The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the fourth chapter:
And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Jesus went to His home. He had just been rejected in Nazareth, the town in which He grew up, and He went home, to where He would live and make the home base for His ministry. Nothing special about Capernaum, though it does seem it was some type of peaceful place, a place where there was some beauty on the shores of Lake Galilee. But it was Jesus’ home.
And as was Jesus’ custom, just as He had done in Nazareth, He went to where He could hear the Word of God on the Sabbath. He went there to be refreshed, to hear, to meditate, to teach. And He taught with authority. We’ve heard all this before of Jesus. People are amazed. They marvel at His teaching. They want to hear more because it is just that good. He taught as the quintessential example of Christian preaching, with love, patience, kindness, goodness, not being envious or boastful, not arrogance or rudeness, not irritability or resentfulness. He taught with love, bearing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things.
But, the peace of Capernaum wouldn’t last. At least, not that Sabbath, not in that synagogue. A man, a man who had presumably come to hear the Word of God just as Jesus had, stood up. And this man, prideful and arrogant as only the devil can make one, stood up. And Jesus, the Teacher of teachers, could not bear the spitting of the demon and cast the demon out from His midst and away from the Word of God.
But, this is still love. Jesus loved this man, and presumably, even once loved this demon before he fell in league with Satan, but could not bear to have this man or his demon speak the things of God even while being filled with sin. And love would not leave this man in his unclean sin, abiding it. Love casts out sin by repentance and forgiveness, Law and Gospel.
I think we often look at this text, and other texts like it, and wonder why it is that Jesus would not let the demon speak, even the truth. After all, the demon said nothing wrong, correct? At least, not doctrinally. Jesus is indeed the Holy One of God. Would that all men know this and love Jesus for it. But, do you see what the demon desired to do? It was not to bring all people to bow at the mention of the name of Jesus of Nazareth, but to begin twisting God’s Word and taking the people away from the true love of God.
Remember Satan in the Garden of Eden. He subtly twisted the Word of God for his purposes. “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” A subtle twist indeed! God didn’t say not to eat of any tree, but specifically the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. Eve knew that much. But, the subtle twisting of God’s Word lead Eve astray, and she added to God’s Word. Satan distracted her with the wrong thing that she might twist God’s Word on her own, and she added that she might not touch the fruit of the tree, which is never what God said. It gave Satan an opening that Eve might reach out with her hand, take the fruit into it, and eat, that she might be like God, knowing good and evil. And she would die. And Adam would die. And with them, the whole human race would die.
This demon is no different. The Holy One of God isn’t interested in destroying the people in this synagogue. He’s there to hear the Word of the Lord and teach it. But, the demon twists God’s Word, making Jesus out to be the destroyer that the devil truly is, and Jesus cannot allow it to speak any longer. He cannot bear falsehood and so commands it to be silent and to be cast out of the man.
Love bears all things, certainly, but love never bears falsehood. Love calls a thing what it is. If it is sin, it is sin. If it is good, it is good. Falsehood, lies, betrayal, slander, evil thoughts, evil actions, backstabbing, gossip, these are things love cannot bear, for they masquerade in the truth. But that is because the one who does them has no love of God or His people; they love themselves, making this look good when it is truly evil. These people do not belong to God. They refuse to hear the Word of the Lord for His purposes, and twist it for their own.
We all do this. We are like the demon-possessed man, speaking falsehoods about God and man so that we might benefit from them. But, Jesus, in His infinite mercy, has also given to us the gift of faith that we might repent of these things. Though we do these things, we are not like those who have no love for God. God has made us to love Him.
It used to be in the Baptisms of old, in the old rites, that the pastor would lay his hands upon the person being baptized, old or young, and cry out, “Out, foul spirit! Make room for the Holy Spirit!” It was an exorcism. Not the kind that is popularized in the movies. Those things are made up. This is the exorcism that Scripture allows us to do. For indeed, in Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit enters into us, delivering to us the gift of faith, bringing to us Jesus Himself, so that we might indeed be the Temple of the Holy Spirit, not the tent of demons.
