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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Oculi Sunday, The Third Sunday in Lent, 2018
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn #175 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Ephesians 5:1-9
The Gospel Luke 11:14-28
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #172:1-5 O Sacred Head
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Ephesians 5:1-9
The Gospel Luke 11:14-28
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #172:1-5 O Sacred Head
The Stronger Man
The Hymn #172:6-10 O Sacred Head
The Hymn #172:6-10 O Sacred Head
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #151 Christ the Life
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #151 Christ the Life
KJV Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
KJV Luke 11:14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Third Sunday in Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast sent Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh, that He might overcome the devil, and defend us poor sinners against the adversary: We give thanks unto Thee for Thy merciful help, and we beseech Thee to attend us with Thy grace in all temptations, to preserve us from carnal security, and by Thy Holy Spirit to keep us in Thy word and Thy fear, that unto the end we may be delivered from the enemy, and obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Jesus Is Stronger Than Satan
KJV Luke 11:14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.
1. This is a beautiful Gospel from which we learn many different things, and in which nearly everything is set forth as to what Christ, his kingdom and his Gospel are: what they accomplish and how they fare in the world.
In the first place, like all the Gospels this one teaches us faith and love; for it presents Christ to us as a most loving Savior and Helper in every need and tells us that he who believes this is saved. For we see here that Christ had nothing to do with people who were healthy, but with a poor man who was greatly afflicted with many ills. He was blind, as Matthew says; also dumb and possessed with a demon, as Luke tells us here. Now all mutes are also deaf, so that in the Greek language deaf and dumb are one word.
By this act Christ draws us to himself, leads us to look to him for every blessing, and to go to him in every time of need. He does this that we also, according to the nature of love, should do unto others as he does unto us.
This is the universal and the most precious doctrine of this Gospel and of all the Gospels throughout the church year. This poor man, however, did not come to Christ without the Word; for those who brought him to Christ must have heard his love preached and were moved thereby to trust in him.
In the first place, like all the Gospels this one teaches us faith and love; for it presents Christ to us as a most loving Savior and Helper in every need and tells us that he who believes this is saved. For we see here that Christ had nothing to do with people who were healthy, but with a poor man who was greatly afflicted with many ills. He was blind, as Matthew says; also dumb and possessed with a demon, as Luke tells us here. Now all mutes are also deaf, so that in the Greek language deaf and dumb are one word.
By this act Christ draws us to himself, leads us to look to him for every blessing, and to go to him in every time of need. He does this that we also, according to the nature of love, should do unto others as he does unto us.
This is the universal and the most precious doctrine of this Gospel and of all the Gospels throughout the church year. This poor man, however, did not come to Christ without the Word; for those who brought him to Christ must have heard his love preached and were moved thereby to trust in him.
So many people have their pet dogmas they want to promote and sell like popcorn at a carnival or theater. Popcorn vendors may pour plastic bags full of grocery store into a machine marked "Fresh Popcorn." Others offer salty and poorly made made popcorn, which is not very good, but people buy it because the aroma smells so good and they are hungry.
Faith in Jesus the Savior - that is the message of the entire Bible. Following that is love, which stems from the love of God for us. God the Father graciously sent His Son to die for our sins. Those who believe in Him receive forgiveness and salvation, so the first fruit of the Spirit is love for others, which expresses itself in good works. All error comes from mixing this up in various ways.
Jesus cast out a devil from this poor suffering person, as Luther preached, because He came as the Great Physician, for poor, stricken, and wounded souls, not for those who had no need of Him (in their own minds). This provides a good litmus test for those who want to teach the Word of God. If they do not teach faith in Christ, they should be quickly dismissed. It does not take long to find them out, because the agenda is always on their minds.
Here the crowd has people who see a miraculous healing and immediately give Jesus credit - He is "in league with Satan. Yes, clearly this person has Satanic powers." People marveled at this (not wondered the way we use wonder today - questioning - I wonder where the cell phone went.)
Marveling means that faith was starting to build among the newcomers. Jesus showed them His divine powers, but the blasphemers were quick to respond. These powers come from Beelzebub - the Lord of the Flies. They are Satanic.
But others wanted to be entertained with another miracle, meaning they could see the power of God and yet demand more.
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.
Jesus knew what was going on in their minds, so He used a simple comparison which appeals to common sense. Luther cited a pagan source saying much the same thing. President Lincoln used this passage in his famous "House Divided" speech about the unity of the Republic. Everyone knows that conflict causes destruction and unity brings peace and prosperity. Some famous examples of wealth come from families where all the siblings worked together and saved money by doing so. It is still the method used in ethnic restaurants where the whole family works and multiplies their locations through the extended family.
So how could Jesus exorcise demons through demonic power. If Satan worked that way, his nefarious kingdom would soon be at an end. This is a little bit humorous, and we can imagine people chuckling as they caught onto the absurdity.
This also highlights a key theme of Luther's thought, the Two Kingdoms. The Kingdom of God is constantly at war against the Kingdom of Satan, and vice versa. Two mistakes made are this - 1) we do not need to worry about false doctrine because that is unloving and unkind. The aim of false doctrine is ultimately to destroy faith in the Savior, no matter what the salesmen of error imagine or claim. They may be entirely deceived by Satan about the result of their error. Look at the Lutheran leaders today - they cannot admit that their Gadarene-swine-like plunge into Church Growth has been completely destructive in every way.
