Matthew 15:21-28; 1 Thessalonians
4:1-7; Genesis 32:22-32
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“Lord, how
wonderfully You associate with Your own. You struggle with them not to conquer
them but to be conquered.” Those words begin a prayer of C.F.W. Walther, the
first President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and of the synod’s first
seminary. Indeed, the patriarch Jacob wrestled and struggled with God all
through the night and overcame Him. Thus, the LORD changed Jacob’s name to
Israel, which means one who has striven with God and has prevailed. The
LORD blessed Jacob because Jacob would not let go of Him, even when the LORD Himself
seemed to be against him, to be fighting with him, and even when the LORD
caused Him to suffer. Indeed, Jacob walked away from that encounter with God
blessed, but He also walked away permanently changed, permanently wounded and
limping from the struggle.
Similarly,
St. Paul complained of a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan he called it
(!), with which the LORD afflicted him. Three times did Paul plead with the
LORD that He might remove the thorn, but the LORD answered, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” – yes, in your
weakness. So also, there was a man who was born blind. Jesus’ disciples asked
of Him, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus
answered them, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the
works of God might be displayed in him.” And, who can forget the answer the
LORD gave to Job concerning why he had to suffer so immensely? – Effectively, it
was that God’s righteousness might be revealed. Truly, the LORD
struggles with those He loves, He wrestles with them, He pins them down and
permits them, He even causes them, to suffer, not to conquer them, but that
they may conquer Him and receive His blessing.
Last Sunday
we heard of the great battle between Satan and the Son of God, Jesus, and of
how Jesus overcame Satan by the Word of the LORD, though He suffered mightily;
He was hungry, and He was physically and emotionally weak. This Sunday we hear
of Jacob’s wrestling bout with God and how the LORD wounded Jacob even as He
blessed him, and also about a Gentile woman whom Jesus at first ignores and
calls a dog, but who refuses to relent, accepts Jesus’ chides, and, refusing to
let go and give up, is ultimately blessed and praised by Him for her great
faith. Sometimes God is for you even when He seems to be against you. Truly,
the LORD is always for you, but the LORD’s ways are not your ways, His thoughts
are not your thoughts, and the foolishness of the LORD is wiser than your
wisdom. “Oh, teach us today from Your Word,” Walther continues in his prayer,
“how to struggle with You and conquer, that You can also someday gloriously
crown and lead us into Your eternal kingdom.”
As Jesus
arose from the waters of His baptism, only to be thrown into the wilderness to
be tempted by the devil, so too, upon your baptism, have you gained a
relentless enemy who ceaselessly seeks to destroy and to devour you. The
Canaanite woman was one of those heathen whom the LORD had instructed Joshua
and the Israelites to destroy when they entered the Promised Land. Because they
disobeyed the LORD and did not destroy the Canaanite women and children, in
time they intermarried with them and they adopted the Canaanite gods, and fell
into apostasy and the sorry, cyclical history of judgment, repentance,
restoration, and apostasy again and again which comprises the bulk of the Old
Testament Scriptures. However, this particular Canaanite woman was a believer
of a sort. Seemingly, through the hearing of the Law and the Prophets, the Holy
Spirit had created faith in her heart. And, for her faith, what did she
receive, but ridicule and mockery from her countrymen, hatred and despising
from the Jews and Jesus’ disciples, a demon-possessed daughter, and rejection
and chiding from the Son of God Himself. As soon as faith is kindled and begins
to burn and glow, Satan furiously seeks to stamp it out and destroy it. Indeed,
God Himself begins to wrestle with you and pin you down and wound you that His
power may be made perfect in your weakness.
For, it is
not only Satan’s attacks upon us with which we struggle, but often God Himself
struggles, wrestles, and strives with us, as He did with Job, and Jacob, and
David, with Paul, and even with Jesus on the cross. Truly, as St. Luke records
in The Acts of the Apostles, “through many tribulations we must enter the
kingdom of God.” Tribulations are good for you, for they drive you into more
fervent and stronger faith, dependence, and trust in the LORD alone. Indeed,
when you are at your weakest, God’s power is made manifest. Job’s trust was not
destroyed, though God permitted Satan to reduce him to dust and ashes. Jacob’s
faith was not crushed, but he held on to the LORD even when He afflicted him
and sent him away limping in pain. David’s dependence upon God was increased as
he faced seemingly insurmountable enemies and trials. And, St. Paul’s thorn in
the flesh was not removed, despite his pleas and prayers, even as he received
the LORD’s grace to persevere and flourish in fruitful works and deeds.