We all, in one way or another, keep trying to invite these demons back into our lives that they may live inside of us. But, in repentant faith, the faith that looks to Jesus Christ alone, the Holy One of God, we repent of our sins, and Jesus casts these demons and all of their activities outside of us, that we might be made clean once again. Before the Lord, in our uncleanness, we can do nothing but be silent as the Law condemns us. But, before the Lord, in repentant faith, the Lord speaks for you and declares you to be righteous, forgiven, His child, His brother, His sister.
You see, our Lord knows that we are weak and that we will fall, even from the grace He delivered to us in our Baptisms, even in the forgiveness and strengthening of faith He shall give to us in His Supper. But, it doesn’t stop Him from teaching with authority. It doesn’t stop Him from casting out your demons. It doesn’t stop Him from removing your sins from you as far as the east is from the west.
All this is very true and a great comfort to sinners in need of a Savior. This is also, though, a good reminder for us: that even those who do not belong to God may find themselves in our midst. This man, unclean as he was, demon-possessed as he was, brought himself to the synagogue to be in the midst of God’s people, but he didn’t belong before the Lord. He brought this demon into himself by his sins, by his lack of faith, by his most grievous errors. And who knows how long he was a member of this synagogue. It could’ve been the first time he was there, or he could’ve been there all of his life. But he did not believe in our Lord or His Word.
Yet, our Lord is gracious, even to those who do not believe in Him. The Lord had mercy upon this man by casting this demon out of him. That was love. Love cannot endure sin. It’s not to say that love hates others, but to say that love always points us to repentance and the forgiveness of sins. That’s what Jesus did for this man; He forced repentance and forgiveness in His exorcism. He made the man clean, even without asking for it. That’s what Jesus, the Word of God in human flesh, does. He makes you clean.
He does this for you. He makes you clean by His most holy Word and brings to you the forgiveness of sins He won for you upon His cross that you may have life with Him eternally. He gives to you faith, faith which will cause you to repent that you may have life, and have it abundantly.
We should not desire to be living lives of sin, without love, without peace, without patience, without kindness, without bearing one another’s burdens. We should desire all good things. We should not be envious or boastful, arrogant or rude, insist on our own way, be irritable, resentful, rejoice at wrongdoing. These are the works of demons, even the demon of our sinful flesh. We are Christians! We are brothers and sisters of the faith that is in Jesus Christ! We are called to more than that!
But, we fail. We fall. We falter. We act like children, throwing tantrums to get our way because we know what’s right for the whole world, when it truly has nothing to do with Christ or His gifts. But our Lord calls us to more. And He gives us the strength and ability to do more, to work toward obeying the Law. He does so by His Holy Word, and will do so today in His Sacrament. He does so because He has freed from the Law’s accusations by His work and action for you.
He does this so that when we sin, and we do sin, He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, for He is holy and He does not abide sin in His presence. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? To have Jesus pronounce His forgiveness to us? To receive strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow?
That strength is for service to our neighbor, to do rightly by them according to the Word of God. And the hope we have? It is the hope of the resurrection, that even though we are sinful, Christ declares us righteous and that we might be with Him forever in the new Eden. Then there will be no twisting of God’s Word. Then there will be no doubt over what He has said. Then there will be no destruction. There will only be the Holy One of God, who speaks to you, even today with the voice and tongue of love, the love that would cause Him to give up His body for you.
You won’t get there by doing all the right things, even though we should be trying to do all the right things. But, we do get there by love. Not our love, but the love of God in Christ Jesus, the true meaning of the Good News, the love that would sacrifice the Son of God in your place for your sins for your sake. And we will get there. We will see that new day dawning upon the new heavens and the new earth. And we shall never be unclean with sin, or with any demon, ever again. That is our hope. That is how much your Lord loves you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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