2) The second basic error is that we can replace the Gospel and borrow the insights of worldly wisdom and human wisdom, using them to advantage in making the Christian Faith more appealing to people. That means not trusting the Gospel Word and bowing to the Prince of This World (Paul's term Ephesians 2:2). This means denying the power of the Means of Grace and trusting in marketing instead. Not worrying about false doctrine (1) quickly leads to employing false doctrine (2) for "good results."
19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Added to this argument is this one - If Jesus is using the power of Satan, how do the current religious leaders drive the demons away? Jesus' own power shows that the Kingdom of God is already among them.
This dialogue shows the hardness of the opposition, and the Word of God only hardened them more. That does not mean the Word is not effective. Quite the opposite is true - the more people become angry, blind, and hardened against the Gospel, the more the efficacy of the Word is revealed. The Word is sharper than any double-edged sword.
21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
This could be called the Parable of the Strong Man's Palace. It is allegorical. For most of us, the verses are impossible to understand at first. But when we see it is a continuation of the previous debate, it could not be clearer.
The armed strong man with the palace is Satan. As many would be glad to admit, Satan has many weapons and uses them all with great skill. He knows the Scripture better than most, and publishes more about the Bible and theology than anyone else. (Examples - liberal Biblical commentaries, The Cross and the Sacred Mushroom, Barth/Kirschbaum's Dogmatics, and anything by Paul Tillich.)
To quote Luther, if the devil has a thousand weapons, the Word of God has 100,000.
"And what need is there of many words? If I were to recount all the profit and fruit which God's Word produces, whence would I get enough paper and time? The devil is called the master of a thousand arts. But what shall we call God's Word, which drives away and brings to naught this master of a thousand arts with all his arts and power? It must indeed be the master of more than a hundred thousand arts. And shall we frivolously despise such power, profit, strength, and fruit‑‑we, especially, who claim to be pastors and preachers? If so, we should not only have nothing given us to eat, but be driven out, being baited with dogs, and pelted with dung, because we not only need all this every day as we need our daily bread, but must also daily use it against the daily and unabated attacks and lurking of the devil, the master of a thousand arts."
The Large Catechism, Preface, #12, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 571. Tappert, p. 360.
The Large Catechism, Preface, #12, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 571. Tappert, p. 360.
100] For let me tell you this, even though you know it perfectly and be already master in all things, still you are daily in the dominion of the devil, who ceases neither day nor night to steal unawares upon you, to kindle in your heart unbelief and wicked thoughts against the foregoing and all the commandments. Therefore you must always have God's Word in your heart, upon your lips, and in your ears. But where the heart is idle, and the Word does not sound, he breaks in and has done the damage before we are aware.
101] On the other hand, such is the efficacy of the Word, whenever it is seriously contemplated, heard, and used, that it is bound never to be without fruit, but always awakens new understanding, pleasure, and devoutness, and produces a pure heart and pure thoughts. For these words are not inoperative or dead, but creative, living words.
102] And even though no other interest or necessity impel us, yet this ought to urge every one thereunto, because thereby the devil is put to Right and driven away, and, besides, this commandment is fulfilled, and [this exercise in the Word] is more pleasing to God than any work of hypocrisy, however brilliant.
The stronger Man is Jesus, who is often called the Hero by Luther. He is the Hero who attacked and tricked Satan, taking away the demonic powers by the overwhelming power of the Gospel Word. Nothing else can free someone from sin, death, and Satan.
Although Satan is still the Prince of this World, the Savior is far stronger and defeats Satan wherever the Gospel is preached, taught, and believed.
23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
This is a powerful warning for those who have been delivered from Satan's power. When that has happened, this allegory takes place. The demonic power wants to return and set up shop in the same person, who is for the moment at peace and enjoying the fruits of the Gospel. It is that much easier to take over again and make the person worse than ever before.
The battle continues all our lives, so we should not imagine that winning one series of skirmishes means the Kingdom of Satan has given up - or will ever give up. That is why Paul urges us in Colossians to occupy our time dwelling in the Word, not just glancing at it, and filling the voids with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Here is another warning against Mariolatry. The Virgin Mother should be honored for her great and faithful role, but the purpose of the Gospels is not to concentrate on Mary but her Son. Thus it is easy to see when someone has crossed over to the side of error and even makes the work of Jesus dependent upon His mother.
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The stronger Man is Jesus, who is often called the Hero by Luther. He is the Hero who attacked and tricked Satan, taking away the demonic powers by the overwhelming power of the Gospel Word. Nothing else can free someone from sin, death, and Satan.
Although Satan is still the Prince of this World, the Savior is far stronger and defeats Satan wherever the Gospel is preached, taught, and believed.
23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
This is a powerful warning for those who have been delivered from Satan's power. When that has happened, this allegory takes place. The demonic power wants to return and set up shop in the same person, who is for the moment at peace and enjoying the fruits of the Gospel. It is that much easier to take over again and make the person worse than ever before.
The battle continues all our lives, so we should not imagine that winning one series of skirmishes means the Kingdom of Satan has given up - or will ever give up. That is why Paul urges us in Colossians to occupy our time dwelling in the Word, not just glancing at it, and filling the voids with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Here is another warning against Mariolatry. The Virgin Mother should be honored for her great and faithful role, but the purpose of the Gospels is not to concentrate on Mary but her Son. Thus it is easy to see when someone has crossed over to the side of error and even makes the work of Jesus dependent upon His mother.
