Matthew 15 v 21 /28
Jesus has completed a very hectic ministry in the region of
Galilee in the area of Capernaum. He knew He was nearing the end of His earthly
ministry, and wanted to rest and teach His Apostles for the future work they
would have to do. Jesus has left the area of Galilee completely, and withdrawn
into the area of Tyre and Sidon, two places on the coast of the Mediterranean
Sea in what is now Lebanon. Tyre is about fifty miles south of modern Beirut,
and Sidon was halfway between the two. He had gone there for peace and quiet
whilst He taught His Apostles.
The cities were outside the boundaries of Israel, and the people
were largely Gentiles, but there was a Jewish community. This was the only
occasion when Jesus left Jewish territory, and had on His present journey
crossed geographical, ethnic, gender and theological boundaries. Later it would
mean removing barriers, to enable the gospel to be taken to the whole world.
I have found that quite a number of people found this story hard
to understand, as Jesus appeared to be doing something which seems contrary to
the image they have of Him, especially in the way He spoke to the woman.
Today many people are anti-Israel and wish to separate from the
Jews, but forget the specialness of Israel in the purposes of God. Jesus never
implied anything different, but Paul was specially commissioned to bring
Gentile and Jews on equal terms. Many of
the wonders of technology, which we all enjoy so much, were first discovered
and developed in Israel, and given to the wider world in medicine, wireless
communication, agriculture and more.
Never overlook the fact that we worship a Jewish Saviour, born
into a Jewish family, and our God is the God Israel. We teach, (or are meant
to) from a Holy Book written by 40 men, 39 of whom were Jews, under the divine
inspiration of God. Our faith is not man-made, and is recorded in history by
witnesses, which negates any justifiable call for joint worship with other
faiths. We respect their right to hold
their own beliefs, but they do not acknowledge the divinity of Jesus.
he story revolves around a "Canaanite" woman, turning
from her idols to seek the help and mercy of Jesus to cure her daughter’s
illness.
This is a woman of Canaanite heritage, who were ancestral
enemies of Israel, and thereby of Jesus. She has no understanding, or even knowing
of the Old Testament. She is not even in a place where she would be in regular
contact with those who did. It is likely that she had heard of Jesus as miracle
worker in the land of Israel, from those who were now passing through her land,
and now she finds that Jesus is in her area.
She went to to Him and pleaded for His mercy, which is further
evidence that she does understand something of who Jesus is, for by definition,
a person who asks for mercy, asks for something that they know that they do not
deserve. She turns her back on the idols of her own culture and turned to
Jesus.
She pleaded with Jesus to help her crying out, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is
cruelly demon-possessed." . Jesus turned His back on her,
refusing to answer and His Apostles urged Jesus to chase her away. He then said to her, ‘I was sent only to the
lost sheep of Israel’.
Whilst this was in contrast to Jesus’ last commission to His
Apostles to go into the world and make disciples, at the time of this incident
it was in the plan of God for Jesus to
focus on the Jews, and their spiritual needs.
She
then knelt before Jesus, and begged Him to help her. His reply was that it would
not be right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. She seems to
accept the insult and Jesus’ judgement on her, but still pleaded and said even
dogs eat the crumbs from the table In Palestine
dogs were wild scavengers, and Canaanites were referred to as such by the Jews
who were ancestral enemies of each other.
The
woman responded, that extended blessings were mentioned by Abraham to the
promised Gentiles, that God’s plan was to bring salvation to His chosen people
Israel, and then to Gentiles. The woman was showing an attitude of humble
faith, which allowed Jesus to answer, for God responds to all who call on Him
in true faith.
Jesus
was testing her faith, for it was His way to help all people. The woman was displaying greater faith in
Jesus than many of His own people, and Jesus responded by telling her
faith was so great and granted her
request with the result her daughter was healed.
She was persistent, and such perseverance should be the mark of
every Christian, but sadly it is not. Too often we give up when we do not
receive a quick reply to our requests. We may even get discouraged, thinking
the Lord is no longer listening to us or is ignoring us as He was this woman.
What a beautiful example of the humility and faith, and what a
contrast she was to the pride and unbelief of those Jesus had been with in
Galilee. She responded in complete humility, which is the way each of us should
respond.
What
can we learn from this story?
May God impress His Word on
our hearts and may his Holy Name be glorified
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