No Neutrality With Jesus
Luke 11:14-28
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Luke 11:23: [Jesus said,] He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… There are many people in our world today who refuse to take a stand on issues; and if you happen to get into a conversation with them, it can be frustrating. These are the type of folks who would much rather not give their opinion on certain things, either for fear of backlash or maybe they just don’t care. Their response to certain important questions may be, “Well, I feel strongly both ways.” But if that is the answer in response to topics like abortion, for example, or the Constitution, one may indeed wonder about that person’s beliefs or values.
Generally speaking, those who are constantly neutral on every subject display a lack of will and an inability to make a decision. But if a person displays neutrality in the area of religion, he is trying not only to pull off the impossible, but by his very indifference he proves to be an enemy to all true religion. That is why in the Book of Revelation Jesus condemns especially the Church of Laodicea for her neutrality and lukewarmness – being neither hot nor cold toward the Lord – and says He will spit her out of His mouth (Rev. 3:14-16).
There are other examples in Scripture where Jesus levels a charge against those who will not take a stand. In Matthew 6 He says to those who wish to have earthly as well as heavenly riches, “You cannot serve God and money” (Mt. 6:24). And in today’s text Jesus gives the Jewish people, who would not take a definite attitude toward Him, the warning, “He who is not with Me is against Me!”
It will be good for us also to consider and take this warning to heart. Our Lord’s bold statement assumes not merely that everyone is obliged to take a definite attitude toward Him, but also that there is only one proper and eternally beneficial attitude toward Him – namely, that of complete and unreserved belief, trust, and approval of Him.
There are many things in life about which we may remain indefinite. For example, if your mailbox is anything like mine, you receive dozens of appeals for your support for everything from soup to nuts. Some of these appeals may seem good, right, and salutary; while others do not. We should not expect to be criticized for this, for which of us has at his disposal enough time and energy – let alone money – to throw ourselves into every cause that comes down the pike even if the cause seems to be legitimate?
On the other hand, there are some things where we must take a definite stand; this holds true even in the secular realm. When important national issues are to be decided – like a presidential election – we ought not to remain neutral lest we violate our civic duty.
Another issue, although there are certainly many more on the table, is the debate over abortion. For a Christian there is no middle ground, there is no neutrality, for according to God every single life – whether in the womb or already born, whether conceived in love or out of hate and as a result of a crime – every life is a gift from Him, and only He has the inherent right to give and take life. It is certainly sad, intensely disappointing, and absolutely demonic that our state legislature currently is considering a bill that would legalize abortion up to and including birth. Lord, have mercy! As professing Christians you and I have an obligation to oppose that vigorously, as well as everything else that is immoral or godless or even politically incorrect, and to support with abandon all that is good and right and godly.
It is the same with salvation. Jesus says, “He who is not with Me is against Me!” Given that Jesus is God in the flesh, it goes without saying that He also is the very embodiment of all that is truly moral and rightly religious. And no matter what anyone says or thinks, no one can remain neutral toward God; either God is believed and accepted as God who has sent His Son into the world to save sinners, or He is rejected in unbelief – an attitude which, if held to until death, certainly will assign such a person to hell. There are no fence-sitters. There is no middle ground.
On Judgment Day all men will be judged by their words – whether they believed and trusted in Christ and confessed the same, or whether they rejected Christ and confessed the same; as Jesus said, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34). Whatever is in man’s heart, that is his confession, be it good or bad. And if that confession remains unto death, the Lord’s final verdict will be rendered based on what was or was not believed.
This is what Jesus impressed upon His hearers in today’s text. He had just healed a demon-possessed man by His almighty Word alone, and He had proven that it was preposterous to assume that this was done with the help of Satan. Vv. 17-18: But [Jesus], knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” The answer, of course, is that it cannot. Therefore, there is only one explanation as to how this demon-possessed man had been healed: it was by the power of God. And since it is the very power of God that makes the acts of Jesus effective, therefore through Him also is the kingdom of God established among His people.
