https://app.dropwave.io/episode/e7d5d53d-1684-4e09-af92-b8f3c9247cb4/oculi-third-sunday-in-lent-lent-3-ad-2026.mp3

++ JESU JUVA ++

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[The smell of sin]

King Ahab and Queen Jezebel are well-known for their wickedness. Less well-known is what happened to their son, Ahaziah, while he was king. In 2 Kings 1, he fell through a window. Being severely injured and wondering whether he’d survive, he sent messengers to Ekron to inquire of their pagan god. Because the king sought wisdom from a false god, Elijah the prophet announced God’s judgment against him. The king would die for his idolatry. The false god he wanted to inquire of was called Baal-Zebub. In the New Testament, this is what they called the chief demon. So King Ahaziah is killed by God for inquiring of the demons instead of praying to the true god.

Fast forward to today’s gospel. The crowds see Jesus cast out a demon. Since the demons listen to Him, they figure that Jesus rules over the demons. He must be their chief. Jesus, they say, is a demon-god. And, since they know their history, if Jesus is a demon-god, then anyone who goes to Him for help is an idolater. Everyone that seeks help from Jesus should be killed, just like King Ahaziah.

It seems odd to us that people would call our Lord a demon. He had cast a demon out of a man. It was an objectively good work! A work of God, not a work of man, an act of God’s mercy. But the crowd the work of Jesus demonic. They say that He is “Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” (Luke 11:15). Obviously, they are wrong and foolish. We’ll come back to this a little later, but for now we’ll consider Beelzebub. As you might know that name seems to mean “Lord of the Flies.” It’s not at all a nice name.

Where do you find flies? Wherever things are smelly and dying, decaying and dead. They swarm around whatever has attracted them. They have their fun in decaying matter, and then go somewhere else to spread all kinds of disease and corruption. Whenever you see two or three flies, you know that more are likely nearby, too. Whenever you see a whole swarm of flies, you know that something nasty isn’t too far away.

So you get out your flyswatter and some cleaning spray and set to work. Maybe you’ll need a plastic bag and some bleach. Killing the flies won’t get rid of them. The only way to remove all the swarming flies is to get rid of whatever attracted them in the first place. Sometimes, it’s easy to know what has attracted them. It could be the trash baking in the hot sun. Or I can smell something that has their attention. Other times, it’s harder. It seems like the flies just appear — and I can’t tell where they’re coming from. I don’t smell anything amiss.

This means that Beelzebub — “Lord of the Flies” is a good name for the devil. He likes to be around things that are unclean, stinky, and dead. It means he is lord of excrement. He is the ruler of refuse, the king of slime, the king of filth, the king of putrescence, of rubbish, filth, and muck. Ew! Ew!

But the trouble with the demons is that the yucky stuff that attracts them doesn’t usually have a physical stink. You don’t usually scrunch up your nose and back off when you smell temptation. Often it looks quite good on the outside. It smells sweet and refreshing. If it didn’t, why would we ever want to engage in pride, anger, self-righteousness, indifference, greed, lust? If these sins looked and smelled as evil as they really are, we’d never go anywhere near them.

At least, that’s what we’d like to think. The truth is that we sin because we’re born as sinners. We engage in these sins that make us dirty and stinky because there’s a part of us that’s already dead. That old Adam in us is full of sins and evil desires. He wants to have what is dead. He wants to have his fun in decaying matter, and then go somewhere else to spread all kinds of disease and corruption. The flies are his friends.

This is the trouble of sin. By our fallen human reason, we don’t recognize our true condition. By nature, we don’t know that we’re members of the devil’s kingdom. Satan comes along and blinds us to his work. And in our sin, we think the flies and their lord are good.

[The smell of the Gospel]

If that’s what sin smells like, what about righteousness? What does the Gospel smell like? Maybe you think about what church smells like. Maybe you’re reminded of the Easter lilies that will adorn the chancel next month. Maybe you think about the sweet smell of incense or of the Communion wine. In 2 Corinthians 2, St. Paul gives us another picture. Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).

Saint Paul presents the image of a Gospel procession giving off the sweet aroma of life. Jesus Christ, firstborn from the dead, leads the procession, and He spreads the lovely scent of the knowledge of His resurrection victory in His wake. Everywhere Jesus goes, this delightful fragrance follows. Even the title “Christ,” which means “anointed,” suggests a lovely scent. The Word of Jesus — of the free forgiveness in His name — is a sweet perfume.

What is this sweet perfume of the Gospel? It’s that we are forgiven of our sins, rescued from death and the devil, and given eternal salvation, as the words and promises of God declare.

How were we enslaved to the devil? The Bible presents two kinds of demonic possession: physical and spiritual. Under physical possession, a person loses the ability to control himself physically, at least at times, because the demon controls him instead. Under spiritual possession, people retain control over their bodies, but satan holds them captive spiritually.

Not everyone suffers bodily possession, but every person who doesn’t believe in Jesus is under evil spiritual possession. Jesus has come to free us from Satan’s possession — physically and spiritually. He does this in a way that doesn’t make sense to human reason. He attacks and overcomes the devil by being nailed to the cross. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15).

We smelled putrid because of our sins. There is no uncleanness, no decay or corruption in Him. He was conceived in holiness. He did no sin. It couldn’t even be named of Him. He had no unclean words, no unclean thoughts, no hatred, lust, no fear, love, or trust of anyone before God. Jesus has taken all our corruption and death upon Himself and died in our place.