Jesus Is Powerful and Merciful

Matthew 15:21-28 Surely this scene has to be the most unflattering pictures of Jesus in the Bible!  This poor woman had a daughter being tormented by demons.  She came to Jesus for help and at first he ignored her and then he cast into the role of a dog.  All of it so completely unlike the Lord that there had to be something else going on.  And there was.

In the days before Jesus met this woman, a delegation of Jewish leaders had been sent from Jerusalem with complaints about Jesus and his disciples.  Apparently the disciples had not been following all of the rules and regulations of the Pharisees and Jesus, as their rabbi, should have corrected them. 

But Jesus told the disciples that the Pharisees had it wrong—that they were hypocrites because their religion was all for show when what God really wanted were hearts that trusted in him and relied on his grace.

It was right there that Jesus and the disciples met the Canaanite woman-- and that was no accident.  Jesus had not only explained to his disciples what faith really is—but he also had an opportunity to show them a wonderful example of a great faith that dared to believe that in Jesus there is grace enough for all.  The Bible says that:  Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 

Tyre and Sidon were cities where the Canaanites lived—people who were so evil that God had commanded Joshua and the Israelites to wipe them off of the face of the earth—which they failed to do.  They were enemies of the Jews and the disciples must have been thinking: nothing good can come of this.  But what they did not realize is that in Jesus, there is grace enough for all—even for God’s enemies.  The Bible says that

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." 

            The Jewish leaders who should have been Israel’s teachers—pointing the Jews to Jesus as their Messiah—were so caught up in their own rules that they couldn’t see the truth of their own Scriptures which revealed the Messiah: that the grace and mercy of God extends to all people without exception—even to those who are God’s enemies. 

But this Canaanite woman who had never seen Jesus before—who didn’t have the benefit of the incredible learning of the Jewish leaders—understood this.  She had a truly great faith and came to Jesus in her need, sought his mercy, and confessed her faith in his identity and his mission.  She said: 

"Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon."

Everything that Jesus wanted and hoped for from his own people—that they would know believe in him as the Messiah that God had promised to his people—he received instead, from this woman who was not even an Israelite-- but one of their ancient enemies. 

She didn’t have the benefit of seeing Jesus’ miracles.  She didn’t have the blessing of hearing his teaching—but somehow, some way she had heard enough about him to come to faith in Jesus and confessed him to be:  the Lord—the promised heir of David and the source of God’s grace to all men. 

And because that is who he was—she also knew what he had come to do—to defeat Satan.  The Bible says that:  “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil”.  This Canaanite woman believed in the mission of the Messiah and she came to Jesus in that faith—trusting that there is grace enough for all and that he would do what he came to do for her poor daughter.

We don’t know much about demon possession in that day but looking around at the devil’s work in our world today we can get a pretty good picture of what that evil would look like focused on a single child—something too terrible to behold—every parent’s worst nightmare-- which is why we instinctively recoil at what happens next.

Jesus did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." 

            Even if we can’t immediately understand why Jesus remained silent we have no problem understanding the concerns of the disciples, do we? 

A Jewish rabbi and his twelve disciples—thirteen respectable Jewish men—with a screaming Canaanite woman calling out to them about demon possession.  What will people think!?  And what’s their response:  send her away!  Get rid of her!

How tempting it is in the face of human need to turn our backs on the broken-ness of others because the need is so great and what we can supply seems so small.  But the Lord always reached out to those in need—he showed that the grace of God is for all people--which is why it is so surprising what happens next.  Jesus answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 

We don’t know if Jesus was responding to the woman or the disciples or all of them together but the response is just as shocking no matter who the audience is:  Jesus affirmed that his mission as the Messiah was to the Israelites-- and while that was a hard thing for the Canaanite woman to hear—it was an incredible word of mercy for the Jews, that God’s grace was for them too. 

Paul said of his own kinsmen, the Jews that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” and here we see the proof that the grace of God was for them too—even though they rejected their Messiah.

