Luke 4:31–44

³¹And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, ³²and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. ³³And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴"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." ³⁵But 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. ³⁶And they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power he com+mands the unclean spirits, and they come out!" ³⁷And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. ³⁸And 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. ³⁹And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. ⁴⁰Now 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. ⁴¹And 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. ⁴²And 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, ⁴³but 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." ⁴⁴And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

We look on in shock! We stand in utter dismay! We can't believe our ears! And we are gripped with fear! Fear for what will become of mankind. Fear for what will become of us in the remaining few years of our lives. Fear for our children. All we see is darkness. The black of night seems to be growing and engulfing each of us. We look at the ungodliness of society. At the direction it's going. At the lack of morals and the collapsing value system. The open and unveiled threats and attacks on Christianity and the church. It's as if the gates of hell have been opened and the powers of darkness and confusion have been released upon the earth. But it's not a sci-fi movie. It's reality. An ugly, frightening, out-of-control reality unfolding right before our eyes. It's an apocalyptic nightmare. Secularism and atheism attack religions faith. Idolatrous religions work to exterminate Christians around the globe.

Secular materialism started with situation ethics that said right and wrong was determined by the situation, not by an absolute standard. Then came a sexual revolution and free sex; changing the use of the body from procreation to mere pleasure. Then it was the legalized slaughter of unborn humans began 40 years ago. Now it is a complete overthrow of the divine institution of marriage; family; procreation; and children. Redefining marriage and family. One parent? No parent? Same sex parents? Or perhaps better to do away with children all together. Same-sex marriage discussed in the halls of legislatures; debated before the Supreme Court. What is the meaning of human life? Something to be discarded at will like a worn out cloth? Elderly, handicapped, physically deformed—why should they take up space and drain the economy? Sickness, disease, death...technology is surging ahead toward the "post-human" being. One who will live forever. Soon a person will live to be several hundred years old, then ultimately...immortal.

At what cost? To attain this goal human life is being sacrificed for our own selfish interests and desires. Killing of babies in order to achieve our own immortality by harvesting embryonic stem cells, or is it so that every child is a wanted child. Distortions of God's purpose for man. Removal of man's place in God's creation. Distortions of the orders of creation and God's divine institution of marriage and family. Denial of the body which God created, male and female he created them.

And who is at fault? You...me, all of us together. Our sins of omission; of not speaking out; of not proclaiming God's word; of not loving our neighbor enough to defend the unborn baby or the euthanized grandmother. Of our lack of action on behalf of the poor, the infirm, the aged, the defenseless. If love is patient and kind; if love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth, then we have not loved. We have been silent as our brother and sister have been victimized by tyranny; the tyranny of Satan and his army of angels.

O Lord, we have sinned! We have not hallowed your name. We have not wanted thy kingdom to come. We have not done thy will. We fall on our knees in humble confession of sin. Look not upon our iniquity, O Lord. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, take not our sin into account.

The armies of Satan have been released over the earth and attack both our souls and our bodies. Both the spiritual and physical realms of creation are under siege. It is a tyranny that rules over us; not only in the halls of government, but in our hearts, our sinful desires, our selfish motives, our lack of love? Nor is it a mere spiritual tyranny. It is a physical tyranny as well. Old age, sickness, disease, death...our dying bodies.

And so the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. The very Son of God, creator of both heaven and earth; both the spiritual kingdom and the material world, entered into our realm of existence and became one of us, in order to deliver us and free us form the tyranny of our own sinful lusts and corrupted physical nature. He came even though we were his enemies. Even though for our sin we are shameful creatures. He loved us so that not even our ugly selfishness would he take into account, but he came to be one of us so he could save us from our own sinfulness. He came to die for us so he could return us to life. He came to deliver us from the fallenness of our humanity. He came to reclaim his creation, both the heavens, that is the spiritual realm, and the earth, the physical and material realm.

One Sabbath day, in a synagogue, he rebuked demons and cast them out with his command, by the authority of his word, His very word that had created the spiritual beings in heaven. Then, in the home of St. Peter, he rebuked the illness of an elderly woman and restored her to physical health. That one who by the power of his word had created the material and physical world. Creator of heaven and earth by his Word, the Word now has the authority to release heaven and the earth from the tyranny of Satan, sin and death.

This is Jesus whose love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Who endured scourging and beatings and ridicule. Whose love for you and me took him to a barren, rocky hill of Calvary to be hung on a cross to die for your sins. He was cursed by taking the curse for your sin. For cursed is anyone who hangs from a tree. He hung from a tree on Calvary to take the curse away from you and me. And on the third day he rose from the dead to restore life to his creation. By his resurrection a new heaven and a new earth were created. And so the creator of heaven and earth, reclaimed heaven and earth for himself. He restored and renewed them and on the Last Day all will be new. The Old heaven and the old earth shall pass away and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

By his death he defeated the powers of darkness and lifted the cover of darkness off our eyes. Our sins were forgiven and we are declared innocent before God. O heavenly Father, accept the sacrifice of your Son for our sins, and look not upon our sin and iniquity. For you have forgiven us. You have declared us innocent. You have declared us righteous. For this we lift up our hands in praise and thanksgiving. For this we bring our offerings before you and praise you eternally. Amen, it is so.

By the authority of his Word Jesus rebuked the demons. By the authority of his word Jesus rebuked the sickness. And they both fled from him. For he is the Lord of hosts, the King of kings, the Lamb who was slain and who now lives and sits on the throne at the right hand of God the Father.

By the authority of his word he continues coming to us today. It is his word in baptism that gives its cleansing power. By the power of his word he makes us clean of our sins and makes us a child of God. Unlike our society today that engages in sex for mere pleasure and thinks children are a nuisance at best, or to be gotten rid of at worst, God places great value in children. He shows this by sending his Son to save us; who himself came as a baby, born of a human mother. Who neither despises motherhood or childhood, but embraces them both in his humanity.

And this word with its authority to rebuke and cast out Satan and sin and death keeps coming to us in the Sacrament of the Altar where it keeps on reclaiming both the heavens and the earth it created. By the power of his word he claims us as his own. By the power of his word he makes us a new creation, pleasing to him, beautiful in his sight. Here the word works on us, transforms us, creates love in us. Love like his love: love that is patient and kind; love that does not envy or boast; love that is not arrogant or rude. Love that does not insist on its own way; that is not irritable or resentful. Love that does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love that never ends. Love that keeps coming to us in the Word of Jesus, in the preaching and in the sacraments. That is God's love described here by St. Paul. The love God has for us. The love that God produces in our hearts that we might give to others. This love is a description of Christ and so it describes all who are in Christ by faith.

That is the love that compels us to stand up and defend our neighbor from the tyranny of Satan and sin. The love to defend the defenseless, the baby in the womb, the elderly who society deems useless and needless excess, the handicapped and deformed whom society considers unworthy of taking up space on our planet. Love that gives and shares with others the things of God, the forgiveness of sins, the life giving gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the love of God which he demonstrated for us in his Son and which he infuses into us by the authority of his word which transforms our hearts.

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When Jesus comes, the perfect one, then all shall be restored. We shall be restored completely to the fullness of love. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but when he comes we shall see him face to face. Now we see in part, then we shall know everything fully. We shall see God. We shall love fully. We shall be restored, both the spirit and body, without sin, without sickness, without death. By the power of his word. Amen.