"Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs ...."
Our scripture reading this morning is taken from Matthew 15:21-28. “Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon”. Let’s pause here for a while and get some perspective. The chapter begins with the religious leaders quarreling with Jesus over the tradition of unwashed hands. These leaders were sent by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to spy on Jesus; every move that he makes, every word that he uttered was monitored, observed, criticized and scrutinized. When you read the gospel of John, almost everywhere he walked and every event he attended, they were close by. They were upset with the breaking of a religious protocol. The Pharisees placed a lot of emphasis on the tradition of the elders. They were very adamant that breaking this law is sin against God. In my research on rabbinical history, one Rabbi even stated that to eat with unwashed hands is as great as the sin of adultery. Another rabbi by the name of rabbi Akiba stated he would rather die than transgress the tradition of the elders. He would not eat with others who would not wash their hands; he would rather use up all the water to wash than use it to drink, even if it would mean dying from thirst. So you get the idea how this quarrel was taking place. They were pouncing on this chance to get Jesus. The Pharisees were supposedly men of God, men who chance upon the greatness of meeting the very son of God, instead of working with God, they were actually the chief enemies of Christ. They were holy men who supposedly were close to God; zealous for the law of God; men of learning from Jerusalem; the chief city where people can find God. Jesus quoted Isaiah concerning then in V7 – You hypocrites…. you honor God with your lips, but your heart is far from him. You worship in vain, you teach only the doctrines of men. The Pharisees were taken aback. Jesus went on further to explain that 11″It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” The Pharisees were really upset now because it strongly refers to then in V13But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. You are not part of God. 4″Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
To compound the issue, Peter himself stumbled when he asked Jesus what this all means? Peter, you have a great familiarity with me and yet you’re lost? Jesus said – are you still lacking in understanding? So his own countrymen’s spiritual doors were shut, even his own trusted disciples’ spiritual doors were shut. And so he withdrew. 21Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. Call it a snub if you like, but when they continually shut him out, he withdrew himself away from them.
NO 1 – GOD WILL ENDURE WITH US ALWAYS BUT NOT FOREVER.
Patience is one of his characteristics. His patience is the power of control which God exercise in himself, causing him to bear with sinners like us. If not for his power of restrain, no one will stand today. Every day he has to content with the world and us; it is truly amazing that he does not instantly strike dead those who defy him. He did it once to Ananias and Saphhira. Why does he not cause the earth to open up and swallow the persecutors of God’s people? Why does he still bless us when we give back so little? Friends, he is enduring with us today and he is patient with us. However, if we continue to defy him and shut him out of our lives, he may withdraw his blessings along with him. When we shut the door, another door opens somewhere else. There was no welcome for him in Jerusalem; so he withdrew to Tyre and Sidon in Phoenician gentile country; in fact both cities were repeatedly cursed by old testaments prophets for their wickedness and idolatry, and eventually destroyed, it was approximately over 100 km away from Jerusalem and Jesus was somewhere in Galilee at that time but it was still some walk away. Sometimes we need long walks with the Lord because he wants to tell you sometime. Sometimes when we hit a wall, he is telling us, there is another door I want you to enter. Point no 2.
N0 2 – GOD WILL WORK EVEN IN THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES.
Lord help me.... my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed
V 22And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” 23But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.”
Interesting that in the first service last week, I shared that Jesus would take the trouble to cross over a storm of which they nearly drown, across the lake to an obscure town in the Gerasenes to free one demon possessed man and left because the whole country beg him to leave; now he takes the trouble to take the long walk across gentile territories into Tyre and Sidon, two ungodly cities, to free one Canaanite woman’s daughter from being demon possessed. He went to look after this poor woman from an accursed nation, and even from that point of view, amidst the condemned and those reviled, there is a point of return for those who are sincere and penitent. God will hear that few who calls out to him even from the least unlikely people from the most unlikely places. This Canaanite woman was worth all the long travelling and all the trouble to get to. I want you to see that there was absolutely no way this woman will get to go to Jerusalem; she will never get to Jesus. Jesus knew he had to go to her. It was the mercy of God.
NO3 – GOD WILL SHOW MERCY ON WHOM HE WANTS TO SHOW MERCY.
She began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed. Hercry was earnest. Imagine her falling on her knees at a distance from him, because she being a Canaanite, would be offensive to Jews, she relates her most enduring pain inside her soul. My daughter is cruelly demon-possessed. Nothing can possibly describe the pain of a parent when it involves your own flesh and blood. To see them in such misery; More so to see them being tortured under the power of Satan. Any parents can feel like a piece of meat that was being ripped off from our own flesh; that’s the pain of this woman. Look at her theology, not withstanding her background.
Lord, have mercy on me..................
“Have mercy on me, Jesus, son of David”. Being a Canaanite and an outsider, she pursues Christ and owns him to be the messiah. She knew what was foretold about him. She applied the promises made to the father of the Jews and the honor of the house of David. Her approach – Her petition was only one thing and one thing only – for mercy and just mercy alone; because she knows she has no merit and she deserves none. She was going for broke. Almost like Job, she is going to say even though you slay me, yet I will trust you. Like Abraham, she would have to lay her daughter on the altar. Like Jacob, she is going to wrestle with the angel to bless her or else she would not let him go. Notice how the Lord reacted. V23But He did not answer her a word. Remember those times when we cry to him when we were in the deepest valleys; when we needed him to act in the face of injustice; or when we needed him in the midst of a crises; and he did nothing and said nothing. Isn’t it true that his word says his ear would be always be open; he would be attentive to the cries of his children? He would always be there to answer us. And like this poor woman, he turned a deaf ear. No help. No answer. It was a wonder that she did not turn around and walk right off. Is this the Jesus whom I hear from people to be gentle, loving and tender? Have so many people been healed and been blessed and answered by him? Must I be the first in his selection to be rejected? If you have stooped yourself for so many people, why are you so distance from me? Why me? Have you ever felt like that? I want to assure you this morning that the Lord Jesus heard every single word even if she didn’t say all those words and in the case of this woman, he not only heard every single word, the Lord loved her entirely. What she did is something the Jews wouldn’t do. What she has, is something the Jews didn’t have. The truth in our own Christian life is – our thoughts must be regulated and conformed to what is revealed in scriptures about him. That’s why so many Christians have very little real love for God; the chief reason for this is because our hearts are so little occupied with his love, but preoccupied largely with some other forms of love. Perhaps this is contributing to the low state of spirituality in many churches today, even among professing Christians.
