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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Stronger than He |
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Luke 11:21-22 Third Sunday of Lent February 24, 2008 The great drama of our salvation in Christ is presented in many ways in Scripture. We usually focus on the theological ones, and for good reason, we want to understand it with our minds, as much as possible. After all, Christianity is a rational faith. Truth is rational, and is known intellectually. That goes against the current trend of thought in our country, which tells us truth is known by experience. To most people today, experience interprets truth, but in the Christian faith, truth interprets experience. Imagery is often used in Scripture to reinforce the rational presentation of truth. The Parable of the Sower is a good example. One of the most beloved examples, of course, is the beautiful imagery of the Twenty-third Psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters:
he restoreth my soul.” Jesus often used imagery to give us a mental picture of His work. In our Gospel Lesson for today, He spoke of a strong man armed who “keepeth his palace” (Lk. 11:21). The image is of a king in a castle; a powerful king, a man of war, with an army of loyal soldiers who are experts in battle. This king is always on guard, so no enemy has the opportunity or power to capture his castle and take his goods as the spoils of war. His “goods are in peace.” Until a certain other King comes to make war upon him. This King is stronger, smarter, and more skilled in battle. His army is stronger, better equipped, better trained, and more loyal. This King leads His hosts against the other king. He storms the castle. There is a terrible battle, but the army of the castle is defeated. The king of the castle tries to retreat, but he is cornered by the invading King. Again there is a terrible fight, but the invading King wears His opponent down, more and more, until, finally the king of the castle is defeated. The king of the castle is captured. His army is conquered. Now the Invader plunders the treasure houses of the castle. Storehouses of riches, once the property of the castle king, now belong to the Invader. Even the castle and lands and dominions of the vanquished belong to the Victor. The strong man armed has been vanquished by One stronger than he. There is a wonderful scene in C.S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in which the Great Lion, Aslan, leaps into the Castle of the White Witch. The White Witch has captured the creatures of the land of Narnia, and turned them into stone. They decorate her castle like statues, and would remain there forever, but for Aslan. Aslan invades her castle, and, by breathing on the captives, releases them from their stony prison and leads them out of the castle into freedom. The White Witch, of course, represents Satan. Aslan represents Christ, invading the kingdom of death and darkness, liberating the captives there. This image came straight out of the pages of the New Testament, right from the passage we read this morning. Satan is the strong man armed. He is the prince of this world. He rules it with vicious tyranny, and has imprisoned the citizens. But he is not the rightful king. He is a pretender; a thief, a despot. Jesus, the rightful King leads His army against the despot’s castle. Right to the very throne room of Satan he carries the fight, until the enemy is defeated, for Christ is stronger than the evil one. Now the true King opens the dungeons where His people have been imprisoned for so long. He leads them out of the castle and into the land He has given them, and He divides the spoils with them. We are those prisoners. We were oppressed and enslaved by Satan, forced to serve him, living in his dungeons, eating the swill he jeeringly gave us. And all the time we thought we were free. All the time we thought our swill was milk and honey. All the while we thought our bondage was freedom and our subjection was peace. Then Jesus came. Now we understand that the knowledge of Him is eternal life, and His service is perfect freedom. Jesus has freed us from the dungeon of sin and brought us into his Kingdom of peace. A constant threat to all kings and kingdoms of the world is that another “stronger than he” will invade and conquer. Not so with our Heavenly King. Our King is invincible. His Kingdom is forever. There is no other stronger than He. He is the Lord of hosts. The Lord, mighty in battle. He is the Mighty God who never sleeps. He is always on guard, and no one is able to invade His Kingdom, or to recapture the people He has freed. If the Lord has made us free, we are free indeed. Let us pray. King Jesus, Lord of an everlasting dominion, who hast freed us from our captivity to sin and Satan, let us now rest in Thy power, and serve you in freedom and peace. In Thy holy name we pray. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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