Even You.

Imagine that you were born at a time when the government was against the common, everyday person. All they worried about was their closest friends and how to line their pockets. Hunger, illnesses, and diseases run rampant, and the governing bodies would use segregation as the way to deal with these issues. If there are food banks, they are hardly able to keep up with the demand. If there are illnesses, doctors and nurses are running their practices like assembly lines, check this patient, good enough sticker, out the door, check the next patient, good enough sticker, out the door, check the next patient, good enough sticker and out the door… repeat. If disease is an issue, they recommend quarantine and only want to maybe see you if your symptoms are deemed severe enough. Imagine that one people group was very much against the next, and the governing bodies liked this because it meant you mostly kept to your own, and then they could pit group against group. Without support or help from your community or family, this could very well be a death sentence. Imagine you couldn’t turn to the local religious leaders for help, and you certainly couldn’t turn to your local government for help. The odds, especially if you weren’t in the right circles, were stacked against you; you had to rely on just yourself, and even then, that wasn’t even reliable.

Let's pretend that things are so messed up that your neighbour's daughter catches some sort of mental ailment that causes her family to suffer. Instead of the community gathering around this family and the young girl, the community ostracizes the family. Claiming they must have committed some moral crime because why else would you receive a punishment like that? Maybe the mom drank while pregnant, or there is some sort of genetic issue that comes with belonging to that people group, or you simply knew there was something wrong with that family all along, so it is not really a surprise. The family begins to suffer, their extended family distances themselves from the family to save face because it is kind of embarrassing after all. To add insult to injury, the girl's mental condition doesn’t just silently reside with the girl. She is tormented, and she suffers terribly. Not knowing what to do or how to react, you just keep your distance, you don’t talk to them, you don’t look at them; in fact, you might quicken your step whenever one of her family members are around. Seemingly, there is little to no hope for this family. They must endure this burden on their own, and now, especially if everyone was working to help make ends meet, someone must stay at home to make sure the daughter doesn’t harm herself.

All throughout the news, however, you hear of a guy who is going around and doing amazing things. Helping people who are considered mentally compromised and even physically compromised. You hear of how this guy is reconciling families to each other, but you also hear of how this guy has also caused a stir amongst those who are in charge, so you choose to steer clear. Your neighbour, with the girl, hears of the same guy and instead of steering clear, she doesn’t allow cultural boundaries, religious boundaries, or health mandates to keep her away! Knowing the opportunity she has for her daughter, she pursues the man. Not letting anyone hold her back, she cries out to him as to be noticed. And then he responds. This exact situation actually plays out in Matthew 15:21-28

Matthew 15:21–28 NASB95

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

There is a lot at play in this passage. Everything I described above, was happening around this woman. Because of her daughter's ailments (...well, actually, let's call a spade a spade; because of her daughter being demon-possessed), her family would have been ostracized. Because of her daughter's possession, people would have stayed clear. Because she was a Cannitie woman, Jews would have especially stayed clear; particularly because they didn’t consider Gentiles as people to congregate with. The woman had most likely heard about Jesus and the miracles he was performing and knew if she had a chance to help herself and her daughter, this was it. She, a Canaanite woman, a gentile, would have to approach a group of Jewish men and request an audience with this Jewish Rabbi, Jesus. So she does. But she does so knowing and believing that Jesus is more than just a Rabbi; she declares Jesus as “Lord, Son of David”; she knows very well who this Jesus is. When Jesus does not answer her right away, the disciples urge Jesus to send this gentile away, forgetting that not too long ago, Jesus had driven out Beelzebul, the prince of demons. (Matthew 12:24). So Jesus responds by saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman then fell to her knees begging for help. Jesus then says, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Making a reference to how the Jews are the Children, He is the bread, and everyone else, who aren’t Jews were considered dogs by the Jews at the time, gentiles are not the chosen people. But the woman very quickly remarks, ”Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.”

As I read this passage, I can’t help but see a few factors at play here. I can’t help but see the Prophecy of Isaiah 56: 6-7 coming to fruition, where Isaiah says to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 56:6–7 NASB95

“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

Jesus knows full well what is happening, but I think he wanted to show the Jews (the Children) around him the trust and faith that those who don’t even belong to the original covenant have in this Jesus. In the past chapters of Matthew, we see Jesus healing the sick, diseased and possessed in Chapters 4,8,9 and 12. In Chapter 14:13-21 we see Jesus feed the five thousand, and then v 22-32, we also see Jesus walking on water. We then see in Chapter 14:33 the disciples proclaiming, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Then, the disciples in Chapter 14:34-36 witnessed that just the sick touching Jesus’s cloak was enough to heal them. So what changes for the disciples? Geography does. At the point of people being healed just by touching Jesus’s cloak, Jesus and his disciples are in Gennesaret, which is on the Nazareth side of the Sea of Galilee, so arguably, Jesus and his disciples are still encountering Jewish nationals. But as soon as they entered the region of Tyre and Sidon, where the woman and her daughter live, they had now gone into Canaanite territory, where they would be running into more Gentiles than they would be Jews. I think Jesus does this on purpose. Jesus wants to show his disciples that the Good News is for everyone, even those the Jews consider dogs. Just by the sheer persistence of the woman's words Jesus granted the woman's daughter to be healed. Since I know you have read the whole book of Matthew, you have seen this type of faith before through the faith of the Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13. This is not new. The fact that someone's words and faith brought about the healing of someone they cared about should catch our attention. Jesus points out on both occasions to the Centurian and the mother that because of their faith, their loved ones are healed. You would think that those who are travelling with Jesus day in, and day out would take note of the faith that Jesus is pointing out. You would think that these Jewish men would marvel at the faith that is displayed by these gentiles.

