CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF GRACE
MATTHEW 15. 21 - 28
This passage of scripture is one of the most profound, yet the most simplistic of all passages in scripture. It is the story of the life of a Christian saved by grace. It is an appropriate passage for us to understand our position in this world, and in the greater matter of all creation. Here, there is a woman who has a desperate need and has the knowledge of where to get her need fulfilled. She approaches the answer to her solution, who happens to be in a teaching session with His followers. Christ takes this opportunity to teach one of the greatest lessons that we can learn in this life. He taught us a lesson, he taught the disciples a lesson, about the grace of God, the position of the believer, and the role of religion in one simple session that lasted probably no more than 2 minutes. He taught them, and us, about crumbs that fall from the table of grace.
1. THE WOMAN.
* A gentile, not a Jew. Had a problem, her daughter was possessed with a demon.
* Became overwhelmed when she heard that Christ was coming to town.
* So overwhelmed that she tried to deceive Christ to believing that she was a Jew. V. 22. Probably spoke Hebrew. Dressed as a Hebrew woman to receive her needs from Christ. Cried out for the Son of David to have mercy on her. (David would have been an enemy to her race).
* Many of us do the same. We try to deceive God into believing we are one of His. We dress and talk like Christians, we attend church like Christians, but that is only on the outside. You can pretend to be about anything for a while.
* Christ responded with silence. Giving her an opportunity to confess the truth. (Truth will always be honored by Christ). The disciples were probably amazed at his silence. They were probably fooled by her appearance and language.
* This is common for pretenders. The voice of God doesn’t speak to us when we try to deceive Him. Our lives are not victorious, our worship is spiritless, and our witness is not much. Faking it results in the silence of God.
* She continued to cry after Him, and the disciples asked Him to send her away.
* Christ’s response: I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
* She continued her attempts of deception. (Which many folks do, even after they see that they are caught). Lord help me...
* Christ reveals to her that He knows she is not a Jew. It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs. Was Christ turning her away, was he denying her what she so earnestly desired, was he sending her away with her needs unfulfilled? Is it possible that the Savior of all men would turn one away? No, He wanted her to admit the truth, he was taking an opportunity to spread the good news of salvation to all who would believe. Before we can be saved, we must admit the truth of our lost condition.
* She was caught. What did she do? She still had a need, she still had a desire to see her child healed. She came clean. She asked for crumbs.
* What do we do when we are caught? I spent a long time in my life trying to fake it. I was expected to be a Christian, my parents are Christians, my grandparents are Christians, I went up as a child of 6 and made my profession. Spent many years living the lie, putting on the front. But, eventually, the truth came out, eventually, the lie could not be carried on any longer. I had a choice to make. I could either continue to try to live the lie, or I could repent and be saved. God knew I was lying, I hadn’t deceived Him. Much like this woman, it didn’t matter how I dressed, how I talked, what language I used, God knew I was not one of His children, He knew I was simply a lost soul in need of salvation, trying to prove that I belonged. When the realization that we are lost hits us in the face, it is a crisis. It was for me. All of the plays, the retreats, the youth trips, all of that was just a put-on, and God knew it.
* This woman knew she was not deserving of God’s good favor, that she was a dog in the greater matter of all things, she knew that she had no claim to Christ. But, she also knew that even the puppies of the children got to eat the crumbs from the table. She didn’t believe that she, as a gentile, was worthy of the full blessings and rights of the Messiah, but she hoped that her faith could get her some leftovers. Not much, just what the others didn’t want.
2. OUR POSITION.
* This is the story of all of us. It is our position in life. It should be our understanding of God’s grace. We need to understand that we are completely, and totally undeserving of any grace that God bestows upon us. We need to understand that anything we receive is because of God’s tender mercy and unmatched grace. We must come to this understanding before we can be saved.
* Others may qualify for God’s mercy, but I’m no better than a vile, dirty, wormy dog. Based on what we can do for Christ of our own merit and ability, we are less than nothing. We should recognize that we deserve Hell, and stand in awe each and every day at what we are blessed with.
* Paul said he was the least of all the apostles. That makes me, at best, the least of all the gutter-dwelling beggars.
* There is no one that you will come in contact with on this earth that has a greater importance in God’s eyes that you do - but, there is no one that is less significant than you are.
* With the high view that most people hold of themselves, we need to understand that we are less than nothing without Christ in our lives. We are the least of all creatures without Christ. We are ravaging beasts without hope in our lives.
3. CHRIST.
* When He was teaching here, He was looking forward to the cross, where He would level the playing field. We are all equal when we come to Him. We are all nothing. When we leave, we are equal still, but we are now princes and princesses. We are heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ.
* When we realize this, we can begin to understand the crumbs that the woman was talking about. We cannot comprehend the greatness of God’s grace. We cannot take in the wonders of God’s greatness, all we can do is eat the crumbs that fall from the table of grace.
* Here, Christ is teaching the greatest truth of all time. Many hold a misconception of Christ’s purpose in his life. He did not come to heal the sick, give wealth to the poor, or to restore sight to the blind - He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came for you and for me - he came for the dogs.
4. THE TABLE OF GRACE.
* To eat the crumbs from the table, we must first be under the table. We cannot be there if we are not saved. To be lost and to try to find the table would be to search for the single mustard seed that exists in all of the expanse of the universe with just the naked eye. We would never find it.
* The crumbs that fall from God’s table are just a glimpse of the food that God has prepared for us in Heaven. We need to understand that we probably will never eat from the table in this life. But, if we are saved, we are assured that we will dine at the Master’s table for all eternity.
* For now, we should be dissatisfied with the crumbs. Not that they are not good enough for us, but we should be seeking and searching for more. At times, the crumbs will fall in bigger pieces than others, but they are still crumbs.
