Text this morning, Matthew 15: 10. Earlier, Jesus had sent out his disciples to minister in his name, and now we see those ministering in Jesus’ name wanting to send others away from Jesus. We look to the reading of God’s word. If you please join me in prayer. Living God, we ask you to help us to hear your Holy word this day, that we may truly understand, and Lord, that in understanding we would believe, and in believing that we would follow in all faithfulness and obedience, seeking your honor and your glory in all that we do. And this we pray and ask to Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Looking first at Matthew 15. And Jesus went away from there and withruse a district of Tire and Sidon, and behold, 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. ‘ But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us. ‘ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
‘ But she came and now before him, saying, ‘ Lord, help me. ‘ And he answered, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. ‘ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. Then Jesus answered her, ‘Oh woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire. ‘ And her daughter was healed instantly. The word of the Lord. The disciples have struggled to look like Jesus. He is the one that they have been following the one they’re trying to emulate. We’re used to seeing that. In fact, the Gospels, the Book of Acts, the other letters, New Testament, when we see them doing something bone-headed, we expect it. It’s just familiar enough. But when Jesus has a seeming slip where he looks seemingly more like one of his disciples than the Messiah, we rightly pause. We want to say, What’s going on here? What am I missing? You’re not surprised when a grinch tries to ruin and steal Christmas, but when your sweet little grandma is arrested for robbing a bank, you’re a bit stunned. On this particular text, the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, in his play, Androcholies and the Lion, he writes a Matthew’s account and he says this, Matthew represents Jesus as a bigoted Jew.
When a woman of Canaan beg Jesus to cure her daughter, he first refused to speak to her and then told her brutally that it is not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs. But with her response, she melted the Jew out of him and made Christ a Christian. It is certainly out of character, but the sins of good men are always out of character. Now, this statement is characteristic of shock, but it’s not of Jesus. Not of Jesus at all. Rather than a tribute to the sinless Messiah sin, it would be best to look harder at what’s taking place. The Lord Jesus indeed tests the faith of this woman, but he’s also testing his disciples. We see from their continued actions that they are struggling willing to get the lesson that this Gentile woman so easily masters. Because all of us are in need of God’s mercy and grace, there’s no one who is too insignificant or unclean that Jesus will not reach. That particular context helps us in understanding what Shah so clearly missed. In both Matthew and Mark, Jesus’ conversation with this woman is preceded by Jesus teaching on the nature of what defiles a person.
It’s not the food that makes you unclean. It’s what comes out of your heart. The pharisees were super careful to do the externals very well, like washing properly, eating all the kosher foods. Jesus actually calls them blind guides. Because while they were seemingly clean on the outside, their hearts were filled with wickedness. They were so busy drawing lines to say who’s in and who’s out, who’s clean, who’s unclean. They missed the weightier matters of the law. They miss the very point of what makes a person clean. Now Jesus gives his disciples a field trip to drive this point home. What we see is that the Kingdom of God, there are no people too unclean to receive God’s grace, nor are there people too insignificant or too unimportant. We’re looking first at no unclean people. As John mentioned last week, Jesus at times, tried to get away from the crowds for rest and for moments to instruct his disciples further. And by this time, he is so well known and sought after that he’s being constantly bombarded with people. From Mark’s gospel, we read, From there, he arose and went away to the region of Tire and Sidon, and he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
This region is not super far away from Galilee. It’s 20 or 30 miles, but it’s a non-Jewish area. Jesus crossed an ethnic barrier to remove himself from the Jewish crowds. Back in Matthew, then, Behold, 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. At Mark, he uses the expression more familiar to him. He refers to it as an unclean spirit. And calling her a Canaanite is an older expression. It’s only used here in this place in the Gospels. It’s Israel’s ancient enemies. They were to go in and conquer the land of Canaan and drive them out. And what we see is from both Mark and Matthew, they’re highlighting that she is a Gentile. She’s a Gentile of Gentiles. And we learn from the first century Jewish historian Josephus that residents of Tire were the Jews bitterest enemies. This woman had every reason not to come near Jesus. She checked off all the unclean boxes. I mentioned a few weeks ago when a Jewish person left the Holy Land and they went into the Gentile regions, when they crossed the border, they would shake off the unclean Gentile dust from their clothes.
