorcism bids us to think about the kingdom of satan—it’s origin, composition, and strengths, as well as how a person is delivered from this kingdom.[1]

Satan is a created angel, one of those spiritual beings whose origin is sometime during the first six days of creation and belonging to those things we confess God created visible and invisible. He was created to be a servant and messenger of God Most High but at some point, he rebelled against the heavenly order, against God Himself. For this, he was cast out of heaven. Along with him went a third of the heavenly angels, becoming what we now call “demons.”[2] These are the evil angels. Hell itself was created as the prison for these wicked creatures. Satan and his demons know full-well who God is but because of their rebellion against Him, their sin, they have been condemned to eternal torment.[3]

But Satan was not content to just rebel against God. He wanted to bring the pinnacle of God’s creation with him into the depths of hell. This is why he took the form of a serpent and deceived our first parents, Adam and Eve. He saw the world as the perfect Kingdom of God, and he became envious. He wanted a kingdom for himself. The first human citizens of his kingdom would be the first humans. He drew them across the spiritual border and claimed them as his own.

And while the souls of our first parents had now become despoiled, God was not content to allow Satan to have his way with creation. The Lord gave a promise to Adam and Eve that He would deliver them from the sin now clinging to their flesh.[4] He would take on their flesh and redeem them from their sin.

But the damage was done. No longer is man made in original righteousness, perfectly conforming to the will of God. All his senses have been corrupted by the temptation of the devil. Satan had planted the flag of his kingdom in the world. He had declared war on the kingdom of God and sought to populate his kingdom. The corruption of our first parents is passed from father to son, down to this very day. This corruption means that everyone is born a citizen of the kingdom of the devil. By nature, he is our lord.

When it comes to those who remain in this kingdom of wickedness, we can consider them in at least three groups. First, there are those who slander the Word of God. To these belong the outspoken critics of Christianity, the “new atheists” whose goal in life is to crush destroy the name of Christ before the world. In this category also belongs those who are within the call of the Gospel but whose false teaching is contrary to the Word of God. The Pharisees of our text are among this group. They know the Word; they’ve read it and heard it proclaimed but they teach contrary to it. They refuse to believe what Scripture says and replace the plain words of Scripture with their own teachings.

Today, these would be the liberal theologians who would have you believe that the Bible is a collection of myths and fables, good for morality but not true in any historical sense. Another example is those who might say, “Yes, St. Paul says women cannot be pastors but that was then. In our context, women can do whatever a man can do. We are modern people.”

The second category are those who do not slander the Word of God but who live in manifest sin, including sins against the first table of the Law. To this category belong all unbelievers as they continually sin against the first and second commandments, worshiping false gods and refusing to make proper use of the name of God. They do not outwardly seek to destroy Christianity, but they also refuse to acknowledge the True God. These, too, might live outwardly moral lives but anything done apart from faith is sin.

The third category are those who desire a neutral way. These do not want to slander Christ or harm His Church, but they also do not want to side with Him. The “spiritual but not religious” types, or the “nones” most likely fit in this category. They think it is great that you have your religion so long as you don’t tell them to believe it. This libertine mindset is very common in our age. “There is no right and wrong, we just need to coexist.” To these, Christ explicitly says, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”[5]

You’ve heard me say many times, ‘there is no fence sitting with God.’ There is no neutral territory between the kingdoms of satan and the kingdom of God. You are a citizen in one or the other, whether a man acknowledges his citizenship or not. And these kingdoms are at war. There is no reaching across the aisle, no Switzerland, no peace accords.

The devil’s primary weapon in this war is the flesh of man, yes, even the flesh of Christians. He seeks to use the corruption of our hearts to turn us away from God. He will use your emotions, your desires, your reason, your strength, your memory, your relationships against you. He will leverage whatever means he can find to turn you away from the kingdom of God. And despite the appearance of confusion in the kingdom of satan, it is in fact united. It is united in opposition to God. The slanderers, the manifest sinners, and the libertines are united against God, no matter how they might think of themselves.

