On this
Mother’s Day, I would like to look with you at the story of one of the greatest
women of faith in the whole Bible. Now, each of you probably has your own idea
about which woman I may be thinking of. Some of you are likely thinking, “We’re
about to look at the book of Ruth!” That’s a good guess, but that’s not where
were headed today. Now that you’ve heard that, you’re probably thinking, “Oh –
we’re going to study the story of Esther.” Another good guess, but wrong again.
I would
tell you the name of the woman whose story we’re going to read today, but the
truth is the Bible doesn’t tell us her name! In fact, she was a woman who was
not even supposed to be alive. Let’s find out about her, shall we? Turn with me
to Matthew 15:21-28.
This
passage is in the Gospels, so of course it is recording an incident from the
life of Christ. Verse 21 begins by telling us, “And Jesus went away from there
and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.” Before we continue, let me
explain a bit about why Jesus was headed to that area.
The
district of Tyre and Sidon was north of Israel and was actually a different
country. If you think of Israel as the United States, it would be as if Jesus
had traveled into Canada at this point. The Gospel of Mark makes it a bit more
clear that Jesus had crossed the border at this point in time seeking some rest
and relaxation for himself and the 12 disciples. They had been engaged in ministry
continuously for some time, and they were beginning to wear out.
Here’s what
Mark 6:30-33 says about that stretch of time: “The apostles returned to Jesus
and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, ‘Come away
by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and
going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a
desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and
they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.”
So they
were trying to get a bit of rest, but it was proving to be impossible to get
away from the crowds. The same thing happened again just a few verses later in
Mark 6:53-55: “When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and
moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately
recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick
people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.”
After all
this, Jesus decided that they truly needed to get away from it all, so the
beginning of this same story in Mark 7:24 says this: “And from there he arose
and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did
not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.” It’s important for us to
realize, then, that Jesus had not come into this area to do ministry, either
through teaching or healing. Remember that detail, because it will help us
understand what is to follow in this story.
Back in
Matthew 15 now, verse 22 begins with, “And behold.” Don’t rush over that like
it some throwaway word! It’s like Matthew is saying, “You’re not going to
believe what happened next!” And what did happen next? “A Canaanite woman from
that region came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David;
my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.’”
Two facts
in this verse make this whole situation highly ironic. The first is the fact
that this woman was a Canaanite. The Canaanites were ancient enemies of the people
of Israel. They were the people who lived in the land of Palestine during the
time of Joshua and the Conquest, the people whom the children of Israel were
supposed to wipe out completely through battle. Now please understand that when
God gave that command, he was not being mean-spirited or bloodthirsty or
prejudicial. That command was a judicial act on the part of God, who is the
rightful judge over all the earth. He was passing a judgment on the Canaanites
because they were exceedingly wicked people. Yet the Israelites did not fully
obey that command, and so the Canaanites continued to live in various parts of
the Promised Land, which allowed this woman to be alive at that time and in
that place in order to cry out to Jesus.
The second
fact is that this woman called Jesus the Son of David. If you do a search for
that phrase in the Gospel of Matthew, you’ll discover that the religious
leaders were outraged when anyone suggested that Jesus was the Son of David
because that title connected him to all of the prophecies about the Messiah
from the Old Testament. To call Jesus the Son of David was at least the
beginning of faith in him, and in the Gospel of Matthew that affirmation was
only made by the unlikeliest of people, such as blind beggars on the side of
the road and this Canaanite woman.
But Jesus
responds to her in a way that seems a bit surprising [READ v. 23]. Now the
sense seems to be that the disciples were saying, “Lord, just give her what she
wants and get her out of here! It’s embarrassing having this woman carrying on
like this!” What tremendous compassion from the disciples! A lot of concern for
the woman, right? Their request basically amounted to, “Lord, use your power to
get this nuisance away from us!”
But Jesus
reminded them of something in verse 24 when he answered them, “I was sent only
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” That statement might sound a bit
cruel or even bigoted to us, but we need to see it from a different
perspective. Jesus had not been sent into the world to heal every person on
earth at that time who was sick or demon-possessed. Please do remember that,
because if that had been Jesus’ mission, then unfortunately we would have to
say that he failed, because he never made it any further out of Israel than
this.
His first
purpose in coming to earth was to offer to the Jewish people the kingdom that
had been promised to them in the Old Testament. That’s why his earliest
recorded sermons said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was
not his highest mission to heal everyone he encountered, but to offer salvation
first of all to the Jews, then the through them to the rest of the world.
Also, with
this response, I have to think that Jesus was setting the disciples up to see
something they really needed to see – an example of great faith. Jesus told
them several times in the Gospel of Matthew that they had “little faith,” so
they needed to see great faith in action. Undoubtedly then, part of Jesus’
intention in verse 24 was to set up what came next.
Let’s see
what did happen next [READ vv. 25-26]. That statement almost sounds a bit rude,
doesn’t it? But since it comes from the lips of Jesus, we have to conclude that
he did not mean to be rude or prejudicial or hateful.
I think
Jesus was perhaps making that statement as kind of a proverb or a cliché, just
like we sometimes say things that wouldn’t be very kind if you took them
literally. For example, imagine that you were about to leave your house to run
an errand and your spouse said, “Could you run this by so-and-so’s house?” You
might possibly say something like, “Sure! If I’m going to go into town, I might
as well kill two birds with one stone.”
Now, you’re
not really comparing that other person to a bird, and you’re certainly not
talking about killing them! You’re simply using a proverb or a cliché, and I
think that may have been the attitude with which Jesus made this statement. The
statement itself was really a reminder that the woman did not have a right to
ask this question. That didn’t necessarily make the question entirely
inappropriate, but she could not lay any particular claim upon Jesus and expect
him to oblige her request. In other words, Jesus was stating that she was not
entitled to receive a blessing like this, not even in the way that the Jewish
people could have made a case for receiving God’s blessings based on his
promises to them.
The woman’s
reply revealed her trust in Jesus because she made it clear that she was not
coming to him with an entitlement mindset at all [READ v. 27]. Notice how she
agreed with what Jesus had said before she humbly made her request again. If I
could paraphrase her statement, I think I would say this: “You’re right, Lord!
You are not obligated to do this for me, and I can’t claim any right to receive
this blessing, but I just know that with you, there are plenty of blessings to
go around!”
In other
words, she was asking Jesus to help her not out of any obligation, but out of
his mercy and grace. That’s an illustration of saving faith right there! When
we ask God to forgive us of our sins, we are not asking for that because we
feel we’re entitled to it. Rather, we are appealing to God on the basis of his
mercy and grace, which is precisely what this woman was doing here.
Jesus saw
that clearly of course, so he complemented her and granted her request [READ v.
28]. This woman was a great example of faith because she appealed to Jesus on
the basis of mercy and grace, not from any attitude of entitlement or
obligation. That’s what set this woman apart from about everyone else in the
Gospel of Matthew. The Jewish people had come to feel entitled to God’s
blessings despite the fact that they were failing to obey him in many ways. But
this woman understood the attitude that God delights to honor – an attitude of
simple trust in him, through which we simply cast ourselves upon his mercy and
grace.
Finally
today, notice how this woman exemplifies so many of the qualities that we
appreciate about our mothers. She was persistent in seeking help for her child.
She was not going to give up until her child’s needs were met! She was also
very humble, and how many times have we seen great humility from our own
mothers! They have frequently embraced thankless tasks simply out of their love
for us. And many of us have seen in our own mothers examples of great faith in
God. Make sure to thank your mothers for these things, and may we all learn
from the great example of faith that we have seen in this Canaanite woman.
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