LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-5

“Therefore, they [your sons] shall be your judges. But, if it is by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Luke 11:19,20

When Jesus tells the Jews, who question His authority to cast out demons and ascribe it to the devil, that their sons will be their judges, He means to say that He is appealing to these sons. These sons will be forced to pronounce the judgement that they are slandering Him unjustly and condemning themselves in doing so.

If one devil does not drive out another devil, there must be another power operative here which is neither devilish nor human, namely, divine power. Jesus continues, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” This “finger of God” Matthew clearly designates as “the Spirit of God,” for in describing this same event he reports Jesus as saying, “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons [...]” (Matthew 12:28).

In short, Christ here wants to say, “If the kingdom of God is to come to you, the devil must be driven out, for his kingdom is opposed to God’s kingdom, as you yourselves must confess. But the devil is not driven out by a devil, much less by men or through the power of men. He is driven out only through the Spirit and the power of God.”

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PRAYER: According to your Word and promises, O Lord, let your kingdom of grace come to us and be established in our midst, through the active working of your Holy Spirit in the means of grace, for the Savior’s sake. Amen.

LESSON: TITUS 3:8-11

Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. Mark 1:25,26

No one should imagine that the evil spirits at times present an appearance of disunity and that one yields to the other to deceive men. For it is quite evident that they offer resistance, demur, cry out and storm, tear and rage when they sense that an earnest effort is being made to drive them out. They are opposed to Christ and at variance with Him, yielding to Him under compulsion and unwillingly. Nothing is left here but the patent and blasphemous lie in which they are held fast and disgraced, so they seize upon God’s work out of poisonous hatred and jealousy in the interests of the devil.

From this we should learn not to be unduly surprised if our doctrine and conduct is blasphemed, and if hardened hearts are never satisfied and converted, even though they have been overcome by palpable truth and their mouths have been stopped.

It is enough that their hardened folly has been disclosed by our answer before the godly, recognized for what it is, and brought to naught so that the godly may not be misled by any mere appearance of good. Thereafter, let them go their own way. Such people are perverted and sinful and even “Self-condemned,” as Paul reminds Titus (3:11).

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PRAYER: In your mercy and grace, O Lord, direct and govern all our efforts as your disciples, that the best interests of your kingdom are always served and our neighbor’s welfare is promoted, in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.

LENT - WEEK 3 - MONDAY

LESSON: COLOSSIANS 4:2-6

But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Be-elzebul, the prince of demons” [...] But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Be-elzebul.” Luke 11:15,17,18

What did these slanderers reply to this clear logic of Jesus? Their mouth was stopped, and their heart was hardened so that they put forward no more questions. For a hardened heart is no longer open to instruction, no matter how brightly and clearly the truth is set forth. But the faith of the godly is strengthened hereby when they see that the ground for their faith is true and good.

For the sake of the godly, answers must at times be given to those who are hardened, and their mouths stopped. Even though they are not converted or silenced, it serves a good purpose to have their stubborn folly revealed, showing that the longer they speak the more their folly increases.

From this it also can be deduced that their cause does not even have the appearance of being good and true, as Solomon also says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:5). His meaning is to shame, for the sake of others, so that they do not follow him and are not deceived by him, as though he were in the right.

Otherwise, where there is no such special reason, it is better to be silent, as Solomon says in the same context, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself” (Proverbs 26:4).

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PRAYER: O Lord, give us at all times the courage to speak out boldly for the sake of others and wisdom to be silent lest we increase the folly of others by our speaking. Amen.

LENT - WEEK 3- SUNDAY

LESSON: LUKE 11:14-28

He was casting out a demon that was dumb; when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. Luke 11:14

This is a beautiful Gospel in which we learn a great deal about many different things, and in it there is portrayed almost all that Christ, His kingdom, and Gospel are. We learn what the Gospel achieves and how it makes its way in the world.

First of all, as do all the Gospels, it teaches us faith and love, for it holds up Christ before us as a savior and help in all needs, out of His great love. He who believes this is saved.

Here we see also that He has nothing to do with those who are well but with the poor man who is ailing under many troubles. He was blind, as Matthew tells us (12:22), and dumb and possessed by a demon, as Luke says. Most of the deaf are also dumb, so that in Greek the same word is used for deaf and dumb.

The concern of Jesus for this poor man is an incentive for us to turn to Him in every need, expecting from Him all that is good. After experiencing good at His hands, we should follow Him in love and do good to others, as He has done good to us. This is the common and most delightful teaching of this Gospel and of all the Gospels throughout the whole church year.

This poor dumb man, moreover, did not come to Jesus without the Word. Those who brought him to Jesus must have heard of Christ’s love, and this moved them to put their trust in Him. Let us always remember that faith comes through the Word.

