Sermon - Reminscere 2022 - Matthew 15:21-28

Christ and the Canaanite Woman, Annibale Carracci, 16th Cent.

Does demon possession still happen? Reading the Gospels there’s no shortage of demonic possession. Even into the New Testament era, after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, there are still accounts of Christians exorcizing demons. So what about today? Are all of the accounts of demon possession in the Bible worth reading about or are they just interesting stories of the past with no application to our modern world?

The truth is demons do continue to afflict and possess people. We just tend to have a very narrow view of demonic possession, mainly informed by sensational movies and TV shows. We expect demon possession to be characterized by spinning heads, superhuman strength, speaking in strange languages, and berzerk manic behavior. There’s some of that in the Bible, with the man possessed by a legion of demons living naked among the dead with superhuman strength, or the child possessed by a demon who cast himself into fire and water. But there’s also the demon possessed daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, from today’s text, who remained at home. Doesn’t sound like she was necessarily berzerk since she hadn’t escaped from her parents and no bizarre behaviors were described. 

Instead of seeing demon possession only as extreme manic berzerk behavior, it would be helpful to understand that demon possession and affliction usually manifests itself plainly as unholy passions of the flesh. Thus meaning that demonic assault isn’t quite as foreign as we often imagine. This also means that the accounts of the Lord casting out demons is remarkably comforting and reassuring. The Lord sanctifies us from demonic affliction and possession. 

For the Christian this life of holiness and rescue from demons begins at baptism. Baptism has long been seen as an exorcism. Before baptism, when the Holy Spirit enters into the new believer, that person is not merely an empty vessel waiting to be filled, but is already filled with unholiness and possessed by a demon. This universe hates a void and must fill it, so if a person is not possessed by the Spirit of God, they are possessed by demons.

Thus in baptism the Lord casts out the unholy spirit and makes room for the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a washing away of sin and a regeneration bringing about new life. The demon is forced to wander through waterless places, seeking someone else to possess, because the demons hate baptism. With a great flood the Lord drowned this demonic world and saved Noah’s family. With the Red Sea the Lord drowned the demonic Egyptians and saved the Israelites. With baptism the Lord drowned our demonic hearts and saved us.

This rescue from demonic assault continues even after baptism. “For this is the will of God: your sanctification;” your holiness is God’s will for you. God began your sanctification, your rescue from demons, in baptism, and continues your sanctification ever after. When we regularly go to private confession and absolution, we are returning to our baptisms, and once again drowning our demons with the grace of God. When we confess our sins, we’re bringing to light the works of demons so that the demons might scatter and flee with the darkness they inhabit. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome, and in His light the demons run.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry He cast out demons, not by performing intricate rituals and using special tools, but simply by the power of His voice. The voice of Jesus dispels demons from among us. God sanctifies, makes holy, by speaking His Word and casting out demons. Reading the scriptures aloud is powerful because demons hate the voice of Jesus and run terrified when they hear it. This is why the pastor, who stands in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, reads aloud the words of Jesus so that His voice might put demons to chase. When Jesus’ voice echoes within the walls of this place, this hall becomes a sanctuary, a holy place, since it has been sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. Let’s do the same with our homes, speaking God’s Word aloud regularly, so that the demons might learn to fear even our homes which reverberate with the voice of Christ.

To make our sanctification complete, and utterly vanquish the power of Satan, Christ died and was buried. Upon the cross, Jesus shed His most holy blood and declared in the presence of demons: “It is finished.” He thus sanctified the death of every Christian, so that we may die unfearing. By being laid into the tomb, Jesus sanctified our Christian graves, so that the demons who normally love death now abhor the Christian cemetery since it’s filled not with the dead but with those asleep in Christ who will one day rise with Christ.

This same body and blood which sanctifies us and destroys the power of Satan, Jesus feeds to us in Holy Communion. Not only are we sanctified on the outside, like whitewashed tombs, but we’re cleansed on the inside and filled with holiness. The reason the Lord’s Supper is a fundamental part of our weekly Sunday services is because God sanctifies our whole bodies, from the inside-out, by filling us with His precious body and blood.

Through these various certain means God sanctifies us and casts the demons out of us and away from us. As Christians who have been sanctified in the water, with the word, through the body and blood of Jesus, we are actively engaged in spiritual warfare against the devil. Just because we’ve once been cleansed of unholy spirits doesn’t mean those demons won’t keep trying to come back. Moreover, demon possession doesn’t usually look as weird as we commonly think, instead it looks normal and desirable in this world.

This is why St. Paul writes: “we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” The apostle recognizes that we are living and walking in a God pleasing manner already, and so he urges us to continue in that and grow in that. He even recognizes one of the greatest demonic assaults, which is against our chastity. 

Elsewhere St. Paul explains why this is such a powerful demonic attack. “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This is always a topic which makes us uncomfortable to talk about, nevertheless it’s a very practical matter which impacts everyone regardless of how old you are or whether you’re a man or woman. Since feminism in the late 1800’s and the sexual revolution in the 1960’s, the matter of our chastity is definitely something worth guarding. When we sin in this manner we’re not just harming our bodies, but we’re opening up our bodies and souls to demonic possession. If we cast out the Holy Spirit from our bodies with our unholy behavior, we’re inviting demons inside.

So instead of just thinking about this in the negative sense, about the things we must not do, let us think of the ways to live a chaste and decent life. St. Paul gives one practical piece of advice: “let each one of you know how to acquire a wife for himself.” Marriage is a wonderful estate, partly meant for the husband and wife to be able to live a chaste life. Other practical things are to fill our eyes and our minds with good, holy, and beautiful things, instead of the profane. Let no filthy or unwholesome talk come out of our lips or into our ears, but let us speak of wholesome and godly things. Instead of keeping company with unsavory types in dark places, let us spend our days with Christians in the light where evil has less opportunity to grow.

Above all, when demons afflict and possess us and those around us, let us turn to Him who sanctifies and makes us holy. Like the Syrophoenician woman, when her daughter was possessed by a demon, she deeply implored her Lord for rescue and holiness. She didn’t claim perfect holiness, but she humbly sought whichever crumbs her holy God may give her. In response to her prayer the Lord cast the demon out of her daughter. In response to our prayers, the Lord will cast the demons out from among us, since He has called not for impurity, but for holiness. By the blood of Christ we are sanctified and the demons flee, so let us learn to always flee to Jesus.