We love our heroes. The movies are full of them. There are even some real-life heroes, men and women who rescue helpless victims from real-life villains and save others from certain death, oftentimes by means of some very courageous, self-sacrificing efforts. We are drawn to stories where the good guys win in the end, where wrongs are righted, where justice is served, where the wicked are destroyed, and the world is made a safer place to live in. The world knows that there’s something wrong with it. Even non-Christians can see that things aren’t as they should be. And while some try to gloss over the evil that exists by saying silly things like, “Death is just a part of life,” most people recognize that pain, suffering, and death are intruders. Why should we try to avoid them, if they’re just a part of life? If they’re meant to be, why all the hospitals and medications, all of which are means by which we try to escape pain and suffering and postpone death for as long as we can? And so, we love it when a hero comes along and rescues us from the demons, diseases, and despondency of this present evil age.
Unfortunately, not only are heroes hard to come by (no wonder they make so many movies about them), but their heroic efforts are all short-lived. Though heroes may be able to postpone death for those they rescue, ultimately death will have us all. None of the heroes of this world, whether real or imagined, can save us from the greatest villains we face - sin, death, and the devil. But we can’t blame these foes for our plight. We are not complete victims here. The man possessed by an unclean spirit in today’s Gospel text looked like he was merely a victim, but his captivity to the demons was the result of his rebellion and sin against God. The same goes for Simon-Peter’s mother-in-law. Though it appears that she was merely a victim of the fever that possessed her, her captivity to it was also the result of her rebellion and sin against God. The same goes for all those who came to Jesus to be healed of their afflictions. They and we have all fallen victim to these ailments because of our rebellion and sin against God. It’s not that stealing something will get you the flu, or worse, lead to demon possession, but that all affliction, suffering, and death is the result of our sinful condition. These foes have taken us captive, because we willingly and actively turned away from God to go our own way. But that way is the way of death.
Now, no one of us who is a sinner is able to rescue us from these villains, because we’re all under their lock and key. No matter how heroic people may talk or how heroically they may try, they can’t save themselves, let alone others, from these captors of ours. They’re just too strong for us. What’s more, the Scriptures teach that in our sinful condition we don’t even want to be rescued. Unwilling to recognize that we’re enslaved, we insist on maintaining that we are free. But there is One who became one of us, yet without sin, who is both willing and able to rescue us from these enemies, and that is the One who rebuked the unclean spirit possessing the man in the synagogue, who rebuked the fever that possessed Simon-Peter’s mother-in-law, and who laid His hands on all those who came to Him in order to be healed of their infirmities and delivered from their demonic oppression. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy One of God, the Son of God, the Christ, whom even the demons know by name and yet shudder. They shudder, because in Him they see their end; here they see the beginning of what is going to take place on the Last Day, when Jesus comes to rescue those who have trusted in Him and looked forward to His salvation. On that day, it is the demons who will be sent into captivity. On that day even death itself will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, and all the effects and consequences of sin will be done away with, as our Lord takes us to His heavenly kingdom.
Jesus is the true Hero, who has rescued us from the greatest enemies this world faces. And yet, like many heroes, this rescue came at the expense of His own life. That’s what heroic efforts often times cost - the life of the hero. What is it that moves a person to pay such a cost? A real hero doesn’t think about himself, but about the person he’s trying to save. And so, a firefighter goes into a blazing building to try to rescue a trapped child. Rescue crews traverse swollen rivers to try to save a stranded mother. Average citizens dig with their hands to try to rescue those still alive, buried under the rubble of a collapsed building caused by an earthquake. They don’t think about what it might cost them in the process; they’re focused on rescuing the victims. The same was true of Jesus. Not thinking of Himself and what it would cost Him to rescue us, He gave His life to save ours. To do this He let the things that held us captive take Him in our place, so that we might go free. Jesus became the victim of sin, death, and the devil on the cross, so that we might be released.