NO4 – GOD WANTS TO SHOW TO US THAT HIS LOVE CANNOT BE INFLUENCE.
Lord "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us."
Look at what happen next. Yet more discouragement awaits her.. the disciples said Lord “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” She is troublesome, she shames us. She makes us uneasy. Sometimes it does not help when we open our mouth in times like this. The disciples were trying to influence Jesus to do something about it; something they themselves were inclined to do. It is very easy because they were not the victim; they were the voice of the majority; the voice of influence. So often in scriptures, the voice of the majority is wrong. Then Jesus said the next few words that would absolutely dash all her expectations. V24 “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He not only did not answer her; he argued against her – you are asking me to go beyond my commission. You are not of the house of Israel, and you are not entitled to it. The fullness of time for you has not yet come. The veil is not torn yet, I have not yet died; you have to wait for your turn. The timing of your request is bad. That seemed to silence the disciples, but you noticed it did not silence the woman. 25But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” She was more resolute and determine. This text showed us what real humility was all about. This is the level that God wants to see in us. She came and began to bow down before him. There is not a hint of accusations or blame toward Christ or his disciple for the manner she was treated, instead she paid him more respect and worship, for fear she was not earnest enough or done enough; she bow down before the Lord and cried, Lord help me. Notice the fifth point.
NO 5 – GOD HONORS OUR FAITH MOST, WHEN WE HONOR OUR FAITH TO THE VERY END.
Notice how she breaks through her discouragement. Many would walk away, me included. There was no ground to fight
the case, whether Israelite or not, qualified or not, I come to you Son of David for mercy, and I will not let go till you bless me. She was hoping on the ground of mercy. Her faith teaches her that somewhere within the mercy of God, flows a spring of divine goodness, and through his goodness he is ready to relieve the misery and sufferings of his fallen creatures, regardless of race and religion. V26 would have blown her away; it would blow me away.
"O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish."
26And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus has placed the Jews as children eating around the table; and the gentiles as dogs under the table. It’s hard to conceive the language of the day but it’s true. It’s hard for this woman to consume all of this from the Lord himself. But this poor woman did not object against it; she resolves to make the best of it; see how she responded. Look at how humble was her acknowledgment. Look at V27But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” You know many of us would not be able to swallow such humiliating & insulting language against us or our families but I want to say that a truly humbled servant of God can subscribed to the most degrading and undignified language for the sake of the gospel. We lived in today’s age where men are quick in passion, we are not so ready to forgive an insult or an injury, we make sure our offender pay, we do inhuman things when we are provoked. In the papers on Friday, I read how a 5 year old boy was beheaded in an argument between two families. The boy’s head was chopped off by his father’s enemy who then placed it in a bucket. We are so passionate when we are insulted. And here in our text, the Canaanites were called dogs. Even that has no effect on her. Yes Lord, I cannot deny it. I am a dog and I have no right to the children’s bread. She was focus on Jesus rather than her circumstances.
The difference between people like her and the Jews is that her faith can find encouragement even in that which is discouraging. She gets even nearer to God by taking hold of the very hands that just push her away. That my friends, is real faith. Yes the dogs can eat the crumbs. I have no grudge whatsoever on those people on the table. I am happy with the small leftovers, the casual crumbs from the children’s mouth, yes, even the neglected crumbs that fell on the floor. The children may play with the meat and play with a whole loaf of bread as they always do. But I beg only for a crumb, a small insignificant piece and I will be glad. These broken pieces of crumbs are to me – a spiritual privilege. You see, Christ noticed her hunger for God was so great; her necessity for God was unbelievable, her humility was shocking but most of all her faith was enormous. V28Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.
Though she was a Canaanite, she approved herself like a true daughter of Israel. Your faith is great. Jesus commends her faith. Look Jesus left his own people a while ago because they shut him out; and he withdrew to gentile territory to find a Canaanite woman with an incredible faith, even when it was not entitled to her. It is the greatness of her faith.
Friends, this afternoon, how is our faith? Not all believers are the same. We are not of the same stature or maturity. We are not alike. The secret of our faith lies in our ability to absolutely and resolutely adhere to Jesus Christ as an all-sufficient saviour, even in the face of discouragements. To love him, trust him, even when it seems that he acted against us. That is great faith. Remember Christ commended the faith of the centurion? He was a gentile too ! he had a strong faith in the power of Christ. Both were accepted. Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish. Jesus say there is nothing to stop you now. I cannot deny you of anything. Whatever you wish shall be done for you. This is vital for us especially in our prayers. When our will conforms to his will, his precepts, his guidelines; he will grant us the desire of our hearts. When there is nothing more to hide and nothing more to give in that requirement because you have given all, then there is nothing for him to deny, there is nothing to hinder him from coming to you. When we come to God, as this woman did, we have come to understand and reached the real level of faith where God wants us to be.
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