Oculi, 2022
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
St. Luke 11:14-28
Oculi
March, 20, 2022
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
There is a certain way we often think about Christ our Lord’s Passion, that is, His suffering and death. We sometimes think of all this, especially during the season of Lent as a great battle—a battle between Jesus and the devil. The prize, of course, being you and me, and all of God’s creation. This is how Jesus’ interaction between demons, those possessed by demons, Christ’s crucifixion, and the destruction of the devil himself are all depicted in much of our hymnody. For example, hymn 454, “Sing my Tongue the Glorious Battle” speaks of Jesus upon the cross extended as our victor over sin, over the devil, and over demons, and that Jesus has won the day.
It has become more and more apparent to me in these last few weeks, maybe it has for you as well, that at least the first three weeks of Lent, especially the Gospel readings appointed for each Sunday, all of them so far deal primarily with spiritual warfare—with Jesus and demons. The first Sunday in Lent is the account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by a demon. We call this demon, this evil angel, the devil. Last week, was the account of the Canaanite woman’s desperate plea and prayer that Jesus would help her daughter. Why? Because she was severely oppressed by a demon. Today, we hear how Jesus casts out a demon from a blind and mute man and afterward gives an extended teaching concerning the nature and actions of demons.
In case you were wondering, this is a sermon on demons. Demons, after all, are real. They’re not make believe or fantasy or a figment of our imagination. They’re real. They’re dangerous. They’re powerful. We confess that they’re real every Sunday when we confess the Nicene Creed when we say, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. Because of this, we need to take demons seriously. Because demons are dangerous beings. And so we’re going to cover three points in regard to the nature of demons: 1) What demons are. 2) What they do and what their goals and methods are. And 3) How Jesus overcomes the prince of demons by the nails of His cross.
1 What demons are
Demons are fallen angels. When God created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, He also created angels. At some point within the first six days of creation, God created all the angels that exist. Since the sixth day of creation, no new angels have been created, at least, it’s not recorded for us. There is a fixed number of angels. Angels themselves are celestial beings. They have a distinct personal identity. They have reason, intelligence, and memory and they are very powerful. Now at this point, during the six days when God was creating all things, all the angels were good, that is, they were created good, they perfectly conformed to His will, they served and loved God in truth. We know this for a fact because after each day of creation, God looked at what He had created and said, “It is good.” The phrase, “it is good” means that there was no sin, no corruption of His creation. God is good. God is perfect. Since He is good and perfect, He does not create anything that is bad or sinful or evil. So during those first six days, there were no fallen/evil angels. None of the angels had fallen. There were no demons.
However, at some point, between the time after the seventh day when God rested and when Satan tempted Adam and Eve, a number of those good angels fell into sin. We know that the prince of this group of fallen, sinful angels is the devil. The sin of these angels was pride. They took pride in who they were and no longer desired to serve God and to conform to His will, so they rebelled against God and in the end, were cast out of heaven. So now we have fallen angels, known as demons. All this happened after creation but before mankind fell into sin. When exactly? We aren’t given to know.
Now there is no hope or salvation for the fallen angels. Their fate has been sealed. These fallen angels—demons—and the devil are so prideful, that even though they know they’re condemned to the fires of hell, they still think that they can outlast God and His angels, and reign supreme over creation. But we don’t have to worry about that because our God is the Lord of Hosts. He has legions of His own angels at His expense. Be comforted that the number of good angels greatly exceeds the number of fallen angels—demons.
2 What they do/what their goal is/what their methods are
Frist of all, We are living in the time after Christ’s Crucifixion, after His atoning sacrifice but before the His second coming on the Last Day. And we are currently in the midst of a great war, a spiritual war. We confess that we believe God has created everything that is, things both visible and invisible. There are invisible forces at work. For example, in the book of Daniel, Daniel describes a vision where he sees an angel talking to him. The angel tells Daniel that fallen angels are at war with God’s angels, “For the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia.” Now the prince of the kingdom of Persia, as we understand it, was a fallen angel who fought for Persia. But Michael, one of the archangels, beat him back so that this angel, this messenger of God could come to the prophet Daniel.
