Go To Jesus! Series

Go to Jesus!

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared August 10, 2022; Revised May 12, 2023))

MESSAGE:

*One of the great hymns from the 1700s calls us to Jesus Christ with these words:

"Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore;

Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love, and power."

*And the chorus says:

"I will arise and go to Jesus; He will embrace me in His arms;

In the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten thousand charms." (1)

*The mother in today's Scripture lived out the truth of those words. We don't even know her name. But she is a hero of our faith, and she teaches all of us to go to Jesus.

1. FIRST: GO TO JESUS WHEN YOU ARE DESPERATE.

*That's what this mom did in vs. 22: "And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, 'Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.'''

*Talk about desperate situation! This mother's young daughter was demon possessed, severely tormented by a demon. And that is so far removed from our everyday life that it's hard for us to relate. But desperate times will come to us too. Many of us here today have already been through desperate times.

*Why do the desperate times come? -- Sometimes it's because of our weakness. We like to think that we are strong, especially when we are young. But just like the situation in this story, there will be times when nothing seems to work. We've done all we can, but it's not enough. And we realize that there is nothing we can do on our own to make it better.

*Family couldn't help this woman. Friends couldn't help her either. The priests in her false religion couldn't help her, and she couldn't help herself. But thank God, Jesus came her way! And in her weakness, she went to the Lord for strength. Let your weakness drive you to Jesus!

*But sometimes our desperation comes from our sinfulness. Demon possession is an extreme example. But demon possession doesn't just happen. This mother was a Canaanite. Her pagan, satanic religion was a wicked fertility cult that also practiced child sacrifice. Larry Norman said it was even possible that this mother had been a temple prostitute, and that her child had come from that lifestyle. (2)

*We don't know the details. But we do know that sin had taken a terrible toll on this mother and her precious daughter. And somehow, some way, our sin will also take a toll on us. As Christian author Kay Arthur said, "If you tolerate sin in your life, that sin will not only take you farther than you wanted to go, it will keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and it will cost you more than you thought you'd pay..." (3)

*Kay was absolutely right about that, so when you get desperate, it may be your own fault. But don't let that keep you from coming to Jesus Christ!

*Sometimes our desperation is our own fault, but it can also come from our love. That's what we see here: a mother's love for her child, and it's a beautiful thing.

*Margaret Cobb remembers when her 13-year-old daughter, Amy, was having extra trouble growing-up. Amy was adopted from South Korea, and they had no idea who her birth mother might be. That really bothered Amy for a while.

*Then one day, Amy got braces on her teeth. As the day wore on, they really began to hurt. By bedtime she was miserable. Mom gave her some pain medicine, and invited Amy to snuggle with her for a while. Soon, Amy got more comfortable, and drowsy. That's when she said, "Mom, I know who my real mom is. -- It's the one who takes away the hurting." (4)

*That's what this mother was desperately trying to do: Stop the hurting. And in her desperation she did the best thing we can do! She went to Jesus.

2. GO TO JESUS WHEN YOU ARE DESPERATE. AND GO TO JESUS WITH GREAT DETERMINATION.

*Go to Jesus with the kind of unshakable determination we see in this Canaanite mother. She faced at least seven discouragements in this story. And I won't count them all out for you, but of course, the first discouragement was the demon possession of her daughter. How horrible that would be!

*Then she had to physically find Jesus. She had to go to just the right place at just the right time. And it was a sure blessing of God's grace that she ever came face to face with Jesus. Thank God, Church, we know that His Holy Spirit is here with us right now and all the time!