Homily for Oculi

St. John put it very simply: “This was the purpose of the appearing of the Son of God, to undo the work of the devil.” (1 John 3:8b). Jesus was doing just that – His work of setting free a man from a devil who held him speechless – when an argument broke out about him. By what power was he able to do this? Some actually said and thought that he was using Satan's power to drive the devils out.

Jesus is shocked by their illogic. He asks what happens to countries and families where people are fighting against each other? Do they stand strong or do they fall apart? They fall apart! Jesus asks: “Does it look to you like Satan’s kingdom is coming to pieces at the seams?” No way! Satan and all his demons are perfectly united in their opposition to the Kingdom of God and in their hatred and torture of the human race. There is no way that Jesus, breaking their power over human lives, could be doing so with their own power and permission.

Rather, this is how Jesus pictures the struggle: Satan is like a strong man, fully armed, who guards his own home and his goods. His home, unfortunately, is in the hearts and lives of humans. He lives there like a parasite, ultimately destroying the very lives that host him. And he guards his own home, always vigilant for any threat to his power.

But, says Jesus, along comes a stronger man – stronger than the strong man. That's our Lord! And he attacks Satan in the very place where he has set up his kingdom – the hearts of humanity. He attacks and defeats him there. He takes away his weapons on which he relied. His lies, his empty promises and deceits. And then he shows the devil the door; boots him out.

He exposes the lies of Satan above all by His cross - for there every lie that Satan has ever sold us on about our God is shown to be utterly false. The cross reveals the deepest truth about our God: His infinite love for all people that would bring Him to this immense suffering to take away the sin of the world and to destroy by His death the power of death. The cross reveals that God is pre-eminently FOR us. That He is on our side in this battle, that the Stronger One is our hero, come to do what we could never do for ourselves! And as our risen and reigning Lord He continues His great work of liberating folks from Satan's power.

How does he do all this in the lives of humanity? Listen to Dr. Luther on this: “For this task Christ left us designated instruments: holy baptism, the blessed Sacrament, the Word and absolution, and whatever else belongs to the ministry of preaching, in order to enable us to destroy the devil’s kingdom, to take from him his captives and cast him out of people. (HP 1, p. 330)”

Since we are all born under sin, rebels in our hearts, allied with Satan from birth, the first act of the Christian church in driving out the devil from the heart of men, is to baptize. In Baptism, Jesus arrives on the scene and shows Satan the door. It is not by accident that the first words of the Baptismal liturgy are: “Depart unclean spirit and make room for the Holy Spirit!” That’s what Baptism does. It drives out the devil.

But Jesus warned that Satan does not give up easily. Once driven out, he constantly seeks for entrance back in. It’s torture for an unclean spirit not to be resting in a human host. Jesus spoke of them seeking a place of rest. And so Jesus not only left the Church Baptism to drive Satan out, but also Absolution, the Word, and the Eucharist. The faithful use of them KEEPS him out!

Luther again: “When a person whom the devil has greatly overwhelmed and seared with many accusations comes to me with heavy heart and troubled conscience seeking comfort and instruction, I have the mandate, as does every Christian, to comfort my brother and pronounce God’s grace for Christ’s sake upon him. The devil must yield, not to me, a poor and wretched sinner, but to the Word which the Lord Christ left us on earth. When your conscience is weak and terrified, therefore, and you are unable to grasp tightly enough the comfort that God graciously wants you to have, the forgiveness of sins, then know that Christ has given the Lord’s Supper, his true body and blood to eat and to drink, so that you have no reason further to doubt that his body was given for your sins and his blood poured out for your transgressions. Where such faith and trust are present, it is impossible for the devil to dwell and hold sway. This work, therefore, must continue apace in Christendom, in order to drive out the devil by the finger of God.” (HP 1, p. 330, 331)

The Church has no other weapons for her battle with Satan than these means of grace: Baptism, the Gospel of Christ Crucified and Risen, Absolution, and Eucharist. Through these Jesus continues even to this day the work that he began when he walked the earth: his liberation of the hearts of men from the oppression of the devil, and returning them to what they were intended to be, homes for the Triune God.

It is small wonder, then, that Satan works with might and main to divert us from the faithful use of these means of grace – always suggesting that something else might be more important, more pressing, more engaging and entertaining, or attempting to seduce us to make of use of them only in a ritualistic way, without trusting in the promises they make to us. In today’s Epistle Paul warns of being seduced by Satan’s lies into returning to the bondage we were in before Christ liberated us. “Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light!” As though he were to say: don’t leave the light of Christ’s Word and Sacraments, through them let Jesus dwell within you to drive all the darkness away!

A woman cried out after hearing Jesus teach: “Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” Jesus corrected her: “More blessed still are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” He wasn’t putting his mother down. He was teaching us that the blessed of Mary – a blessed we can all share in – is that she welcomed and treasured and guarded the Word of God in her heart. She would not let Satan rob her of that treasure and that is why she is blessed among women.

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. To drive him out and to keep him out. “Let us, therefore, thank God for his grace, because he has sent his Son for help against the devil, to drive him out, and has left us his Word through which today he yet performs this work, destroying Satan’s kingdom, building and extending the kingdom of God. God keep us in such grace through his son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. (HP 1, p. 343)” (Luther)