They entered the Holy Land so it was not to defile and pollute it. Men were not supposed to talk to women who weren’t members of their family. You can recall the sideways looks the disciples gave Jesus when he’s talking to the woman at the well. They didn’t say anything. They’re like, That’s weird. The rabbis also taught that a man could divorce his wife for adultery if she were caught speaking with another man twice. This is ingrained in them. No faithful Jewish man be seen talking with an unclean, gentile woman. It’s certainly not a rabbi. And yet here this woman is, and she’s not taking no for an answer. Her words are very respectful, Oh, Lord, son of David. And then we get this very odd response from Jesus. He did not answer her a word. Nobody’s expecting that. Just doesn’t say anything. What’s the silence all about? Remember, there are two sets that Jesus is teaching here. There’s the woman who is coming to him And then he’s with all of his disciples. And this silence finally provokes a response from the disciples. Disciples came and begged him saying, ‘Send her away, for she’s out after us.
Now, they’re annoyed, they’re irritated with the woman, and they want Jesus to send her away. It could be that when they say, ‘Send her away, they mean Jesus just give her what she wants so she’ll leave us alone. Or it could be they just want him to dismiss her. Given his response is probably the first one because he says, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In his primary mission, his focus is for Israel. He’s Israel’s Messiah. It’s going to be the mission of the church to take it into the world. But Jesus’ first and primary mission was to Israel. So far, all of this would be a very Jewish response to a Gentile woman. The disciples probably aren’t really too worried about what Jesus is saying at this moment. It seems pretty normal. And then it gets ratched up even more. But she came and knelt before him, ‘ ‘lord, help me. ‘ And he answered, It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. ‘ Jews would refer to Gentiles as dogs, and of course, it was highly insulting. It is true that Jesus uses a diminutive form of the word dog.
So he’s saying something in the effect of little dog. It’s slightly better than the normal word, which would have meant a wild dog. He’s using a word to be more familiar as a pet, domesticated household pet, a little dog or puppy. But we need to remove our dog-loving culture from the statement. Oh, Jesus called her a puppy. We were like, Oh, that’s great. No, it’s still an insult. He still called her a dog. It’s a rebuff, to be sure. But what happens next? He said, Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that falls from their master’s table. Now, she is not saying she’s owed anything by Jesus. She comes because of her hope in his grace and his mercy. How unlike us. We come demanding God to do something for us because that’s what God’s supposed to do. Here she’s begging. She’s asking based on who Jesus is and not on what she thinks she deserves. Many have commented that in many ways, she’s a female Jacob. You recall that Jacob at Peniel, he wrestled with an angel of the Lord until the morning, and he would not let the angel go. He said, I will not let you go until you blessed me.
And many see her like that, this wrestling woman with Jesus, I will not leave until you bless me. And now we understand Jesus’ unusual action in words. He has challenged her to walk by faith. She initially did not get what she wanted. And then you wonder, will she go away sad? Will she go away mad? Would she get huffy because of the seeming rudeness of Jesus? And if she had, I I don’t think we would even be reading about this. But she gets what the disciples have been struggling to understand. She sees beyond her sight to something far deeper in Jesus. One country put it really well, James Edwards. He said, Indeed, she appears to understand the purpose of Israel’s Messiah better than Israel does. Her pluck and persistence are a testimony to her trust in the sufficiency and surplus of Jesus. His provision for the disciples in Israel will be abundant enough to provide for one such as herself. Now, I think what just happened earlier, The feeding of the 5,000, over 5,000 people. And what happened with the remains? There were basket fulls of what remained. This woman understood that with Jesus, there’s more than enough left over for her and her daughter.
