Luke 11:14-28; Ephesians 5:1-9; Exodus 8:16-24
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus describes Satan as a strong man, fully armed, guarding his palace and goods. Jesus acknowledges that Satan exists and that he is strong, even that he is a prince and has a kingdom and a palace. Jesus knows His enemy. He has faced him before, and He will face him again.
But Satan’s kingdom is stolen, and his princedom is a lie. God created the world and everything in it good. Yet within God’s good creation there has been a rebellion. It happened already before humans were even created. Satan and evil were already there when our first parents were made. This was Satan’s greatest triumph: he successfully entered into God’s creation, deceived man into following him, and firmly established himself as the prince of this world, the god of this age.
Satan is a strong man, but Jesus is a stronger man. The Son of God entered into God’s creation and became a man. In perfect obedience Jesus began reclaiming the stolen kingdom for His Father, casting out demons, healing the sick, proclaiming forgiveness, raising the dead, and finally taking all mankind’s sin and guilt upon Himself to suffering and death upon the cross. In His own death He defeated Satan and destroyed the power of death. Then He began the work of plundering Satan’s kingdom, taking back for God all that Satan had stolen.
Every time a child is baptized, every time a sinner is absolved, every time a soul is converted, every time Christ’s body and blood are received in faith, every time the Gospel is proclaimed, Satan is driven back, a piece of his stolen kingdom is reclaimed, and the gates of hell fall a little farther.
But Satan does not easily give up what he believes belongs to him. Scripture describes him as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He will pursue the baptized, the exorcised, and the forgiven. He will tempt, accuse, deceive, and entice. And unless the one set free from Satan is occupied by the Holy Spirit, he will return with a vengeance and fury, and the fate of that soul will be worse than at the first. This is the warning that Jesus gives in today’s Gospel.
Jesus compares the exorcised soul to a house that has been emptied and cleaned, but left vacant. The demon goes out, wandering through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none, it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when it comes back, it finds the house swept and put in order. But it is empty. Vacant. Unoccupied. And so 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.
The point is clear. The exorcised soul cannot be left vacant. It must be occupied by the Holy Spirit. There is no neutral ground in the spiritual battle. There is no fence to sit upon. You either belong to Satan, or you belong to God.
The Pharisees in the Gospel tried to deny this. When they saw Jesus cast out the demon from the mute man, they accused Him of doing it by the power of Satan himself. But their accusation collapses under the simplest logic. Satan does not plunder his own house. He does not cast out his own demons. As Jesus says, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste.” If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?
No, Jesus says, if demons are being cast out, it is not the work of Satan. It is the finger of God. And if it is the finger of God, then something enormous is happening: the kingdom of God has come among you.
That is what they were witnessing. The stronger man had arrived. Christ had come to bind the strong man and plunder his goods. And dear brothers and sisters, that same battle continues even now. The kingdom of God has come among you as well. It came to you when you were baptized into Christ. In Holy Baptism the stronger man entered the strong man’s house and claimed you for Himself. You were washed, sanctified, and justified. You were transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.
You are no longer Satan’s possession. You are God’s reclaimed territory. But because you belong to Christ, Satan hates you. The strong man who has been bound still rages. He prowls. He tempts. He whispers lies. He tries to lure you back into the old kingdom of darkness. And this is why Jesus warns us about the empty house.
The Christian life is not merely about being delivered once and then left alone. It is about remaining in Christ so that the house does not stand empty. The Holy Spirit must dwell there. Christ Himself must reign there.
And how does that happen? How does Christ occupy the house? Not by our strength. Not by our discipline. Not by our spiritual enthusiasm. Christ occupies the house through His Means of Grace. He fills the house through His Word. When the Scriptures are read and preached, the stronger man continues His work of plundering the devil’s kingdom and strengthening His people. He fills the house through Holy Baptism, where He first claimed you and continues to sustain you in that covenant. He fills the house through Holy Absolution, where the forgiveness of sins drives away the accusations of the evil one. And He fills the house through the Holy Supper of His body and blood, where Christ Himself enters the house again and again, strengthening faith and fortifying you against the assaults of the enemy.
These are not empty rituals. They are weapons in the war. They are the very tools by which the stronger man binds the strong man and keeps him at bay. Without them the house grows empty. The walls remain, but the life inside fades. And the enemy is always looking for an open door. But where Christ dwells, where His Word is heard, where sins are forgiven, where His body and blood are received, there the house is full. There the Holy Spirit is at work. There the devil cannot stand.
So cling to these gifts. Hear the preaching of the Gospel. Remember your Baptism. Come to confession and receive absolution. Come to the altar and receive the body and blood of Christ. For here the stronger man continues His work. Here Christ keeps Satan at bay. Here the kingdom of God continues to come among you. And blessed indeed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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