We do not
know exactly what the Canaanite woman believed about Jesus. The Canaanites were
heterodox at best. They worshipped Baal and a host of other gods, and
undoubtedly mixed a little bit of the Jewish religion in with their pantheon of
gods. Nonetheless, she addressed Jesus by the Messianic title Son of David,
which she had to have heard from the Law and the Prophets. Regardless of what
she understood and the likely heterodoxy of her faith, it is clear that she
believed that Jesus could help her, that He could exorcise the demon that
oppressed her daughter. “Everyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.”
We shouldn’t
be surprised that there was demonic oppression and possession in Canaan, for
Satan flourishes in lands and cultures where the LORD is not honored and His
Commandments are not obeyed. Truly, there are no other gods, but all idolatry
is the worship of demons. Foolishly does our own nation and culture believe
that Satan and demons are not real, because we are an enlightened, scientific,
and materialistic people. Indeed, we have fallen for the devil’s greatest
deception, believing that he doesn’t exist. No, Satan and his demons are
running rampant among us, perhaps even more so than in first century Canaan,
for the devil does not need to make himself visible and obvious in a culture
that so blindly immerses itself in all that is profane and immoral, hedonistic,
wicked, and just plain evil. Today, people in our nation routinely call evil
good and good evil. Demonic infestation, oppression, and possession are all too
real and are regularly experienced even by Christians in their homes, churches,
relations, and lives.
Why then did
Jesus ignore, shun, and insult this woman of faith? Not to conquer her, but
that He Himself might be conquered by her. Jesus put it another way elsewhere
saying, “to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance,
but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” The
Canaanite woman had faith, faith that clung to Jesus even when He seemed to be
against her. In fact, the more Jesus rejected her and chided her, the tighter
she clung to Him, the more fervently she pleaded with Him, “Lord, have mercy on
me!” “Lord, help me!” She would not let Jesus go until He blessed her. Truly,
this Canaanite woman was also Israel, one who has striven with God and has
prevailed. The Canaanite woman had faith, even if it was small and
heterodox faith. Because she had faith, Jesus wrestled and struggled with her
and even wounded her, and then He gave her even more faith, and He gave her
what she pleaded for – He exorcised the demon from her daughter and He healed
her saying, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” “To
the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from
the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Faith trusts
that what God ordains is always good, even when it seems to be bad, even when
it seems like God has abandoned you, is not listening, doesn’t care, or seems
to be the one who is afflicting you. “What God ordains is always good: He never
will deceive me; He leads me in His righteous way, and never will He leave me.
I take content what He has sent; His hand that sends me sadness will turn my
tears to gladness.” “What God ordains is always good: His loving thought
attends me; No poison can be in the cup that my physician sends me. My God is
true; each morning new I trust His grace unending, my life to Him commending.”
“What God Ordains is always good: Though I the cup am drinking which savors now
of bitterness, I take it without shrinking. For after grief God gives relief,
my heart with comfort filling and all my sorrow stilling.”
And so, God’s
Word for you today is about faith and prayer: Faith that clings to the LORD
come what may, and prayer that never wavers, even when it seems to go
unanswered, or that God Himself is against you. Prayer is good for you, always.
You don’t pray to get what you want. You don’t pray to change God’s mind. But,
you pray because prayer is good for you. It’s a First Commandment thing. It is
good for you to have no other gods but the LORD. You pray that God might change
you, and He will, and He does. God will change you, God is changing you,
through sorrow and suffering, through trial and tribulation, and ultimately
through death – God is changing you back into the image in which He first made
you, His image, the image of Jesus who is the express image and icon of God.
Day by day, year by year, bit by bit, blow by blow, trial after trial,
tribulation after tribulation – The LORD is chiseling you, carving you, shaping
you, pruning you, forming you back into His image. It is a good thing! The LORD
struggles with you, not to conquer you, but that He may be conquered by you.
The LORD teaches you this day from His Word how to struggle with Him and
conquer, that You may also one day, in His way, and in His time, be gloriously
crowned and lead into His eternal kingdom. But a crumb from His table bestows
forgiveness and life, and yet He gives loaves to those who trust in Him and do
not let go. Come and eat the children’s bread from the Master’s table. Come and
drink His precious blood of forgiveness and live. Let this be your desire. And,
it will be done for you as you believe.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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