More than Meets the Eye

More to It

I’ve told you guys many time, I am not much of a tool guy. I can eyeball things do basic stuff. But if it gets complicated, I’m in over my head.

Simple things like, the toilet flush handle. We had one break. Well, it was the bar inside the tank. Metal. It rusted and corroded thru and broke. Easy enough. HD has the kit.

I had a shower valve lead a few years ago. This time, HomeCo had the kit. It almost became a bigger problem. I was in process, turned the water on to make sure the leak was repaired, but the pressure blew the parts all over my shower. Fortunately, I was able to catch the little spring, little metal piece, and whatever little plastic pieces before they went down the drain.

Note to self. Don’t turn the water on till everything is screwed down tight.

Other water issues, not so easy to figure out.

We had a drip from our ceiling down a partial wall above the kitchen. There is no plumbing above the ceiling there. There was a layer of snow on the roof. So, maybe a leak.

We had a roofer out after the snow melted. Our roof is fine. He suggested keeping all the pine needles blown off the roof. I did that. And the drip came back.

Condensation? It was very cold outside w/ snow. And we had our wood stove cranking as hot as we’ve ever had it. Was that it? We never found out. The drip came back once, but never since in 8 years.

We had water in our storage closet on our bottom floor. It puddled on top of containers w/ Xmas decorations, the plywood floor was wet, but no warped. Outside wall. Where did the water come from. No water stains or marks on any wall or ceiling anywhere?

Best guess, it was when our kids were living w/ us and using a bathroom right above so there may be a leak in the drain or valve inside the wall. But again, no water marks anywhere.

That water has never come back.

Have you ever gone after a leak, taken some sheetrock down and discovered a mold problem? Too often there is more to it. You discover there is much more going on that meets the eye.

House repairs, car repairs, how many times do you tear into it only to discover there is much more to it than meets the eye to the surface observation.

Computer problems. They seem so easy to fix. A box got unchecked. Push the magic button. Delete and reinstall the app. Should work. It never does.

Some things seem so easy. A few are. But some are complex. Not that we can’t. YouTube, tech support, Phone a friend and we can do what needs to be done.

I’m a simple guy. But w/ a little work, what turns out to be more than meets the eye can be seen.

That’s also true of Jesus and His word, the bible.

Some applications of what Jesus is teaching are obvious. Easy to understand if not easy to do. But, b/c Jesus is God, and the bible the very words of God, they can be a little more complex. And w/ a little work that we can all do, what’s not so obvious can be seen.

A deeper dive in the Word will lead to more discoveries and a deeper knowledge of Jesus and a stronger faith.

We are going to look at today’s passage, and the context on 2 levels. I’ll point out the obvious. And, we’ll look at what is not so obvious, but true. There is more than meets the eye in this passage.

2 garden variety miracles. You’ve seen these and others like them before. So many miracles are not written about in the bible. But, why are these 2 written about in this passage at that time?

Both Matthew and Mark wrote about these. We are going to spend our time in the Matthew passage today.

1st miracle, a demon is cast out of a girl. We’ve seen that before.

The Demon

Matthew 15:21–28 NIV

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

I’ll deal w/ the context in few minutes. But, Jesus was in Capernaum when He was confronted by the Jewish leadership about He and his disciples not keeping their man-made up rules. As if that was a huge problem.

Capernaum is a Jewish city. The significance of leaving that town and going to Tyre and Sidon is that these towns are not Jewish. They are populated with non-Jews, or Gentiles.

This is the only time in His 3 year ministry he left Israel. He healed and saved Gentiles on other occasions. But, they were in Jewish territory at the time.

In c.1, the distance between Israel and neighboring nations was just a line. But, the distance between the 3 nationalities was a chasm, much like Palestine and Israel today. Not friendly at all. And always on the brink of military conflict.

Jesus is in the process of narrowing the gap between these groups of ppl.

Jesus is approached by Canaanite woman. Canaanite, not Jewish. A woman did not approach a man like this. A non-Jew did not approach a Jew, esp a Rabbi like this. Her daughter had a demon.

