Traits Of A Godly Mother

Opening Illustration: Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore. His mother in the house was looking out the window saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. Then began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, grabbing his gun, took careful aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. The newspaper reporter, who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go." And, on his arms, were the scars from the deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

We might have scars on our bodies from a battlefield or some other event that shows us that Jesus Christ would not let go of us. However, we do know that as Christians Jesus Christ will never let go of us. The marks are not on our bodies but on his. [1]

Today we will look at a mother’s passion to save her daughter and her faith in Jesus. We will look at the story as a whole then we will consider this mother in particular.

Matthew 15:21–28

Our story is about a woman who has no name. She was Gentile, she lived in an area that was generally hostile to the Jews, but what we know about her was that her faith was great. And here we are 2,000 years later reading about her.

Matthew 15:21 (CSB) 21 When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.

If you back read the previous 1½ chapters of Matthew you will see that Jesus had been ministering in the area around the Sea of Galilee. He had fed the 5 thousand, walked on the water, calling Peter to come out to Him. They end up in the area called Gennesaret on the NW shore of the sea of Galilee. There a delegation of Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem was testing him.

Jesus needed a break. He needed time alone with His disciples to instruct them, so they headed up the an area outside Jewish territory around the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon about 35 and 60 miles to the NW of Galilee. This is the only time in the Gospels that Jesus actually leaves Jewish territory.

They were not running away, they needed time alone. The parallel account in Mark 7:24-30 suggested Jesus didn’t want anyone to know where they were. Any self-respecting Pharisee or Scribe would not follow Jesus there. Tyre and Sidon were considered the bastion of Gentile sinfulness. Jesus even commented on this when He was rebuking the cities in Galilee.

Matthew 11:21 (CSB) “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago.

As we will see, these cities were more open to the miracles of Jesus than the cities where Jesus centered His ministry.

Yes, Jesus was taking a break, we all need to take a break from time to time, but Jesus never took a break from people (in general). Never took a break from ministry – helping those that need help. Never took a break being who He was.

Many of us can’t wait for the country to open up from the coronavirus because as soon as it does, we’re heading out on vacation. On vacation, do you leave you Christianity behind? Do you leave worship behind?