From Dog to Lost Sheep

An Introductory Note on Demon Possession

Because this Sunday's gospel reading speaks of demon-possession, a brief word on demons seems appropriate. Demons can be conceived of as beings that take possession of the human heart by luring one into idolatry. Whereas angels speak God’s message of truth and thereby encourage devotion to our Creator, demons speak lies and thereby lead one to worship and bow down to created things. Said differently, when the human heart turns any created thing into its functional savior or “god”, all of life begins to revolve around that false god. Such slavery to a created thing is, in a nutshell, the nature of demon possession – which is perhaps far more common than our world recognizes.

A Canaanite Woman’s Prayer and Jesus’ Not-Exactly-Pastoral Response

Many Christians in their gathering this weekend will hear Matthew 15:21-28, in which a Canaanite woman begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus’ initial response to the woman’s prayer is not what one would expect. First he tells the disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then he tells the woman, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Apparently Jesus failed his pastoral care classes. His response seems not only unkind, but also contradictory to his own teachings – and really to the teachings of God’s Word as a whole. Indeed, what happened to his saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 5:31)? Or St. Paul’s saying, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15)?

The Harshness Has a Purpose

While many would like to ignore or explain away Jesus' harshness, Martin Luther does neither. Instead, in a sermon on this same passage, Luther notes the personal experience of any given sinner – that is, how no sinner receives the grace of God without first being humbled. That is to say, for Jesus to heal our iniquities, we need first to admit culpability and responsibility for them. (As a side note, this accords with my own conversion to Christ, and also with any continued growth in Christ. None of it has ever happened apart from being convicted and reproved for sin.)

It may sound harsh, but the daughter’s demon-possession was her own fault and, more broadly, her own people’s fault. It was a consequence of their idolatry. To explain that a little, idol worship – which is to love created things over and against our Creator – always leads to bondage. (Cf. 2 Peter 2:19) Because the Canaanites worshiped idols, the daughter’s bondage to a demon could be expected. It was simply a natural consequence of their sinful ways.

Jesus points this out not so that the Canaanite woman will walk away from him, but so that she will walk away from her previous way of life. He’s getting her to disown her idols and cling to him instead. And so, Jesus’ harsh response has a purpose. Namely, Christ is drawing her to repentance – again, not so that she will despair of his grace, but so that she will despair of any so-called merit or goodness of her own. Modern psychology tends to say we should think well of ourselves, but “those who are well have no need for a physician.” The patient first needs to be told that she is sick. Only then can the remedy of grace can be applied.

A Far Greater Kindness

So Jesus’ apparent unkindness is in fact the greatest kindness. Most want only to be told, “You’re good the way you are. Go in peace.” But Jesus loves sinners more than that. He will not ignore their true condition, nor will he leave them to wallow in their sinfulness. He wants to free his people from their bondage, and the first step to such freedom is the admission that we ourselves have created such bondage. (Alcoholics Anonymous knows this quite well.) Those who admit they are “dogs” – that is, unworthy to receive the grace of God and the gift of new life – can thereby have their status changed from “dog” to “lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

In short, for the consequence of sin (demon-possession and alienation from God) to be undone, the cause of sin (idol-worship) needs to be addressed and repented from. Hence Jesus’ initial response to the woman’s prayer. It may have been severe, but the severity of God is kindness to those who embrace it in faith. Even in the face of humiliation and in the face of a God whose severity against sin cannot be doubted, the one who believes still says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (Matthew 15:27) With that faith, which subsists in repentance, Jesus’ final response can be heard: “Great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” (Matthew 15:28)

And so the sinner goes from being a "dog" to being counted a "lost sheep of the house of Israel." Christ came for the lost sheep, and this particular one has been found.