The divide between the woman and Jesus would have otherwise been vast. There were social issues, cultural issues, racial issues, spiritual issues, and gender issues.

But, Jesus brought a different approach than had been the accepted practices.

Her cry to Jesus was distinctively Jewish. “Lord. Son of David. Have mercy on me.” The same words as the Jewish man who was blind asking Jesus to restore his site. A non-Jew using strong Jewish recognition language. As if there is not distinction between Jew and Gentile any more. Hmmm.

She recognizes Who Jesus really is when so many Jewish leaders did not.

Jesus did not answer her right away. He did not reject her, but he did not acknowledge her, either.

You know when your child or grandchild comes to you to ask you to do something they know how to do themselves but are just being lazy? It’s what G-parents do, though, spoil their g-kids. But, parents are more likely to not do what the child asks so that the child will learn to be more proficient as they do what they already know how to do.

Jesus remained silent b/c there was something the disciples has already heard and seen but He wanted them to become more proficient and deeper in their knowledge of some important truths that are changing w/ the times.

Jesus was leading the woman along at the same time he was leading the discs along.

By their response, they obviously needed a refresher on this. It was arrogant and insensitive. In fact, they were probably wondering what they were doing there in the first place, hoping an episode like this would not occur.

Please don’t ask for a miracle....

Jesus, she’s bothering us. Make her go away! (Whine)

Where was their pastoral heart and compassion for this woman and her daughter?

Again, she wasn’t Jewish, she was a she, and they were in enemy territory. Awkward.

But, she was persistent. She recognized also that Jesus did not reject her. So, He was indicating there was a chance...

Finally, He spoke. And what He said was not entirely true. What? Jesus didn’t tell the truth? Well, it was, but it wasn’t.

At first, He was sent to be Israel’s Messiah. Had they accepted Him, He would have installed the Kingdom right away. But, anyone who bel’d in Him as Messiah could get in, even this woman. But, she would have had to become Jewish first, in belief and behavior w/ regards to the law.

But since Israel rejected Jesus, his offer was open to all ppl from all nations. Soon they would find out they did not need to become Jewish. But they would have to become members of this new org, the Church.

So, what’s He doing here? 2 things. First, how bad does she want this? How hard will she pursue Jesus? And 2nd, what will the discs get out of this?

In our prayer lives, sometimes we give up too soon. How bad do you want what you’re asking for? Occasionally, Jesus responds after we ask only once. More often, it takes many prayers. The self-discipline to stay at it, humbly asking, crying out, pleading for Jesus to do what we believe He wants to do anyway.

Persistence is appropriate here. “Lord, please help me.”

The words are very Jewish. The meaning is very accurate. Jesus is Who He says He is and can do what he says He can do and she recognized it.

Jesus’ reply seems rude. But, culturally, it would have been expected. Normal. Not inappropriate.

In Israel, the Israelite were considered the children of God. And Gentiles were considered and called dogs. Does this woman humbly appreciate what she is asking Jesus to do? Does she think she deserves this?

Oh, she gets it.

Her reply shows great understanding of the culture and Jesus’ previous 2 years. Jesus is the Bread of Life and He has been cast aside by the children of Israel. They don’t want him.

But, just like your dog who sits at your feet when you eat hoping, expecting a little splash and crumble will hit the floor, there were those outside Israel hoping Jesus would make Himself available to them.

Can’t the Gentiles have what the Jews have rejected? She revealed what God was doing in the world at the time. Israel’s failure resulted in the Gentile’s blessing.

Jesus won’t call the Gentiles dogs any more b/c they are no longer on the outside looking in. No longer will a non-Jew have to become Jewish to accept the One promised to the Jews as their Messiah according to their law. That law is about to be fulfilled and come to an end.

Not only did the woman have faith in the “Son of David, her Lord”, but she had enough faith to know that a crumb of Jesus is enough to save her and deliver her daughter.