The intentions of fallen angels, demons, are evil in every way. Jesus says in John’s Gospel that the devil was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own nature, for the devil is a liar and the father of lies. The devil’s nature, his essence is utterly corrupted, utterly sinful. And so he leads this band of demons to cast the whole world further and further into sin because he’s simply going about according to his nature. It’s the same for his followers, his minions, all other demons.
Demons are dangerous. They will not let up. We hear from Holy Scripture that they can and do inhabit the bodies of human beings. For Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. Demon possession is not just something that happens in scary movies. It is real. It is serious and dangerous. It doesn’t always happen like it does in the movies, even though it can. But usually, in our culture and country, it’s often more subtle.
So don’t think it can’t happen to you. Because demons are constantly harassing all of us through temptation. Martin Luther compares temptations we suffer to flaming darts constantly being fired at us every waking moment of the day. God be praised that God’s sends angels to fight for us and to protect us. In fact, this is how Luther speaks in his evening prayer in the Small Catechism, “Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me.”
Prayer and God’s Word also keeps demons at bay. That’s why your prayer life is so important. Jesus warns about the nature of demons. After casting out the demon from the blind and mute man He says, “When an 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.” What Jesus is getting at is that until He comes on the Last Day, demons and the devil will never stop harassing you. Temptation to sin will always be before you. They will not give up. They may leave you alone for a time, you may experience reprieves from temptation for a time, but you still must fight the good fight of faith.
Fighting the good fight of faith also means knowing what methods demons use to harass Christians. Certain things like tarot cards, or fortunetelling, playing with a Ouija board, and viewing pornography, or even seemingly less severe things such as crude jokes and coveting are all portals that demons can use to enter your life. They can and they will. This isn’t just me as a “superstitious pastor.” This is a serious matter. We all should take this seriously because spiritual warfare is real. All these things just mentioned are evil and sinful and they have no place in the life of a Christian. “Abhor what is evil,” says St. Paul. And hear again, the Epistle reading, because St. Paul speaks to the Ephesians and to us in likewise manner,
“Beloved, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not become partakers with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk, therefore, as children of light. For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.”
3 And so we come to the third point.
Demons despise God’s Word. This is why the devil left Jesus in the wilderness. He quoted Scripture against the devil and the devil left Him. Demons are liars and they lie from their own lying nature. Thus, they cannot stand to hear the truth. God’s Word is truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the life. Demons are repelled by God’s Word and by prayer. Jesus tells His disciples at one point, “This [demon] cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” That’s why your own prayer life is so important. Pray the Lord’s Prayer before going to bed at night and when you wake up in the morning. If you haven’t gotten into that practice, now is a great time to start. God desires to hear your prayers and supplications. He is your dear Father and you are His dear children. So ask of Him as children as of their fathers.
And yet, in the end, while we wield God’s Word as a sword, a weapon to be used against the dark forces in the world, it is not our word, but God’s. Each and every one of us Christians are soldiers of the cross. Our King sets us for battle and even stands with us, giving us the ability to withstand the lies and accusations of Satan. For from the beginning, immediately after the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, God promised redemption through the sacrifice of His Son. In speaking to the devil himself, God said, “He,” that is, Jesus, “Shall crush your head, and you shall strike His heel.”
On the cross, Jesus’ heel was struck by a nail. Nails and spear pierced Him through and through. For they looked upon Him who they pierced. But that nail that the devil drove into Christ’s foot, so hard and quick, ended up being the devil’s own undoing. For that nail-pierced foot of Christ crushed the head of the devil that day. His power is waning, his reign ending. His tempting weakening.
And so it is, that we who have been crucified with Christ in Baptism have also overcome sin, and the devil, and all his demons.
In +Jesus’ name.
