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The strong man guards his palace ; his goods are secure.  Yet there comes One stronger than he : Christ comes upon him and overcomes him, and takes from him all the armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.   And this is good news for us. For the enemy Christ comes to defeat is not flesh and blood; it is the devil himself: the ancient enemy who seeks to darken the eyes and choke off the cry of faith, who would leave men silent before God. Christ comes to conquer him.

Beloved, Jesus does not wait for you to have sufficient faith either before He helps; in fact, He helps despite your weakness of faith. Although, at times, too numerous to count, we are seemingly faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. The faith He engendered within us, He continues to strengthen with His Word and blessed Sacraments. He will never leave nor forsake you, whom He purchased with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and dea

Who are we? Poor, miserable sinners, who go our ways in this world so easily forgetful of who we are and where we belong. We belong with the Canaanite woman: below the bottom rung, in the lowest place. That is where we belong.  And then, from the depths of that place, to share company with the Canaanite woman and cry nevertheless, “Lord, help me!”  And to cry, “ Truth, Lord.  What You say about me, what I deserve and do not merit and have not earned and am not worthy to have

Jesus does not merely tell you to pray; He forms your praying. “Hallowed be Thy name.” That prayer is already being answered as His Word sanctifies you. “Thy kingdom come.” That prayer is answered as His Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps you in the true faith. “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” That prayer is answered as your own will is broken and remade beneath the Cross. “Give us this day our daily bread.” That prayer is answered in pro

Being baptized into Christ means that what He accomplished—His obedience and faithfulness—is credited to you. Yet it also means that you embark on a new life, a life of following Jesus, of imitating Him, of being conformed to Him. It is in this new life, this following, imitating, conformed life, this life in Christ, that you learn to place your trust not in bread, but rather to find your life in every word that proceeds from the mouth of God ; to trust patiently and not put

Tonight’s Gospel speaks of not disfiguring your faces on the very day when we disfigure our faces. What are we to make of that?  To answer that, there’s another question that must be asked: When Jesus said these words, did He mean to say that no one should ever use ashes? If so, what then of the king of Nineveh? You’ll recall that when the word of the prophet Jonah, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne and l

When Jesus cried out, “Eli,”  He wasn’t calling for Elijah; He was calling out to God, His Father. “My God!” He cried. “Why have You...

While Christ’s Word this day brings His stern admonition, His Word also brings the sweet hope of the Gospel.  “If anyone keeps My word he...

The Church stands or falls on how one is made right with God. Works won’t work. You can’t strong-arm your way in; you’ll fail. And...

The devil is always about us. That’s one of the major themes the season of Lent drives home: the devil and his demons and minions are...