Matthew 15:21-28 (Mk. 7:24-30) A Mother of Great Faith
Intro: Today we come together not only to celebrate the Lord’s Day, but also to honor someone very important to all of us – mother’s.
The Bible is full of stories of women, who were mothers. Many of them seemed to be good mothers, however not all of them were good mothers.
Jesus told only two people that they had “great (Greek mega) faith”. He said that a Roman Centurion who wanted his servant healed had “great faith” (Matt. 8:10). Thon only other person told this too is the mother in our text today. This is a mother who had “great faith”.
The setting for our story in found in Matt. 15:21 & Mark 7:24.
(Mar 7:24) And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house, and would have no man know it, but he could not be hid.
Jesus took His disciples with Him to get away for awhile.
All sorts of reasons are speculated as to why He went into a Gentile area:
- To get away from the pressure of those who wanted to make king.
- To get away from Herod Antipas who wanted to arrest Him.
- To get away from the Jewish religious leaders who wanted him dead.
- To get away for a time of refreshment and to be alone with the disciples.
For whatever the reason, He withdrew & didn’t want to be disturbed.
However, as Archbishop Trench stated, “Like perfume betrays itself, so He whose name is perfume poured out cannot be hid.”
A Gentile mother came to see Jesus on behalf of her daughter.
Prop: A Christian mother should be a woman of great faith.
I. A good mother is concerned about her children’s welfare (22).
One thing is blatantly obvious that this mother is concerned about her daughter.
Matthew says her daughter is “grievously vexed with a devil” (Matt. 15:22).
Mark describes her daughter as having an “unclean spirit” (Mark 7:25).
Note in verse 22 she pleads with Jesus to “have mercy on her” by helping her daughter. I think seeing her daughter had affected her greatly.
Normally when a child suffers, the other members of the family suffer too, especially the mother.
The mother is usually the one who stays home and takes care of a sick child, or gets up with them in the middle of the night, or stays with them in the hospital room, sleeping on an uncomfortable chair…
I think the very word “mother” is closely associated with words like love, concern, compassion & protection in the minds of most people.
Illustration: When I was sick with a fever it was primarily my mom who would feel for a temperature, wipe my forehead with a cold wet rag, and cover me with a blanket…. It is not that my dad wasn’t concerned, but my mom displayed it best.
II. A Good mother will do whatever she can to help her children (21).
A. She was willing to go quite some distance for help.
We aren’t told exactly where she lived expect that she lived in the area of
Tyre & Sidon. These places are about 25 miles apart and are located on the coast north of Galilee. So, she may have traveled up to about 25 miles to go see Jesus.
That is quite a distance in that day & age to travel to see someone you have only heard about.
B. She was willing to put aside religious barriers.
She was a Gentile, a heathen, and a product of old Canaanite Baal worship.
She probably worshipped Astarte and other pagan deities that were popular at that time.
C. She was willing to put aside cultural obstacles.
Mark 7:26 tells us the woman was a Syro-Phoenician.
There was no love lost between the Jews and the Phoenicians.
I suppose the enmity between the two groups began when God commanded Israel to “utterly destroy” all of the people from this region in Deut. 7:2.
Of course, due to sin and disobedience, Israel didn’t fully destroy them.
Josephus stated that the people from Tyre are “our bitterest enemies”.
Josephus also wrote that when the Jews revolted against Rome that the people of Tyre killed and imprisoned many Jews.
The woman therefore is from one of Israel’s greatest foes.
Trans: So, this mother traveled some distance and set aside both religious and cultural barriers so that she might get the help her daughter needed.
III. A good mother will put her faith in Jesus Christ.
A. A good mother will recognize Jesus for who He really is.
1. A good mother will recognized Him as Lord (22) –
By addressing Him as “Lord” she was recognizing Him as the One who is supreme in authority, and as the sovereign and omnipotent One.
2. A good mother will recognized Him as the Son of David (22) -
She realized the Jesus was indeed the promised Jewish Messiah.
B. A good mother will go to Jesus (the only one who can really help).
This mother went to the Lord, Jesus Christ.
The fact that she went to Jesus at this time is an indication that she had become disillusioned with her idols and pagan beliefs.
She learned that the pagan gods weren’t real after all.
(Psa 135:15-18) The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.
She turned her back on the pagan idols and put her complete faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Messiah.
IV. A good mother will persist in getting help for her children (23-28).
She went to Jesus and asked for help but things didn’t appear to be encouraging at first. Notice the sequence of events again.
1. She asked Jesus to help her daughter (22).
2. Jesus did not answer her (23).
3. The disciples asked Jesus to send her away (23).
(This may be a request to go ahead and heal her or to just send her away with healing her daughter????).
4. Jesus told the disciples His ministry was still primarily to the Jews (24).
5. She then falls prostrate before Him and asks again (25).
6. He now addresses her for the first time and tells her it isn’t suitable to give your children’s food to a dog. (Greek word here is for a household pet, not a mangy mongrel stray type of dog).
Now at this point, I think most people would have given up and left. Some would have become bitter or resentful that He would not help.
But, this mom did not give up…
7. She asked for some crumbs from the master’s table (27).
8. Jesus was impressed by her faith and healed her daughter (28).
I read what different commentators had to say about this passage.
- Some thought that Jesus was struggling with His mission which He thought was limited to Israel and was therefore unsure as to what God’s will was in this particular situation. I guess by her pleading over and over, He came to realize His mission was broader than Israel. This view is preposterous if you ask me!
- Some claim this is only a made-up story which was added to the account of the life of Jesus. They say it was added to help justify the fact the church was reaching out to the Gentiles.
- Some say Jesus was deliberately rude to and insulted this mother. However, they don’t tell you why He reacted this way.
I don’t believe Jesus ever did anything unloving or without a divine purpose.
He spoke very direct to the Pharisees, but sometimes saying the hard thing is the loving thing to do.
It seems best to take this as Jesus testing this woman and teaching His disciples a lesson at the same time.
- He wanted to teach His disciples what genuine faith looks like as compared to superficial faith of those who only followed for what they could get…
- He wanted Her faith to develop, to grow and for her to see what sort of faith
she really had.
Silence or “no” answers to our requests aren’t easy to deal with, but they can help us to grow and reveal to us some things about our faith and trust in the
Lord.
This mother obeyed Matt. 7:7.
(Mat 7:7) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
This mother kept on asking, seeking, & knocking, until the Lord answered.
Thank the Lord for mothers like this.
I have heard countless stories of people who were saved due to a mother praying for them, sometimes for many many years.
Conclusion:
I. A good mother is concerned about her children’s welfare (22).
II. A Good mother will do whatever she can to help her children (21).
III. A good mother will put her faith in Jesus Christ.
IV. A good mother will persist in getting help for her children (23-28).