If we read further into the final verses of this chapter, verses 29-39, we will see more repetition start to happen.

We find that Jesus has made his way back to Jewish territory by the shores of Galilee. Let's read v. 29-39 with each other:

Matthew 15:29–39 NASB95

Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

Do you hear the similarity? In Matthew 14 (the previous chapter) verse 14, Jesus has compassion and heals the sick; in Matthew 15 verse 29-31 (from the passage we just read) Jesus heals the sick; in Matthew 14:16, Jesus addresses the disciples to feed the 5000; Matthew 15:32 Jesus addresses the disciples to feed the 4000; Matthew 14:17 the disciples express doubt and concern and they number how much food they have 5 loaves, 2 fish; Matthew 15:33-34 the disciples express doubt and concern and they again number how much food they have 7 loaves and a “few”. In Matthew 14:18-21 we see Jesus tell everyone to sit, then Jesus blesses the food, breaks the bread and proceeded to ensure that everyone had enough to eat. After everyone had eaten their fill, the disciples collected 12 full baskets of bread and fish. Pastor Jon, on the Sunday he preach, on the topic of the feeding of the 5000 suggested that there might have been 12 baskets so the 12 disciples could see the power and glory of Jesus Christ at work by the weight of the baskets they had to carry. In Matthew 15:35-39 we see Jesus tell everyone to sit, Jesus blesses the food, he breaks the bread and the fish and again Jesus proceeds to ensure that everyone had enough to eat. After everyone had eaten their fill the disciples collected 7 baskets of bread and fish.

What consistently surprises me is the lack of faith the disciples seem to have in Jesus. They see Jesus heal the many through just a touch of his robe. They see Jesus heal a centurion servant by just the words that are spoken. They see Jesus feed 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. But with a little stormy boat ride and a decent walk, they somehow forget that Jesus’s power has no limits. They somehow forget that Jesus even has compassion on a Roman centurion, and so they suggest a gentile be turned away, but despite the disciple's advice, Jesus has compassion and heals the Cannite woman's daughter. When Jesus is surrounded by a multitude like he was before, Jesus had compassion and wants to feed them. The disciples logistically knowing the impossibility of this argue that they don’t have enough food, even though not long before they saw Jesus feed 5000 people with little to no food. Instead of getting mad at the denseness of his disciples Jesus once again shows that he is indeed Jehovah-Jireh “God provides.” What is probably the most surprising is that these multitudes of people, who have more than likely just heard about Jesus. Almost, seemingly have more faith than the disciples and most of them have only heard about the miracles of Jesus.

How many of us do this today? We look at the new Christians in our midst and whisper "Sit down". "Stop being so excited" we say, " you need to be more composed and act like us". We look at the new Christians, and we say “I have been a Christian longer, I have been reading the Bible longer, and I have been praying longer, and so I know better.” However, I think that if we followed the new Christians examples and their zeal for Christ, we would revive our tired worn-out hearts. We would follow Jesus into the wilderness to encounter the great kingdom-building events. But many (not all) seasoned Christians like our comfortable pews. We like the people that we interact with day in and day out. We don't want to be bothered by that voice that is calling us out of our comfort zones. If someone doesn’t fit into our criteria of acceptable, they are best left over there, much like the Gentiles were left out when it came to the Jews. The Jews would often look at a Gentile and say I know more than you do. Are we any different? We like to sit here and say I have been a Christian all of my life, so I know better than you. Worse, we play a game of one-up-manship. We like to say I have been to Bible college, so I know better. We like to say I have a Master's degree, so I know better than even more of you. We like to say I have a doctorate, so I know the most, and to argue against us is simply futile.

I am here to say get off your high horse. You are not that important. Humble yourself before the cross. Allow the word of God to guide your life, and come join the Body of Christ in some great and awesome kingdom-building ministries. The Pharisees sometimes overcomplicated things, mostly in an attempt to trip up Jesus and maybe confuse Jesus’ followers and discourage the Gentiles. But Jesus spoke plainly and clearly. I believe that the living word of God is meant for all of us to be read without over-complicating the word of God. Jesus is waiting for you no matter who you are; he saved a sinner/ a Gentile/ a dog like me, and he is waiting for you with open arms as well! He bore the cross for everyone who would accept him. Like Isaiah 56:6-7 tell us if you accept Jesus, even you He will bring to His Holy mountain, even you He will make joyful in His house of prayer.

His house is called a house of prayer for everyone who will accept Him! Even you.

Lets pray.