If man is born a citizen of the kingdom of satan, how then is he delivered from this kingdom? How does he become a citizen of the kingdom of God? There are three obstacles to man’s deliverance. First, he is born blind to spiritual things. When Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened to see their nakedness, their eyes were simultaneously closed to spiritual things. They hid from God because they could no longer see Him clearly. Second, the heart naturally loves sin. It is naturally inclined toward sin. Being born a sinner, every intention of the imagination of the heart of man is sin and we find sin enjoyable.[6] We are not just born without faith but against faith, against God and everything God stands for. Third, man cannot forgive his own sins. He has neither the ability nor the desire to forgive his own sins.

Deliverance from the kingdom of satan is found only in Christ. A man must first perceive that he is under the power of darkness, that his king by nature is the devil. Yet because the heart is born sinful—loving sin and inclined toward it—and being spiritually blind, man cannot come to this revelation by his own reason or strength. Using reason alone, man can perceive that there is something wrong with the state of the world.[7] He may even recognize that there is something wrong with himself. But he cannot know that this imperfection is the result of a separation from God. He cannot know his sorry state is due to his sinful heart. This must be revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Just as a dead body cannot realize that it is dead and rise to life of its own accord, a man dead in sin cannot suddenly come to the realization that he is dead and remedy the situation. This requires the action of someone outside of himself. It requires the activity of the Holy Spirit.

The first activity of the holy spirit is to awaken a sense of dread in man that he is a sinner. The Holy Spirit must reveal the dangerous position a man is born into, that on his own, there is no hope of salvation. Closely connected to this, the Holy Spirit awakens a desire for salvation. First, He brings an awareness of man’s sinful position and then inculcates a desire to be relieved of this state. Finally, the Holy Spirit calls a man to faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior. This faith awakens a hatred of sin, a renunciation of the devil, and bestows a new heart, oriented toward God and loving the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Lord.

These activities of the Holy Spirit do not happen immediately through a burning in man’s bosom. The Holy Spirit works through means. When it comes to conversion, the bringing of a man out of the kingdom of the devil and into God’s holy kingdom, this means is the Word of God. This Word of God may be spoken, preached, read, and even connected to water. In these ways, the Holy Spirit enters into the heart of man and delivers him from the devil. Such was the case of the mute demoniac in our reading. Such was the case with each of you as you were called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. And it was for this reason that our Lord amplified the cry of the woman who blessed St. May when He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”[8]

Beloved in the Lord, the kingdom of satan is a real and present danger. Yet the strong demon, satan, is overcome by the stronger man. No matter the armor in which satan trusts, the Word of God is greater. This Word became flesh and dwelt among us.[9] He dwells among us this day. He has sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to bring and maintain faith in your hearts. He has accomplished the victory over the kingdom of satan. The devil’s kingdom has already lost the war. Christ’s victory on the cross has ensured that the war between these kingdoms is a losing venture for satan and his followers. By death, Christ overcame death, casting the strong man into the dry places of no rest.

You, the citizens of the kingdom of God, have been called and gathered into Christ, into His Word, to shine as lights in this world. You have been washed, made clean in the waters of Holy Baptism that you would be made new, made glorious citizens in the kingdom of God. The stronger man, Jesus Christ, is king. He reigns for all eternity. May He remain your King, your Lord, your Beloved, now and forevermore.

In + Jesus’ name. Amen.

---

[1] The outline of this sermon is based on the outline of C.F.W. Walther, “Third Sunday in Lent,” Gospel Sermons, Volume 1, translated by Donald E. Heck (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2013), 175-184.

[2] Jude 6.

[3] Jude 10-11.

[4] Genesis 3:15.

[5] St. Luke 11:23.

[6] Cf. Genesis 6:7.

[7] Romans 1:18-23.

[8] St. Luke 11:27-28.

[9] St. John 1:14.