“Faith in the Messiah”

(Matthew 15:21-28)

Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

November 17, 2019

The Passage

Matthew 15:21-28

21 When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”

23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”

24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!”

26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.

Introductory Comments:

Can you ever remember witnessing your parents getting something special and then they tell you not to touch it or ask for it because it’s not for you? Perhaps they baked a big chocolate cake and you were let down because they baked it for the neighbor. Or, perhaps you see a new bicycle out in the garage and you find out that it’s for your brother instead of for you. Sometimes there’s something great available for someone, but sometimes that someone is not you.

Well, today we’re going to hear about a woman who was actually told by Jesus that something was not for her. We’re going to see how she responded to Jesus and how Jesus eventually responded to her. 

Before we get into our passage let’s pray together and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us. 

(prayer)

We’re continuing our series in the Gospel of Matthew and we’ve learned that Jesus is doing a lot of things that are out of the ordinary. He’s offending and surprising people, many times even His own disciples. 

In today’s passage we learn that He and His disciples left the region of Galilee and went up to the region of Tyre and Sidon. It was slightly northwest of the Sea of Galilee and the city of Capernaum where most of Jesus’ ministry takes place. I have a map to show you. [show map slide] This is near modern-day Syria and Lebanon. 

It’s important to understand the significance of this location because this is the region that was home to the ancient enemies of Israel, the Canaanites. The Canaanites were the ones that Israel had battled thousands of years ago, going all the way back to Joshua and the Israelites’ entrance into the Promised Land. Understanding this is crucial to understanding this passage. 

As we understand this passage, we will seek to grasp four behaviors or actions: two from this Canaanite woman and two from Jesus. They all start with the letter “r,” so you can try and guess what they are ahead of time if you want. 

First, . . .

I. The woman’s recognition (vv. 21-22) [on screen]

This Canaanite woman recognized who Jesus was. Let’s look at the passage. Look at verses 21 and 22.

 21 When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”

This woman is of Canaanite decent and she is from the region of Tyre and Sidon. This place was mostly a Gentile, or non-Jewish, region. 

Jesus was Jewish and those who believed Jesus to be the Messiah believed Him to be the Messiah for the Jewish people. Not everyone believed that Jesus was the Anointed One, but for those who did, they believed He was the Anointed One for the Jewish people only. 

This woman had no business hanging out with Jewish people, be they the Messiah or not. She was Canaanite. The Canaanites and the Israelites didn’t go to Cracker Barrel together, they didn’t share a taxi, they didn’t marry one another, they didn