Sermon for Oculi, 2026

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. And indeed, He does. Yet how does He conquer him? Not by force of arms, not by earthly might, not by the armor of kings. Pharaoh’s armies sank into the sea. Jericho’s walls fell to the ground. Goliath fell before David. Yet Christ conquers in another way entirely: through weakness, through suffering, through death. 

It is like a fisherman casting his hook into the sea. The fish sees the worm. He circles, seeing only a tender morsel he cannot resist. He does not see the hook. And so, he devours it, and in devouring it he is caught. So it is with the devil. With his hosts, the prince of darkness circles around Christ. He sees only weakness: a man, betrayed by a friend, beaten, mocked, and delivered over to be executed. What a tasty, irresistible morsel! He does not see the hook—the Cross. And so, he devours what he cannot resist. Yet that death is the very thing that undoes his kingdom. 

For that death was no ordinary death. It was a ransom: the redeeming sacrifice for the sin of the world. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Exodus 8:16-24

• Epistle: Ephesians 5:1-9

• Holy Gospel: Luke 11:14-28

Sermon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BJt3fEYYwE