This was something the disciples weren’t getting. And Jesus answers her, O woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was instantly healed. She wrestled with the Lord and she prevailed. This was his point. She’s the only one in the gospel described as having great faith. The only other person who gets this type of recognition for incredible faith in Matthew was another Gentile. A centurian who asked Jesus to heal his servant. You read repeatedly, the disciples didn’t understand, Oh, you’ve a little faith. Where is your faith? And the ones who’ve exhibited the greatest faith are the people who are seemingly on the outside. True faith is to overcome what it does not see, to overcome contrary appearances of the rabbi doesn’t care for you. Here we find echoes of Job’s words. When Job spoke, he said, Though he slay me, speaking of God, Though God slay me, I will hope in him, and yet I will argue my ways to his face. I’m not going anywhere. My only hope is in God, though he slay me. Sadly, this doesn’t really carry too far into the disciples’ hearts at this point.
They’re not really getting the lesson. Because we see here in Mark 10 more of the unlearnt work of the disciples disciples. They’re not really getting the whole point with this woman and their desire to send her away. And now before the Lord Jesus is another set of little people this time, In verse 13 of Mark 10, They were bringing children to him that he might touch them, meaning to bless, and the disciples rebuked them, the ones coming. And that word rebuke is severe. Disciples do not think that they and Jesus should be bothered by these little ones, sending them away. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant, and he said to them, and that word, think of an indignant, it’s a strong word. It carries with it the idea of a rousing anger. Because Jesus is not only for adults. Jesus came for humanity, men, women, and children. Jesus then says in this rising anger, Let the little children come to me. Do not hinder them, for such belongs the Kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not hinder it. Those are strong words.
Many have taken Jesus’ remarks in a wrong direction. He’s not speaking about some innocence and innate goodness in children. They are in just as much need of Jesus saving work as any adult. He’s speaking of their dependence and helplessness. Like that Gentile woman and her daughter, these children could be easily overlooked. Like that Gentile woman, these little ones come to Jesus with nothing that they can offer or expect to earn from him. All they can bring to Jesus is their dependence and need. One writer put it like this. He said, The disciples need to learn not only to minister to little ones, but to also adopt the attitude of littleness. The little ones are easily pushed aside because they are weak, but God works most powerfully in weakness. Isn’t that a problem with all of us? We have a hard time seeing past importance and privilege. It’s amazing how our current society is so hung up even on those expressions. You can easily see, in one hand, a victim mentality that one who refuses to see anything other than their own importance or need. How easy it be to dismiss Jesus for pushing back on their faith or making them wrestle.
You hear sometimes people say things like, You don’t understand how hard it’s been for me, for all the obstacles I’ve had to overcome. The other side of that, same side, different side of the same coin, you don’t understand how important I am, how much I’ve achieved. And both of these are odious to the Lord. This is the pride that stinks to heaven. And Jesus has consistently shown his disciples that there are no barriers that he can’t overcome. There’s no social distance that’s too far for his reach. Disciples. Disciples have to get past their own cultural prejudices, their own hard hearts that are slow to learn these lessons from the Lord. And these are God’s people. And they’re not understanding this. They’re not understanding the value of the Kingdom is not the value of the world. Those who are coming to Jesus are in need of him. They have nothing that they can offer other than their need. And those who think somehow that they’re going to make a great contribution to team Jesus are missing the point. And what we also see is that Jesus has the right to test your faith. That Jesus is the one who determines what it is that you need from him.
That’s a hard one for us. I mean, what happens when we feel like we’ve been hit check by God? That’s not very nice. I don’t like it. What happens when you’ve had one bad experience or circumstance and it’s followed by another one? You’re like, I wouldn’t have done that. God, I thought you were on my side. I thought you were loving. I thought you were kind. Why would you give me one thing after another? In our walking after Jesus, in our discipleship, we must come to learn and recognize that an omniscient God in his wisdom, in his care, in his love for us, knows the very things that we need, even when we don’t. This poor woman coming to him and is like, My daughter, I have this great need. She gets rebuffed and she presses in. Then he says something even worse. The point is she’s got to keep pushing. To keep coming. And that’s what the Lord knew that she needed. And that’s what also is often missing in the lives of the disciples at this point, how to Keep pushing past that. But God is the one who determines that. What do you do?
