A Woman’s Great Faith
Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus Christ had traveled to the district of Tyre and Sidon to the north of Galilee in what today is coastal southern Lebanon. Here Christ encounters a woman, who was only one of two individuals of whom Christ commended them for their great or mega faith. As we look at this account we need to consider the following: who this woman was; the response she could possibly expect from Christ; how Christ responded to her; her reaction; and the end result.
I. Who was this woman?
A. Matthew 15:22 “And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil”
B. She was a Canaanitish woman a direct descendant of people who were outcasts in the divine economy. They were a people group who God had ordered to be destroyed by Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 7 and chapter 20.
They were a cursed, doomed people, set for divine removal through the instrumentation of the people of Israel
C. This person doesn’t fit the Jews’ view of who can enter into the blessing of God. First, it’s a woman! Secondly, she’s a Canaanite.
D. Mark in his gospel calls her a Syro-Phoenician, that is, from the area of Syria and Phoenicia, or Syria and Lebanon.
E. She is outside the covenant, an outcast, a sinner from a people of sinners.
F. Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
G. Mark also tells us that she was a Greek. She was not a Greek by birth but by religion. She had been an idolater and worshipper of Astarte, the goddess of nature, a god who did not nor could meet her needs.
H. Ephesians 2:12 “...without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
I. The plight of every person apart from Christ is to be without God in his or her world.
II. What could she possibly expect from Christ?
A. This woman was without hope.
B. Ephesians 2:12 “...without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
C. This woman was a individual who had knelt at the altars of idols, was a member of a vile, contemptible, condemned race (McArthur – says they were viewed as a “wretched cancer on the body of humanity”, and an was outsider to everything connected to God. There is absolutely no reason that she should hope to come to Jesus Christ and have Him hear her plea.
D. The Canaanite woman had nothing to lose. Her daughter was suffering from a demon-possession that no shaman or physician could cure.
E. She is unsatisfied, her needs are unmet, so she comes to Jesus Christ believing in her heart that He can meet her need.
F. Matthew 15:22 “And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”
G. When she cries “Have mercy”, she uses the Greek word “eleéô”, which is to show God’s mercy – It does not mean "I deserve this." Mercy says, "I’m here in spite of the fact that I don’t deserve anything." The basic assumption of one who seeks mercy is a sense of unworthiness. She did not come demanding anything. She came having turned from her worthless idols seeking the unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor or grace of God.
H. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 “For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”
III. How did Christ respond to her pleas?
A. Matthew 15:23a “But He answered her not a word...”
B. Concerning this one writer penned, “Blessing were wont to flow. His mercy seems clean gone and his compassion to have failed. A Christ silent to a sufferer’s cry is a paradox which contradicts the whole gospel story, and which we may be sure no evangelist would have painted if he had not been painting from the life.” - Copied
C. He answered her NOT A WORD!
D. What do you do when Christ does not answer a word?
E. Psalm 22:1-2 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”
F. There is no obligation for God to answer you, inform you or let you know anything. "God is said to be absolutely free," says A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy, "because no one and no thing can hinder Him or compel Him or stop Him. He is able to do as He pleases always, everywhere, forever."
G. There are times when God will be silent. And when He is it is for a purpose.
H. How many of us would have given up at this point, but notice the disciples reaction
I. Matthew 15:23b “And his disciples came and besought (urged) him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us.” (She keeps it up)
J. She keeps asking Matthew 15:24 “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
K. The Lord sought to test her faith
L. Matthew 15:25 “Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.”
M. She acknowledges His righteousness and her helplessness. She pleaded; and put the whole of her need into the one simple statement, “Lord, help me.”
N. Jesus answers what appears to be harsh in verse 26 “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.”
O. Jesus knew what he would do, that her daughter would be healed, in His time. But he wanted to have her to understand something as he tested her faith.
1. He wanted her to understand that He came to save the lost
2. He wanted her to understand or admit that she was lost or even lower than the lost sheep of Israel
3. He wanted her to see that even the lowest of the low could ask the Son of God for something and it could be given. – copied
4. Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart
Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You’re – P Hutchins and P Williams, Who Am I
5. "Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?" – Isaac Watts, How Sweet and Awful Is the Place
IV. What was her reaction to Christ’s response?
A. She persevered. She persevered in her faith that only Christ could help her.
B. Matthew 15:27 “And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
C. “I know that it isn’t right to take the food from the children’s table and give it to the dogs. But, even the dogs are sometimes treated to a morsel from the table. All I am asking for is a crumb.”
D. She persisted in spite of everything that was thrown into her pathway. Why? She persisted because too much was at stake! Her little daughter needed to be delivered from her bondage. Her family needed to be saved. She needed help and she was determined to get it! A crumb might have been all she could get; but she knew that a crumb from His hand was more than enough! She wouldn’t give up until she got what she needed! – Alan Carr
E. Colossians 4:2 “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”
F. Perseverance is the great test of genuineness of a person’s faith.
G. G. Campbell Morgan in his writing points out that
1. Against prejudice she came.
2. Against silence she persevered.
3. Against exclusion she proceeded.
4. Against rebuff she won.
H. Matthew 7:7 (HCSB) “Keep asking and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking and the door will be opened to you.”
I. When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems that you cannot hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.—Harriet Beecher Stowe
V. What was the result her persevering faith?
A. Matthew 15:28 “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
B. Mark 7:29-30 “Then He said to her, “For this saying, go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter. And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.”
C. He rewarded her faith by giving her exactly what she asked for; He healed her daughter! Her faith was so strong that she didn’t ask for proof, but she took Jesus at His word and turned around and went home to her family. When she arrived home, she found her daughter healed and her family restored! What a blessing! What a challenge! - Carr
D. Spurgeon said, "The Lord of glory surrendered to the faith of the woman." She brought her great faith and found the blessing she sought
E. Andrew Murray at the turn of the last century wrote “Child of God, give the Father time. He is patiently listening to you. He wants the blessing to be rich, and full, and sure; give Him time, while you cry day and night. Only remember the word: "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily." (Luke 18:8) The blessing of such persevering prayer is unspeakable. There is nothing so heart-searching as the prayer of faith. It teaches you to discover and confess, and to give up everything that hinders the coming of the blessing, everything there may not be in accordance with the Father’s will. It leads to closer fellowship with Him who alone can teach us to pray, to a more entire surrender to draw near under no covering but that of the blood and the Spirit. It calls for a closer and more simple abiding in Christ alone. Christian, give God time. He will perfect that which concerns you.” – A. Murray, The Power of Persevering Prayer
F. One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, beside Mueller’s open grave that man, for whom Mueller prayed for 63 years and 8 months, trusted Christ at the grave of the man who was praying for him all those years. James 1:12 (ESV) “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
G. I believe the answer’s on the way
I believe the Lord has heard me pray
"Cast not away your confidence"
Saith the Lord our God
Now by faith in Him alone I stand
Firmly held by His almighty hand
Fully trusting in His promise
Praise the Lord – Merrill Dunlop
