At our last church game night we had a group play Sheepshead, the favorite card game of Wisconsin. It’s a rather complicated card game but it’s a lot of fun, and one of the things that is pretty unique about it is that at the beginning of each round you don’t know who is on your team. Who can you trust, and who will work to undermine you?
I don’t know of any other card game like that, but there are a lot other kinds of games that use a similar mechanic. Someone here is a traitor. Who is it? The players need to figure it out. Sometimes they’ll get it right. Other times they’ll tear each other apart, which is exactly what that player is hoping will happen.
In games where we’re all friends that kind of mechanic can be a lot of fun. In real life, betrayal might be one of the most despised crimes possible. Some people are so notorious for their traitorous actions that their names are synonymous with betrayal. Benedict Arnold, from the American Revolution. Vidkun Quisling, from Norwary in World War 2. “Et tu, Brute?”
In our Gospel for today Jesus describes himself like a traitor, or like a robber. This seems like a strange thing, because these kinds of people are wicked people, some of the worst kinds of sinners in our thinking. But what if the kingdom Jesus has come to divide is Satan’s kingdom? What if the house he’s come to rob is the Devil’s house? For us, Jesus divides and plunders Satan’s kingdom.
Luke says
14Jesus drove out a demon, which was mute. After the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16Others were testing him by demanding of him a sign from heaven. 17But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed. And a house divided against itself falls. 18If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19But if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So they will be your judges. 20Yet if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
This took place somewhere in the middle of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus drove out a demon, and Luke almost treats this great miracle as if it’s old hat by this point. “There was a demon. Jesus drove it out. Everyone was amazed. Moving on…” It’s not that the miracle was not a big deal. And it’s also not really that Jesus drove out so many demons that it’s not all that exciting anymore. But Luke is telling us the context for what he really wants to focus on, the fascinating discussion that follows. Matthew and Mark also record this conversation, and Mark skips over the miracle entirely.
It is interesting to note, though, that the demon was mute, or was causing this man to be mute. Matthew includes an extra detail that he was not just mute, but blind too. The fact that a mute man was now speaking was more obvious to the crowd, so Luke just gives that detail. People were affected by demons in a variety of different ways.
If it seems to you like there were a lot of demon-possessions during Jesus’ ministry, you’re not the only one who has noticed that. There were a lot of them, and Scripture doesn’t directly give a reason for that. Maybe this was just normal back then. Or maybe this was Satan working overtime, since he knew that the Son of God had become true man, had become incarnate. Demons can’t become incarnate, but they can take on human flesh by possessing people.
In some ways, there was less controversy among the people over all the demon possessions than there was over Jesus. They saw him drive out this demon and they started debating how he was able to do something that nobody else could do. And some were convinced that this must be some sort of trickery. “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons,” they said. That name, Beelzebul, also seen as Beelzebub, means Lord of Flies and was a title used in Old Testament times for a Philistine god, but it became another name for Satan. Basically, these people were saying, “Yes, this Jesus fellow is doing something that is miraculous and supernatural. He’s driving out demons. And you might think that’s a good thing, but if you did, you’d be fooled, which is just what he wants. He’s actually using demonic power to drive out demons.”
Jesus replied to them and told them that their accusation makes no sense. A kingdom divided against itself is destroyed. A house divided against itself falls. That’s not what Satan wants. But it is what Jesus had come to do. Here he was, in this corrupted and sinful world, where the Devil reigns as prince of this world. And Jesus looked just like everyone else, just like any one of us. His face wasn’t glowing with holiness. He wasn’t taller and stronger and more handsome than anyone else. But this normal-looking man was in fact a traitor, a secret agent, who had come to divide and conquer the kingdom of the Devil.
Or he’s a robber, who had come to plunder that strong man. Jesus said,
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22But when someone stronger attacks him and defeats him, he takes away that man’s full armor, in which he had trusted, and divides up his plunder.
That’s Satan that Jesus is talking about, the strong man who is fully armed. He trusts in that armor. He thinks his possessions are safe and secure. But someone stronger has come to rob him, and that strong man is about to find himself defeated, armorless, and plundered.
It’s really interesting that Jesus describes himself in these kinds of terms, like a traitor and a robber, things that we normally think of as very bad things. But it’s actually very appropriate, because the people Jesus was speaking to were people who had, by their rejection of God’s Word and God’s Messiah, made themselves allies of the Devil. And to anyone looking at things from that perspective, what could be worse than someone coming to divide that kingdom so that it is destroyed, and to break in and plunder that house?
It’s still that way today. The Gospel of Jesus is offensive to the world. The world views the Christian church as a plague, or as an enemy, or a sleeper cell. Never mind the fact that Christians sacrifice themselves for their neighbors, build hospitals, give to their churches and to charities, and have promoted laws and societies that defend the poor and helpless. Never mind all that. Why, it’s by the power of Beelzebul that they’re driving out demons!
But Jesus isn’t just speaking to the godless world here. After all, the godless world doesn’t really care what Jesus has to say anyway. He’s saying these things for our benefit. You, see, by nature we also belong to the Devil. We might not have been possessed bodily, but we actually were possessed spiritually. Like that possessed man, we were cut off from the sights and sounds of God, and there was nothing we could do about it. But Jesus came to destroy Satan’s kingdom. He came to plunder Satan’s house. And guess what? You were that plunder. Jesus hauled you out of there, and you didn’t go willingly. Your sinful nature went kicking and screaming, until it was drowned in the water of your baptism and you became a new person, born of God. That was your exorcism. The Devil has no claim on you anymore.
Are you going to let him back in? He’d love to have you again. He hasn’t forgotten how comfortable he was in that cozy little dwelling in your soul. In fact, there’s room there for friends. Jesus warns us, saying,
24When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, but does not find any. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house, the one I left.’ 25When it returns, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and dwell there. The last condition of that man becomes worse than the first.”
All he needs is an empty heart. All he needs is a place that is open to sin. But this isn’t what Jesus redeemed you for. This isn’t why he died on the cross for you. He fought for you so that your heart might be his dwelling place. By word and Sacrament he makes his home in you. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” he said. With his word your heart is filled. With this Gospel you are secure. Satan can’t move in where the Word of God has taken root.
Could there be any greater offense against the Prince of this World and against his kingdom than what our Lord Jesus has done? It’s no wonder the Devil is full of rage. It’s no surprise the world lashes out with hatred and vile insults. But Satan is no righteous ruler. He was a murder and a liar from the beginning, doomed to hell by his own pride. Thanks be to God for sending his onlybegotten Son on a mission to destroy that tyrant and to rescue you. Thanks be to God for the Savior who has divided and plundered Satan’s kingdom. Amen.