He did this because of His love for us. While many heroes do what they do because it’s their job or because they hope to gain recognition for it or simply because they believe it’s something that they ought to do, Jesus did what He did out of His love for you. And it cost Him His life. But that’s what love costs - it costs the death of the one who loves. It entails sacrifice, giving up your rights and privileges, giving up your time and possessions, giving up your honor and name, and even in some cases giving up your very life for the object of your love. And while many heroes give their lives for those who love them, very few give their lives for those who hate them and are their enemies. But of Jesus’ love the Apostle Paul writes, “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Out of His love for you Jesus let the things that held you captive take Him, so that you might be released and live under Him in His kingdom now and forever. But how is it that we may live under Him in His kingdom, if He let such villains as sin, death, and the devil have Him? For any of us this would have meant our doom. We would have been held captive under these for all eternity, suffering under God’s wrath in the Lake of Fire ourselves. But by letting our enemies have Him, Jesus actually overcame them, triumphing over them through His cross and His resurrection from the dead. Jesus had said, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, He takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.” Jesus is the stronger man who through His cross and resurrection has attacked and disarmed the strong man - the devil - and has taken his spoils - us - away from him. Only Jesus could do this, because He alone was without sin. It was as if we were all together locked in a cell behind bars awaiting our execution and Jesus were on the outside holding the keys. He couldn’t simply open the cell and set us free, as we were justly imprisoned. But He could take our place. And so, He opened the prison door, set us free, and walked in Himself, only to suffer the execution that we deserved. But because the jailer and executioner unjustly put Him, a righteous Man, to death, they were defeated in that very act. Though it looked like Jesus was a weak victim as He hung dead on the cross, He was actually the heroic victor over sin, death, and the power of the devil. And His bodily resurrection from the dead is the Father’s confirmation of this.
But Jesus doesn’t keep this victory to Himself. He now gives it to you and to me through the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom of God. The good news of the kingdom of God is just what Jesus proclaimed one Sabbath day in the synagogue in Nazareth, as He read and preached from the book of Isaiah. There He read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” This is the good news of the kingdom of God. And Jesus said to those who were listening, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Today’s Gospel text shows this fulfillment. Here the kingdom of God is manifested as its King begins to take back His creation by releasing it from what has bound it. He does this by casting out the devil, healing people of their sicknesses, and proclaiming the Gospel, the good news that He has defeated our enemies and that we are freed from their hold on us. His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the dead authorize Him to speak these words of release, so that at His rebuke the demons must loose their hold on us, fever and sickness must leave, the grave must give up the dead, and sins must depart to a desolate place, as they are carried there by the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Now, these things are not seen today. We may look at this text and ask, “Why isn’t Jesus doing these kinds of things today?” Or is He? Just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean He isn’t doing them. He drove the devil out of you at your Baptism. He proclaims release to you in the forgiveness of your sins. He heals your body and soul as He touches you with His body and blood in His holy Supper. And though none of these things can be seen now, the day is coming when we will see with our own eyes what is previewed for us in today’s Gospel text. With His Word Jesus will destroy the demons and rebuke every affliction we are subject to in this life, so that we might not experience them ever again in His kingdom of glory.
Jesus is our true Hero, who has rescued us from the greatest enemies this world faces - sin, death, and the devil. Forget the aliens, sorcerers, and super men and women you see in the movies; they’re just make-believe. Forget the gods and idols of the religions of the world; they too are just make-believe and figments of men’s imagination and fallen understanding. And forget about trusting in men, who are all alike sinners, unable to save themselves, let alone you. Jesus is God in the flesh, come to us in our history, attested to by eye-witnesses, both hostile and sympathetic alike. With His death and resurrection He has achieved the victory over your captors and with His Word He delivers that victory to you. You who have been baptized and brought to faith in Him are the beneficiaries of His Word of release today. The strong man has been kicked out; the stronger Man has moved in and made your body His temple. He is the Holy One of God, the Son of God, your Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.