No Middle Ground

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Jesus cast a demon out of a man who was mute. But some people said He did it by the prince of flies—the lord of flies. It’s a euphemism for the lord of manure. In other words, Satan. The Bible is a little more graphic in the original languages than it is today. Some people marveled, and then there was a third group that demanded even more signs. It wasn’t enough.

When we are confronted with Jesus, we can either hold on to Him by faith, we can reject Him, or we can say, “I need more information.” A lot of people today like to equivocate and say, “Jesus was a prophet.” But if Jesus is a prophet and He called Himself God, then He is a false prophet.

Other people say, “I really like Jesus’ moral teaching. He’s a great moral teacher.” But if Jesus calls Himself God and He is not God, then He is a liar—and liars do not make great moral teachers. In fact, quite the opposite.

The middle ground is not open when it comes to Jesus. He is either in league with Satan and therefore demon-possessed, a crazy man, or He is God. Those are the only three categories you can put Jesus in. You cannot ask for more information. You have been given all the information.

If Jesus is a madman, that does not explain the miracles. It does not explain the healing of the lame, the mute, the blind, the raising of the dead, the walking on water, the rebuking of the wind and the waves. It does not explain the empty tomb. Those explanations would have to come from liars themselves—but that does not explain why His followers were willing to die for such lies. It does not explain why those who opposed Him came to believe in Him.

So really, there are two options left: Jesus is either demon-possessed or He is God. And if He is demon-possessed, as He addresses here, then Satan is waging war against Satan. Demons are casting out other demons. And what does that mean? It means Satan’s kingdom will fall. It means God’s kingdom will reign. Satan is not going to do that. A house divided against itself cannot stand. And if Jesus is casting out demons by demons, then how were their own sons casting out demons in the name of God? Because Jesus was casting out demons in the name of God.

This leaves one conclusion: Jesus must be God, because only God has power over nature. Only God can forgive sins. Only God can cure those who need miracles. Only God rules over life and death. This is the only explanation that fits with everything we are told about Jesus.

But if Jesus is God, it forces us to take a stance. It makes us acknowledge that there is truth, that there is good and evil, right and wrong. There is no more equivocating. There is no gray area. There is no “Maybe tomorrow—can’t we all just get along today?”

There is no “getting along today,” because there is a war being waged for your soul. We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the spirits of this age.

Jesus is God in the flesh and a full-on invasion into our sinful world. He is rolling back the kingdom of Satan. And Satan keeps trying to stop it. He tries to stop it when Jesus is a baby. He tries to stop it at the temptation. He tries to stop it at the cross and the tomb. But every time Satan loses. Every time Satan thinks he is going to win, it turns out worse for him.

Because God came to save sinners. God came to save you from yourself. God came to rescue you from the strong man of this world. In the example Jesus gives about the strong man—do you know how the armor is taken off? It is not while the strong man is still alive. The house is not despoiled, the armor is not taken off, while he lives. Christ came to crush death. Christ came to crush Satan. He came because those enemies are trying to kill you. And He defeats them.

He does not defeat them in mighty war. He does not defeat them with the blast of a trumpet. No—the banners of heaven were raised, and God went to war. God marched to the cross. The sacrificial Lamb given for our sins. The victorious Lamb who rises over death.

Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But Christ is meek and lowly and seeks the lost sheep to bring them back to the fold. Satan seeks destruction. Christ gives life.

It is easy to “go along to get along.” But that way leads to darkness. That way leads to a worse place. It leads to more evil.

But we proclaim Christ and Him crucified. This is a truth claim. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified—not to be mean, not to be jerks, not to lord it over people, not because we are better, but because God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. We proclaim Christ crucified because God loves people. He loves everyone. He loves women and children and men and old people too—which is good for all of us here, because I think we all fit in one of those categories.

Christ came to rescue us from the oppression of Satan. And this witness has been passed down for thousands of years, so that those who hear it believe and are blessed. That you might have everlasting life in His name. That you may hear the Word of God and keep it. That you may receive the gifts of baptism, the sacrament of the altar, the preaching of the Word, and rejoice in the salvation of our God.

It is one less thing you have to do. It is a battle you cannot win, but Christ has fought for you.

One of my favorite hymns—and it is a favorite not just because of the message, but because we absolutely troll Satan with it—is Hymn 666, O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe. We put that hymn there on purpose with that number, because Satan has been defamed. He has been declawed. Christ rules supreme. And in Christ is our hope.

So be people of hope. Be people of truth. Go out and proclaim the witness and the mercy of God. Proclaim the truth that all might believe, that all might be rescued from the strong man, that heaven might be overfull—that God has to go back to His contractors and say, “I need some more rooms.”

That is our job this day and all days. In Christ’s name. Amen.