Our gospel reading begins with people that doubt Jesus, and in fact accuse him of being crazy. Out of contempt for what Jesus is able to accomplish, they accuse Jesus of building his foundation with Satan as the driving force for his miraculous works.
When people question Jesus and doubt him and even suggest that he is possessed by Satan, the battle lines are clearly drawn. There are those who follow God and those who are being driven by Satan, whether they realize it or not.
Our Old testament reading from Genesis chapter 3 was selected on this Sunday not only to once again remind us of man’s fall into sin, but specifically to highlight the enmity between man and Satan that the LORD established after the fall into sin: 15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The result of the fall into sin is the first promise of the gospel, where Adam and Eve’s descendant, the Savior and all those who follow him- are pitted against Satan and all his works in the world.
The battle lines were already drawn there in the garden of Eden. When we follow Jesus, Satan hates us, he envies us, he is pitted against us because he sees us as one and the same as Jesus.
As a result we should not be surprised by persecution. Satan hates our faithfulness and seeks to lead us astray, he is always pitted against the faithful- because they are the ones who threaten him the most.
We see how easily in our world today battle lines become drawn. When an event of political significance happens in history, people take sides and quickly develop an: “us and them” mentality.
Tragically when a divorce happens, sides are taken and lines are drawn. Sometimes mutual friends before the divorce are pressured to take one person’s side or the other, as if one person is good and the other evil.
Such divisions caused by sin can lead us to miss the greater truth that there is only one side any of us can be on, that of the Lord Jesus. Either we are on the side of Jesus, or we are slaves to our sinful human nature, essentially slaves to Satan.
Jesus speaks to this truth about the two sides pitted against one another when he says a house divided against itself cannot stand.
“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127 There are two ways to look at what can be built and established in this world. What God establishes and what man establishes under the curse of sin.
How could Jesus perform any of the works he does without the power of the Lord? – unless the Lord builds the house. By this time in Mark chapter 3 we hear about how Jesus has cleansed a leper, cleanses a man with an unclean spirit and helps a paralyzed man walk, and healed many others.
Of even greater significance than the healings and expelling of demons, Jesus accomplished the obedience to God’s Word that all mankind before were unable to achieve. For forty days after his baptism, Jesus took our place in the wilderness and faced temptations by Satan. And Jesus overcame the temptations through the power of God’s Word. Clearly the labors of Jesus were built by the Lord.
The tower of Babel was built by people in the years after the flood, so that they could make a name for themselves. As the church we don’t try and build a Tower of Babel 2.0, we recognize the folly in trying to build a name for ourselves and not for God. Not even the most poorly though through building committee would set out to build a tower of Babel. If you try and build something that is opposed to God’s design, something that tries to compete with God- it will certainly fall with a great crash!
Yet if we are honest with ourselves, we are very often in the business of building our own house. After all we live in a world that rebuilds the tower all of the time.
Part of our American identity is that we often expect that whatever plans we make in life, they will come true because we work hard and stay determined in life. As if we are entitled to have our wishes for success come true.
We often come up with an idea of what is going to work out in life, or what we would like to see happen. And we may pray about decisions we are going to make in life, but so often our minds are already made up. We have a good handle on what is going to work in our lives, and too much deliberation on God’s Word very well may slow us down from where we are going.
And what happens as we move forward so quickly in life with our own plans? We are of course humbled. God’s ways are not our ways. We face disappointment and failure as we see for ourselves how difficult life in the fallen world can be as we try to chart our own future. Some of our plans may come together, but if the motivation for our plans is for our selfish gain or material pursuits, we will find empty results.
The imagery of a house does not only describe our future plans, but also our very lives, body and soul. If our house is built on something other than the foundation of
Christ the cornerstone, our labor is in vain. Apart from Christ you may build and rebuild and redesign things in your life, but there will not be a maturation of purpose and identity.
What ties a life together if only for this world you have hope? What is life from one year to the next? From one day to the next even? Thanks be to God for Jesus who gives us the victory over sin and death, who is our life and our hope’s foundation.
Jesus answered the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, he refuted the logic of their claim that He was possessed by Satan. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” If Jesus was really drawing on the power of Satan, how would Satan possibly stand for Jesus casting out demons and tearing down Satan’s kingdom?
The only possible answer is that the power of Jesus is of God. Only as the Son of God could Jesus have the power to drive out demons. This is what Jesus means when he talks about how the strong man must be bound in order to plunder his goods. How could anyone take Satan’s minions down a notch if Satan himself is there defending the house?
The Lord built the house of salvation in Israel through the promises of a Savior.
This house was built not on human logic- it was built with a genealogy, and people who were imperfect and marred by sin. Patriarchs like Jacob who gained an inheritance though deception and greed.
The house of salvation was built by the greatest scandal of all- that the Son of God should suffer humiliation and bitter pains and die on the cross.
On this house of salvation, on the rock who is our Savior Jesus, nothing can harm or destroy. Listen to the words from our gospel lesson about the forgiveness Jesus promises: “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter.”
In the context of talking about how He alone is powerful enough to bind Satan- the strongman who tries to occupy our house, Jesus talks about the sin against the Holy Spirit, which alone cannot be forgiven.
This sin is to exclude Jesus from your life, reject the confession that He is your Lord and Savior, and open the door for the strongman Satan to be unbound and be the ruler of this world to you.
LSB 668 lays out our battle plan against this threat of Satan: Rise! To arms! With prayer employ you, O Christians lest the foe destroy you; for Satan has designed your fall. Wield God’s Word, the weapon glorious; against all foes be thus victorious, For God protects you from them all. Fear not the hordes of hell, Here is Emmanuel, Hail the Savior! The strong foes yield to Christ our shield, and we the victors hold the field.
Wisely fight for time is fleeting; the hours of grace are fast retreating; short, short is our earthly way. When the Lord the dead will waken and sinners all by fear are shaken, the saints with joy will greet that day. Praise God, our triumph’s sure. We need not long endure scorn and trial. Our Savior King his won will bring To that great glory which we sing.
As we journey to the last day, the Lord does indeed build our house, and our labors of faith are never in vain. Amen.