Despite the fact that so many Jews wanted a different kind of Messiah—despite the fact that their religious leaders were focused on the wrong things—despite the fact that Jesus’ own disciples so often got things wrong—the God of Israel loved his ancient people and in mercy wanted to save them and sent his Son. 

We must never forget that.  Oftentimes when we read the New Testament we see the Jews as Jesus’ enemies.  And at times they made themselves that very thing.  But Jesus wasn’t their enemy.  He was their Savior and he would not leave one thing undone to provide for their salvation.  The grace of God was for them too.

In fact, every piece of the Messianic mission was accomplished in their midst—so that they could hear it and see it-- which is why it is such a tragedy that so many of the Jews rejected the salvation that God provided for them.

But what about that poor woman who was not an Israelite-- but a Canaanite?  She came and knelt before Jesus, saying, "Lord, help me."  A truly great faith not only recognizes who Jesus is and what he came to do-- but also trusts wholeheartedly that the grace of God extends even to them and trusts in his mercy.  

            The really great hero in this scene is whoever told this woman about Jesus-- for even though she knew he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel--she also knew that that his gracious mercy and love extends to all people. 

Isaiah had promised that very thing—that besides the Jews, God’s Messiah “would gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”  And that promise was about to be fulfilled in the life of a woman of great faith who had a great need.  Jesus answered her, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 

            As shocking as it is to hear Jesus use this figure of speech, it’s not quite as bad as it seems because the word Jesus used does not refer to the mongrel scavengers that would have roamed the towns of that day, but to a little pet dog that a child would own. 

But the point is still the same:  children are children and pets are pets and as much as we pamper our pets it would be scandalous to treat them better than our kids. 

Jesus’ point was that the Israelites were different than all of the other people of the world.  The Messiah was sent to the Israelites and his whole ministry of salvation was conducted in their midst—among no one else in the world and nowhere else in the world.  That was the Lord’s promise and plan from the beginning and Jesus would not deviate from it.  And yet, so great was her faith that she said:  

“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

            The really amazing thing about her faith is not just that she knew who Jesus was and what he had come to do- but that she accepted the Lord’s judgment about herself. 

The Pharisees and scribes would never accept Jesus’ judgment that they were white-washed graves—holy on the outside and rotten on the inside.  They never accepted that they were an evil generation for demanding sign after sign from the Lord despite all the miracles he performed. 

We too struggle constantly to accept the Lord’s judgment that we are sinners who deserve only wrath rather than mercy. 

The greatness of the faith of the Canaanite woman was that she accepted the fact that she had no claims upon the Lord whatsoever and hoped only that the abundance of his grace would overflow into her life and the life of her daughter.  And it did!

Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire."

Only two times in the Bible does Jesus comment on the greatness of someone’s faith—the Roman centurion with the servant who was sick-- and this Canaanite woman whose daughter was possessed of a demon.  Both of them were the most unlikely of people because of their background and status—and yet their faith was great.

They recognized who Jesus was—they confessed him as Lord—they knew that he was powerful enough to save—they counted on the fact that in him there was grace enough for all.  And both received what they needed. 

The Bible says that “her daughter was healed instantly”.  After all that had come before, we are tempted to regard that little sentence as an afterthought—but of course it really is the whole thing—that the woman’s faith in the Lord was not misplaced or disappointed.  She received the grace she asked for and her daughter was delivered. 

The mission of the Messiah in destroying the works of Satan was accomplished in the woman’s daughter-- who was not even present—nor did she need to be-- because the power of Jesus is not limited by time or space.  So it still is today.

About a year after these events, Jesus would complete his messianic work by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.  The powers of sin, death, and the devil were defeated so that God’s grace extends to all people. 

Those acts of salvation occurred two thousand years ago, in a place very far removed from this one—but Jesus still answers the prayers of all of those who come to him in humble faith, accepting his judgment that we are sinners—making no claims upon the Lord for who we are or what we have done—but simply believing that in him there is grace enough for us all!  May God grant us all this kind of great faith for Jesus’ sake!  Amen.