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PRAYER: Lord Jesus, your love and compassion for men in their trials and troubles was truly wonderful. Be to us a helper and savior also today, for your mercy’s sake. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 33:13-22

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. Psalm 55:22

That God nourishes the whole world by means of bread, and not only through the Word without bread, has its special reason. God is concealing His work under this procedure in order to exercise our faith.

In the case of the children of Israel also, He issued orders for them to arm themselves and fight, but He did not want them to gain the victory through their sword and their own deeds. He Himself wanted to defeat their enemies and gain the victory under their sword and through their deeds. Here He could also have said, “The warrior does not gain the victory through his own sword alone, but through every word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

David also says, “Not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me” (Psalm 44:6). “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man” (Psalm 147:10).

He still makes use of man and horse, sword and bow, but He fights and He accomplishes everything without the power and might of the man and the horse. The latter are merely curtains and coverings for His might and power. This is proved by the fact that He has often acted, and still often acts daily, without man and horse where necessity demands it and where there is no possibility of a temptation of Himself being involved.

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PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, our stay and support in all our needs, grant us such an understanding of your Word and trust in its teachings that we always accept all its consolations in firm assurance, in and through Christ our Lord. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 46

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without waver, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

What we are told about the Canaanite woman and her faith (Matthew 15:21-28) has been written for our comfort and instruction, that we may learn how deeply God at times hides His grace from us. We should not form our estimate of Him according to our feelings and speculations but hold absolutely and completely to His Word.

Here we see that, although Christ takes up a very inflexible position, He does not make any final judgements by expressly saying “No.” His replies all seem to be negative, but they do not contain a final “No.” They hang and float in the air.

He does not say, “I will not listen to her,” but remains silent, saying neither “Yes” or “No.” Nor does He say that she is not from the house of Israel. He simply states that He is sent only to the house of Israel. He lets the matter hang and float between “Yes” and “No.” Nor does He say, “You are a dog; you should not receive any of the children’s bread.” He says, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” He lets it hang and float whether she is a dog or not. But all his replies seem to imply a “No” rather than a “Yes,” and yet there is more of “Yes” in his replies than “No.”

There is “Yes” here and nothing but “Yes,” but it is deep and hidden and seems to be “No.”

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PRAYER: There are times, heavenly Father, when we feel that you are far away from us and that your grace is hidden from us. Open our eyes at such times with the light of your truth so that we see clearly that your grace and love are steadfast and unchanging and ever available to us in and through our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: ROMANS 9:14-24

She came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” Matthew 15:25

The Canaanite woman came to Jesus in a house, as Mark tells us, “and fell down at his feet,” Mark 7:25, and made her plea; “Lord, help me!”

It was now that she received the mortal blow. Before all present, she was told in so many words that she was a dog, not worthy to partake of the children’s bread. What will she say to this? Here she has heard the very worst. She is one of the lost who have been damned, who are not to be reckoned with the elect.

This is a final, irrevocable reply, and no one can debate it. But she does not desist. She concurs with Christ’s judgement and agrees with it. She is a dog, and she wants no more than a dog, namely, to eat the crumbs which fall from the master’s table.

Is this not a master-touch? She takes Christ captive with His own words. He compares her with a dog. She accepts the comparison and asks for no more than permission to be such a dog, as He Himself has judged her to be. Where was He to turn? He was caught. One lets a dog have the crumbs under the table; these are his right.

He now opens up to the woman and grants her what she wishes. She is now not a dog but also a child of Israel.

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PRAYER: Thanks and praise be to you, our loving heavenly Father, for the mercy and grace which brought us to faith in you and your promises and which has kept us in this faith, in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: LUKE 11:5-13

We share in Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. Hebrews 3:14

When we hear how Christ answered the Canaanite woman in the Gospel (Matthew 15:21-26), we are in a way reminded of quite a number of remarkable statements that He made to His disciples on various occasions. He said to them, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). In Mark we read, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will” (Mark 11:24). There are also many other passages of this kind.

What has come of all these promises here? He soon answers and says, “It is true that I hear all prayers; but such promises I have made only to the house of Israel.”

Is this not a real thunderclap which shatters both heart and faith into a thousand pieces? The Word of God, on which the woman has built her faith, is not spoken to her; it concerns others. Here all saints and all intercession must become silent; here the heart must let the Word go, if it is to allow the feelings to decide the matter.

But what does the woman do? She does not give up. She still clings to the Word, even though it seems that an attempt is being made to force her to give it up. She does not heed the stern words of Christ. She still has the firm conviction that somehow or other Christ’s goodness is still concealed under all this. She is still not prepared to form the judgement that Christ is ungracious or that He can be ungracious. This is what it means to hold fast!

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PRAYER: Grant us a full measure of your grace, heavenly Father, so that, despite all the obstacles our faith meets in a world where there is much sin and opposition to your holy will, we may still maintain a firm and unwavering faith in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.