In the Name Above All Names :: Luke 11:14-28

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In the name of Jesus ...

The demon came out, the mute man spoke, and the crowd marveled (v 14).

[Introduction]

For the third time in three weeks, we have heard of a conflict between God and the devil. Two weeks ago, our Lord rebuked satan for his accusations against God himself. Last week, our Lord walked into a pagan wilderness to answer the prayer of a faithful woman whose daughter was being tormented by a demon. And now today, our Lord has given a faithful confession to a man who had been silenced by a demon.

In all three cases, we learned that “The One” who is stronger than the unholy trinity of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh has arrived. Jesus has come and brings great blessings. Jesus has come to cleanse and set us free. Jesus has come to leave those of us who actively hear his Word and guard it ... holding it close ... blessed and in awe. 

IN THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES, JESUS HAS COME TO GIVE US A FAITHFUL CONFESSION 

1. 

Now, before we get into this text, we need to understand, both the devil and demons are real. They are not make-believe, like 40 percent of America actually thinks. They are not powerless. They will do everything they can to silence you ... to keep you from sharing the Gospel with your family, friends, and neighbors, if you even know what the Gospel is. They will do everything they can to introduce you to false doctrine ... teaching you the lies of demons ... words God did NOT say ... things like ... God helps those who help themselves. They will do everything they can to keep you from inviting your friends and family to Trinity. It just goes to show how well armed the “strong man” really is.

Some of the devil’s accusations are like flaming darts (Eph 6:16). If he can’t get you to deny the faith, he will remind you of your sin ... telling you that you can’t be forgiven by the means of grace. He will teach you to think you are too busy to attend Bible study with your pastor or that you don’t need to. He will convince the world around you to normalize sin like living together outside of marriage. He will teach you to engage in foolish controversies (2 Tm 2:23), spreading what you think is innocent gossip. He is Beelzebul, the lord of filth, impurity, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Eph 5:5).

All too often we listen to his deceptions, just like the Man and the Woman in the garden. That’s where we first started doubting what God said. We found ourselves, like the Woman, not knowing how to use the Word of God ... either adding to it or we cherrypicking from it, like the devil did in his temptation of Christ when he ignored the part of Psalm 91 that declares Jesus will crush the serpent’s head (Ps 91:13).

The demons are so adept at taking over waterless places, teaching entire generations that baptism doesn’t do anything, that the Canaanites allowed their daughters to become possessed, likely because their culture worshiped individual autonomy over the sanctity of life and traditional family structures ... you know, Baal and Asherah (Mt 15:21-28). 

2.

But then the Stronger Man ... that would be Jesus ... came in the name of the Lord.

Today, Luke writes, Now Jesus was casting out a mute demon. And when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowd marveled. But some of the people witnessing this said, It’s in [the name of] Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, that he casts out demons. 

Talk about deceiving and being deceived! Of all the accusations someone can make against the Son of God, this is among the most blasphemous. Our Lord’s accusers couldn’t actually convict him of sin, so they compared him to the lord of filth. Were they so blind and deaf to the Gospel themselves that they felt the need to resort to this name-calling, thinking it was the way to get rid of Jesus? 

Can we be so cruel? 

Meanwhile, others, tempting [him], continued to seek a sign from heaven (v 16) ... as if they had not seen enough from him.

In the Gospel of Luke, following his baptism, Jesus provided at least 18 signs before today’s. In chapter four, He cast out an unclean demon (4:35), healed Peter’s mother-in-law and many others of various diseases (4:39-40). In chapter five, He cleansed a leper (5:13), and then he forgave a paralytic of his sins (5:20). In chapter six, he healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (6:10) and another great multitude of people (6:19). Following his Sermon on the Plain, he healed the Centurion’s servant with just a Word (7:10), raised the widow of Nain’s son from the dead (7:14), and forgave a sinful woman (7:48). Then he calmed the storm on the sea (8:24), cast out a Legion of demons (8:33), healed a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years (8:48), raised Jairus’ daughter (8:54), fed 5,000 men plus their wives and children (9:17), rebuked an unclean spirit in a boy (9:42), and sent the seventy-two out to learn that the demons are subject to us in the name of Jesus (10:19)!

How could anyone be in denial? 

Yet the people demanded another sign.

Is this not like showing people a video of certain events ... a video that clearly contradicts what the strong man of the world keeps saying ... and then, after showing the video, you’re accused by those same strong men who say: Show us proof of what you’re saying! 

So it was with Jesus’ miracles. 

3.

This time, for the sake of the believers and those who would believe, Jesus chose to answer the accusations. Luke writes, Knowing their thoughts, [Jesus] said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided against a house falls. But if Satan also is divided against himself, then how will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons in [the name of] Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? (vv 17-19a)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, make no mistake about our Lord’s rhetoric: Satan’s kingdom is not divided against itself. Satan’s goal is to prevent you from coming to faith and convincing those who believe that they don’t need our Lord’s complete Divine Service. The devil’s allies are perfectly united in their hatred toward God and in their purpose to blind men to the truth of the Gospel and to silence men from confessing the true God. Their goal is to convince you that you don’t need the forgiveness of sins and that it is OK to withhold it from others. And when they learn of someone who has been plucked out of the devil’s kingdom by the Holy Spirit, they are quick ... like the Parable of the Sower teaches us ... to snatch away the Word of Christ in an effort to prevent you from growing in the faith. 

But Jesus is the Stronger Man. And he has come to live and die and rise for you ... to do what no one else is strong enough to do on their own.

As our Lord himself said, if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has advanced upon you.

4.

Let this word dwell in you richly: It will give you a faithful confession. You are not a waterless place. Jesus lives in you and you in him. He has produced within you a spring of living water welling up within you (Jer 2:13, Jn 4:14). He has blessed you with his Word ... the Word of the Gospel, the Word of his cross, the Word of his empty tomb, the Word of his resurrection and new life, the Word of his Sacraments that impart and nurture that life. He has set you free from the domain of darkness and transferred you into his marvelous light (Col 1:13). The Holy Spirit has placed a “no vacancy” sign upon you, all on account of the Stronger Man, our Lord Jesus, who was crucified, died and was buried, and just as important, rose on the third day. Blessed are those who hear this Word of God and guard it!

[Conclusion]

There is much darkness in the world, and until the final day, your enemy will continue prowling around looking for someone to devour (1 Pt 5:8). Though he is strong and his influence is everywhere, Jesus is the stronger one. ... His blood has set you free. 

Keep listening to his Word, learning how to give a faithful confession. Keep attending His Divine Service. Keep returning to baptism and receiving the Supper, especially during seasons like Lent and Advent. One day soon, Jesus will come again and cast out the devil once and for all ... in the name above all names ... the name of Jesus. Amen.

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