You can take your bat and ball and go home. Well, that’s not how I would have treated me. Well, good, you’re not God. If God knows how to treat you and knows how to bring you to the place of your own dependence upon him, we can trust in that. That we can take. That a good and kind God is going to bring into my life the things that I most need for life in him. The problem that we all face is we live by sight and not by faith. The Lord is constantly taking our eyes off of this immediate horizon to point us up. It is really hard because we are like that horse that’s lost the bridal and just looking down the ground and this wants to run right in front of it. To pull your head up to see further is a supernatural work of God in order to instruct us, in order that we would know that we are entirely dependent on him, that we are helpless, that the Kingdom of God is for such as these who have nothing to bring to him, nothing to offer God. The people who are now on the outside are the very ones who are claiming that they have the most I’m in the best position.
God should not overlook me because I am righteous. I’m doing everything that I’m supposed to, and not like these unclean Gentiles, not like these insignificant little ones. They don’t matter. Jesus’ point is you’ve missed it. You’ve entirely missed it. Don’t send these ones away. These are the ones that you’ve been sent to. There’s no one insignificant in the kingdom, no one too far outside of his reach. And that, of course, is great news for us. We’re not only humbling our own hearts, but the reality is how often we are the ones who feel like we’re outside of the reach of God. If the Lord only could see my heart, he does. And yet he calls you to draw near. And so that challenge comes is when you have felt rebuffed by the Lord. What do you do with that? Where do you go? And we see that the response that Jesus is looking for is to keep coming back to him. Though you would slay me, my hope is in you. When the disciples were left and people are leaving because the heart’s saying to Jesus, are you going to leave, too? Where else can we go?
Who else has the words of life? Those are the moments, the flickering responses that the disciples get it, and they understand who this Jesus is in front of them, though they don’t understand who this Jesus is in front of them. And yet here they are. He’s continuing to work with them. Think about that. The Apostles. The Apostles have this dear woman with an afflicted child of demon possession, and their response is, Send her away. It’s hard to understand how Peter could then stand in the court and say, I don’t know this Jesus. What does he offer the Kingdom of God? All he can offer is the calling that Jesus has placed on his life, that Peter is going to be someone far greater than Peter, not because of Peter, but because of the Jesus who didn’t send him away. That is really good news. That’s the hope that we have in Christ. That’s the reason that we here, gathered as his people, those who are slow to learn and slow to get it, coming in absolute dependence and helplessness and powerlessness so that the power of God would be manifest in our weakness. Where have you been hip-checked recently by God?
Are you pressing in in that very spot? Asking the Lord to help you to see beyond what’s immediately in front of you to his greater good and glory that he will bring about through the circumstances in your life because he is a good and kind and loving God who accomplishes his purposes, and he doesn’t need us to that end. What a privilege we have that Jesus would call us to follow him. He would equip us, that he would send us as his ambassadors to go even to those places, crossing our own boundaries of prejudice, our own places of hard-heartedness, in order for him to receive the reward of his own suffering. Pray with me. Father Almighty, as we come before you, we just say thank you. Lord, we recognize in all of us these moments where we have questioned your goodness, we have questioned your silence, we’ve questioned your rebuff. And Father, we ask not only that you would forgive us for our hard-heartedness, but that you and your kindness would continue to open our eyes to see the greater purposes of bringing glory to Jesus through small and insignificant and weak people like us.
Father, we bless you that you have not sent us away, but you have called, you have predestined us to radiate the image of your glorious son, Jesus, in whose name we now pray. Amen.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.