Jesus is definitely the stronger presence in any and every battle between Himself and the devil. Jesus descended from heaven and took up the battle with Satan who, up to that time, had enjoyed free reign in the world. Jesus fought with him in the wilderness, on the pinnacle of the temple, and on the high mountain, and then sent him packing with the words, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Therefore, Jesus appears in today’s text as the Victor over the devil, a Victor who can freely expel any and all of Satan’s demons who must obey Him.
And it is for this reason that Jesus can demand that everyone obey Him and say to them, “He who is not with Me is against Me!” For whoever is against Jesus in any way, shape, manner, or form is in Satan’s kingdom and is an opponent of Jesus. That is why Jesus had to rebuke His close friend Peter when Peter did not want to accept the fact that Jesus had to suffer and die at the hands of the chief priests and elders of the people. Jesus spoke the same words to Peter that He spoke to the devil in the wilderness: “Get behind Me, Satan!” And then added, “You do not have in mind the things of God but the things of man.” Even though Peter was one of Jesus’ disciples, at that particular moment he was being used for the other side; and Jesus had to expose it for what it was, both for Peter’s sake and for the sake of His own kingdom.
There can be no neutrality toward the Ruler of heaven and earth. For neutrality toward Christ and His kingdom is, in fact, opposition toward Him. If we are not standing with Him, where else can we be but against Him? Do we give of ourselves wholly and completely to the cause of Christ, or do we stand idly by and watch?
As you ponder those questions, remember this. There was no neutrality with Jesus, especially when it came to dealing with evil and sin on your behalf. There was nothing about our Lord that was the slightest bit indecisive. He allowed Himself to be brought into this world in the form of a helpless baby. He grew to be a man and experienced all of life’s challenges. He never tolerated evil of any kind, but rather attacked it with abandon and ultimately destroyed it – not to give us an example to follow, but to do it for us and in our place.
And when it came time for Him to suffer and die, it appeared to all the world that He was powerless, that all the things that were done to Him could not be stopped, that the raging of the devil would be accomplished against Him.
Jesus was betrayed by one of His own followers for thirty lousy pieces of silver. He was arrested and put on trial, a trial that even by today’s judicial standards would seem unfair. He was beaten, whipped, and sentenced to crucifixion on a cross. And from the cross He cried out, “It is finished!” meaning that everything He had come to do to fulfill prophecy and pay for the sins of all mankind had been accomplished. This was no weak, neutral, or powerless man. This was and still is the Lord Jesus Christ who received to Himself the full punishment for all your sins on the cross and died to win forgiveness for those sins, even the sin of being neutral toward Him.
By His suffering, death, and resurrection Jesus proved to all that He alone is to be worshipped and adored because of what He has done, and He rightly says to you, “He who is not with Me is against Me!”
But He also says to you, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” So, dear Christian, you are blessed! Blessed are you each and every time you are brought here by the Holy Spirit to hear God’s Word, a word of Law which proclaims your sinfulness and inability to save yourself, and a word of Gospel which proclaims Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil for you and for your forgiveness and salvation.
Blessed are you to receive God’s Word of Absolution as you have again this day, that word of God which is delivered to you through the mouth of your pastor, that word which delivers the very benefit of Christ’s work on the cross. And blessed are you when you come in faith to confess your sins privately to your pastor in the gift of Individual Confession and Absolution; there you have the tremendous opportunity to confess specific sins which trouble you and, more importantly, to receive God’s Absolution specifically applied to those sins.
Blessed are you as a baptized child of God to remember daily your baptism wherein God has placed His name on you, called you His own dear child, and delivered to you His forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And blessed are you today as you have the opportunity to receive Christ’s real and true body and blood delivered to you in, with, and under the bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Altar. Here is where Christ delivers the goods which He purchased with His own blood on the cross – the goods of forgiveness, life, and salvation, the goods of restoration and strength to live your lives to His glory.
Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me!” Remember, O Christian, what that means. But remember all the more what Christ has done for you.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
