GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
MARK 7:29-30
29 Then he said to her, “Because of what you have said, go home! The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When we train a pet dog, we don’t reward the dog for snatching a morsel from us before we give it. In fact, that would merit a stern word or some other punishment, small though it would be. When do we reward a dog? For sitting quietly until the morsel is given, which shows that the dog has accepted the master’s mastery and embraced its place in the family. In a similar way, Jesus rewards the Syro-Phoenician woman’s faith, not because she snatched something from Jesus or overcame him in some way, but because she accepted her Lord’s lordship over her, and thankfully embraced her place in his kingdom.
30 She went to her home and found the child lying on her bed and the demon gone.
Jesus didn’t even go to her daughter and speak to the demon. This is the only time in Scripture when we’re shown that a demon submitted to his will without any direct word, but only with an unspoken intention. But Jesus showed his mastery over the visible world and over the invisible world with the Gentiles in particular, so that the Gentiles would know that they could trust in him even when he wasn’t physically or visibly present. This woman’s daughter was healed even though Jesus did not come to her home. The Centurion’s servant was cured of his paralysis and “terrible suffering” (Matthew 8:6) without Jesus coming anywhere near the man’s home.
It’s important for us to understand God’s power over angels and demons. He created the angels, since they did not exist prior to the creation of the world (John 1:1-3). The knowledge that some of them fell into sin should not shock us since all of mankind also fell. After the wicked angels fell away, God in some way confirmed the good angels into a righteous state so that they cannot fall. They are now and forever described as his “elect angels” (1 Timothy 5:21). Since they did not fall into sin, they are not redeemed through Christ (who paid for sins). But we might extend another passage in a positive sense. Since God “did not spare” the devil and his evil angels, the demons, “when they sinned” (2 Peter 2:4), we see that they were condemned because of their sins. The good angels, therefore, were confirmed in their state of holiness and faith because they did not sin. “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants” (Hebrews 2:16). Mankind has a completely different relationship with God and with Christ from the angels. You and I were not created sinless but are born in the inherited sin we receive from Adam and Eve. “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, ‘There is no one righteous, not even one.’” (Romans 3:9-10). Mankind, therefore, is under God’s power and also under God’s curse. The angels and demons are also subject to God’s power and his authority.
The demons (including the devil) cannot read our minds or know our thoughts. “You alone (O Lord) know the hearts of all men” (1 Kings 8:39). The demons aren’t capable of performing real miracles, meaning they cannot create new things, raise the dead, etc. (“Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds,” Psalm 72:18), although they can mock some of the things God does, such as making a man’s hair stand on end (Job 4:15), accusing us of sin without any comfort of the Gospel (Job 4:16-21) and tempting us to sin (Matthew 4:6).
Even the punishment of the devil and the demons serves the purpose of the gospel. How? They are a reminder of the necessity of repentance and faith. This is the distinction between law and gospel. In his gospel, God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. When you see this, your hearts will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants” (Isaiah 66:13-14a). But in his law, God says, “But his fury will be shown to his foes” (Isaiah 66:14b). What will happen to those people who reject God and refuse to repent of their sins? “Unless you repent, you, too, will perish” (Luke 13:3,5). What happens to those with faith? “He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil” (Job 36:10). They will be “saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation” (Isaiah 45:17). Gentle or Jew, your salvation is assured by faith in Christ. You have no reason to be frightened by the devil’s lies. Know that in Christ you have everything that you need for all eternity, and in the meantime during your days here on God’s earth, share your faith as you serve your Savior.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2019
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota