MATTHEW 15:21-28 “SHE GOT WHAT SHE CAME FOR”
A) Some of the most unlikely people have received the greatest blessings from God!
* There are those the world would pass by as candidates for greatness, yet they are the very ones
God used in a mighty way. * The disciples were fishermen and tax collectors!
B) This woman was an unlikely candidate for greatness, and I’ll tell you why!
* One: She was not a Jew … Two: She had no claims on Christ … Three: She had every reason
to be discouraged! * She knew little, if anything, about the Lord, the Holy Scriptures …….
* Or the purpose for which Christ had came. * She probably had just heard of His miracles …….
* Yet she received a great miracle and has gone down in the pages of God’s Word with the Lord’s
commendation, “O Woman, great is thy faith.”
C) Now let’s see how it all came about … There are some interesting things here …….
(1) SHE RECOGNIZED THE SOURCE OF HER PROBLEM! * v.22 “My daughter is …”
A) She knew the devil had a hold on her child!
* The word “vex” means to bring trouble or distress to someone.
* That’s what the devil is good for … The same devil that had this child is still around today!
* He is after all of us … And one of his primary targets is our youth!
B) The devil is trying to get grips on our youth …….
* And if he can do that, he can slow down or hinder the church of tomorrow.
* If Jesus should tarry His coming, who knows what young man God has His hands on to preach
the Gospel of Jesus Christ or be a missionary to some foreign land.
* But not only is he after our youth, but he’s after all of us! * 1 Pet. 5:8 “Be sober …”
C) I want to ask you a very serious question: Have you recognized the devil as did this woman?
* Have you come to grips with the reality that your problem could be satanic?
* God gets blamed for a lot of things He doesn’t do … And as a Pastor, I’ve had to face this!
* It was a rude awakening when it dawned on me that many, or should I say most of our church
problems come from the devil.
D) Sad thing of it is, God’s people let the devil influence them! * Eph. 4:27 “Neither give …”
* The Greek word for “give” means “to grant or offer.” * Influence means “to affect or altar by
influence, to sway.” * The devil can influence your decisions that you make.
* One will never have victories over the devil until he is recognized who and what he is.
* This woman recognized the source of her problem!
(2) SHE REALIZED HER INABILITY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM! * v.22 “Have mercy …”
A) If there had been anything she could’ve done, she wouldn’t have prayed for mercy!
* Jesus was her only hope! * Mark 5:1-20 – Man in the tombs …….
* When a person asks for mercy, he/she is at the end of their own strength, their own ability, or
their source of help from any place else. * ONLY CHRIST CAN WHIP THE DEVIL!
* So she realized her inability to solve the problem.
(3) SHE REFUSED TO BE INTIMIDATED OR DISCOURAGED! * v.23-24 …….
A) She came to Jesus … She came to the right man … But she was met with silence!
* How many times have you and I come to the Lord and seemed He met us with silence?
* I have come to Him and it seemed that God was nowhere to be found.
* There was a time in Job’s life that he felt this way … Turn to Job 23:1-6 …….
B) It must have broke this woman’s heart when Jesus wouldn’t answer her!
* Not only that, she was met with the rebuke and indifference of the disciples.
* All they had to say was, “Send her away, for she crieth after us.” * That is a bad attitude!
C) The world is dying … People are crying for help … People are going to hell … And all we
can say is, “Send them away, we don’t want to be bothered with them!”
* Simpsonville Church … * Turn to Matt. 22:1-10 …….
* Luke’s Gospel says “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the
poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.”
D) She was belittled by the Lord … He called her a dog!
* Pastor told of a man who left his church because he made a statement that all men are sinners.
* Wonder what that man would’ve thought had the pastor called them dogs!
* But this woman refused to be intimidated or discouraged!
(4) SHE RELINQUISHED ALL HER RIGHTS AND CLAIMS! * v.24-27 …….
A) The answer Jesus gave for not granting the woman’s request was not given directly to her,
but to His disciples!
* Jesus was commissioned by God to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, meaning Jews.
* John 4:22 “… salvation is of the Jews.” * Rom. 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the …”
B) In v.25, the woman must’ve been a short distance from Jesus … But here, she came near
and worshipped Him and said, Lord, help me!” * THREE GREAT WORDS!
* Look what Jesus said in v.26 … * This is about the same thing He said to His disciples in v.24.
* You see, Gentiles were considered as dogs. * John 10:16 “And other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold,
and one shepherd.”
C) It was not yet time to reveal Himself to the Gentiles, or strangers, or dogs!
* Jesus knew how to humble this woman’s heart, and He did … Look at v.27 …….
* Instead of getting offended and walking away in disgust, she took the next step that caused
Jesus to grant the desire of her heart!
* She wasn’t being sarcastic … She was broken in spirit and in heart!
D) Which leads me to my last point and the title of my message …….
(5) SHE GOT WHAT SHE CAME FOR … SHE RECEIVED HER MIRACLE! * v.28 …
A) God always honors faith, and it’s impossible to please Him without it – Heb. 11:6!
* Rom. 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written,
The just shall live by faith.” * 2 Cor. 5:7 “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
* Gal. 2:20 “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
B) Jesus told the woman that her wish was granted because of her great faith!
* Great faith brings great blessings from Almighty God!
* The woman showed her humility when she said that she was willing to eat crumbs as a dog
would … And her daughter was made WHOLE from that very hour … She was cured!
* She came after a miracle and she got what she came for!
CLOSE
A) This is a very beautiful picture of salvation! * Salvation is a miracle!
* John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out.”
* I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done … Jesus loves you and will save you!
B) I don’t care what you’re going through, Jesus cares about your situation!
* Can you imagine the scene back at her home when this mother got her daughter back?
* I thank God today that He is still in the business of putting families back together.
* But the good news is that one day, Jesus came down from glory and kicked the door of salvation
open on its hinges of grace and mercy and let dogs like me and you in!
C) And now He doesn’t call us stray dogs, but sons and daughters of God!
* We are joint-heirs with Jesus … I’m glad that Jesus let the dogs in!
* Do you need salvation today? * Come to Jesus … You’ll get what you come for!
* Do you have a need today? * Come to Jesus … You’ll get what you come for!
D) This woman got what she came for!
