There can be no neutrality with respect to Jesus. “He who is not with Me is against Me.” Still some want it both ways. They want to think of themselves as Christians, but they refuse to make a real break from the Old Adam, the sinful nature. C.F.W. Walther, nineteenth-century German pastor who came to America, he called those who want it both ways “half-Christians”: …
Read MoreThere is a spiritual realm. There are demonic powers. And if our eyes were opened, we would see it at work in our world, with terrifying intensity.
Demons harm people. In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns about the danger of people being freed from the demonic returning to its servitude, because—the image goes—the house was not furnished. There was no change….
Read MoreIf you’re with Christ, then Satan is your enemy. That’s what today’s Gospel is about. The devil is the strong man, but Jesus is the stronger, who invades the devil’s palace. The incarnation is the invasion: Christ enters the world to do combat. The first Sunday has Jesus in the wilderness, as a man, not exercising the powers of the divinity. The devil assaults Him, and Jesus fights back … with what? The Word. That is your weapon against the devil’s assaults. Memorize the Bible. Meditate on it, recite it in times of temptation and trouble.
Today Jesus tells a little parable about a man who is set free from the devil, but then his life is just empty; he doesn’t grow into being a Christian. The devil assaults the man, and takes him back. It’s terrifying….
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