THE WORD 4 ev 1

Today’s reading is Mark 3. (click here for link)

In church (the Lutheran church, for sure) we preach the truth of the Gospel that all our sins are forgiven because of Jesus Christ. We do our best to proclaim Jesus as a Savior strong enough to forgive even the most evil acts of any person—the worst of the worst. The key is faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

However, it surprises me how often people will respond to me when I invite them to church, “Pastor, you don’t know the things I have done.” They seem to be convinced that God cannot or will not forgive them. How I wish I could sit them down and teach them about our gospel reading today. Jesus so clearly describes himself, not as a fickle minded judge who is quick to condemn sinners; but rather, he describes himself as a thief who is able to break in into a strong man’s house, tie up the strong man, and steal his prized possessions. Jesus is speaking of Satan’s hold over us. Satan wants nothing more than to keep us locked up in our sin, believing that we are too separated from God to receive forgiveness. However, Jesus is stronger.

In fact, Mark more than adequately demonstrates this by recording more of Jesus’ exorcisms than any of the other gospels. Jesus entry into the world according to Mark, was like a thief into a strong man’s house. He literally went about his ministry tying up Satan and casting him out. Yet, surprisingly, no one recognized this lowly Galilean as the Son of God—no one except the demons, but by the time they recognized him, it was always too late.

Our Savior comes to steal us back from the grip of the strong man, Satan, and once we are in his hand, no one can snatch us away from him (John 10:28). There is no length our Lord is not willing to go to make us His own. Just read 1 Timothy 2:4 (click here for link).

The only way Satan wins is if we reject the power of Jesus. To refuse to believe in the power of Jesus is to refuse the very Holy Spirit who reveals that truth to each of us. In this way, forgiveness can never be obtained.

Don’t let Satan pull the wool over your eyes. You have forgiveness in Jesus. He calls you by name in this gospel. He says you are his brother, or sister, or mother. In Him you are no longer under the power of Satan. You are in Jesus possession now!

Many Hallelujahs!

Pastor Aaron

P.S. Sorry for the broken link yesterday. I hope things work better this morning :)