Jesus called her faith great. And immediately her daughter was delivered. Not by the daughter’s faith, but by the mom’s. This was an illustration of the direction God was going in the world to make the offer of His kingdom available to anyone and everyone who believes in the name of Jesus.

Just a simple, garden-variety demon possession and deliverance. It all seems pretty obvious on the surface what is going on here.

That is true of the next miracle, too. Jesus repeats something He’s done before w/ a couple of twists and differences.

Hungry?

Matthew 15:29–39 NIV

Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

We’ve seen this before? Could this be a repeat of the previous feeding of the crowd?

No, it can’t be. There are too many differences.

The first time is was all Jews. This time there are no Jews. It’s all Gentiles.

The number is different. The first time it was 5000 men plus women and children. This time it’s 4000 men plus women and children. Probably, up to about 14K ppl.

The first time Jesus was there for 1 day. This time, it’s 3 days.

Last time it was a boy’s Happy meal, Filet-O-Fish and fries. 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. This time it’s 7 loaves, we don’t know what kind, and a few fish, we don’t know how many.

The last time there were 12 small baskets left over. 1 for each disciple to carry to be reminded of what Jesus will do when we make our miniscule resources available to Him to use and do great things. This time there are 7 large baskets (different Greek word for basket) left over. Illustrating Jesus can start w/ 7 loaves, feed thousands, and have 7 large basketfuls left over.

Jesus cares less about our ability, cares more about our availability, and will provide and abundance for both the receivers and deliverers of the spiritual food.

There are similarities. The obvious, including Jesus’ compassion for the ppl and the disc admission of their clueless inability to meet the need.

Let me back up for just a minute to v.31. After Jesus delivered the Canaanite woman’s daughter and stayed behind to heal the mute, crippled, lame and blind non-Jews; their response.

They did not take Jesus nor his miracles for granted. They praise the God of Israel for what Jesus had done.

Unheard of. Both ways. Non-Jews would not praise the God of Israel, nor would God have recieved their praise w/out them becoming Jewish first. This was brand new.

A new day was dawning.

That’s what the context leads us to. You see the obvious. Let’s dig a little deeper. Let me show you what else is being communicated in the way Matthew was directed by the HS to write in his gospel.

Here’s a lesson on Greek writing style. It’s called a Chiasm.

Writing Style

Greek authors would use what’s called a Chiam in helping them make point in their writing. The bible is full of these structures.

It’s called a Chiasm, b/c is resembles half of the letter, “Chi”. A Chi, looks like our “X”.

Another thing to keep in mind, we westerners thing in terms of order. Chronological order. Building a case order. Etc.

c.1 Middle Easterners don’t. They will write things out of order if it helps them make their point. So, don’t think the westerner you are.

In the chiasm, the two outside topics are related. The 2 inside these are related. All the way down to the point, which is the point of the entire passage.

We have been in a section of Jesus’ teaching that is primarily about faith. It began in John 6 and Matthew 14. It ended w/ our passage today in Matthew 15. 2 chapters of Matthew, primarily.

The context began in John 6 with Jesus teaching the discs that He is the bread of Life. By coming to faith in Him, He becomes part of us and we become part of Him. Just like the lunch you’re about to eat, your organs, bones, muscles and brain will be nourished by what you eat. As long as you eat something of nutritional value.

So, Jesus is the Bread of Life. That sets the stage for this passage.

In Matthew 14, Jesus fed 5000+ Jews bread and fish.

In the end of Matthew 15 He fed 4000+ non-Jews bread and fish.

See the obvious connection.

Right after feeding the Jewish crowd, Jesus sent the discs into a storm where Peter asked Jesus to call him out on the water.

Jesus said, fine, come. You’d think he’d be more comfortable in a boat on the water, but, if he’s willing to come out of his comfort zone, Jesus will show him what he’s capable of doing.

And few things would be more uncomfortable for Peter, a Jewish man, than to go into Gentile neighborhoods, eat with them, and teach them about faith in Jesus.

Right after that in Matthew 15, the Jewish leadership confront Jesus b/c He and His discs are not being obedient to their man-made rules.

Jesus responded by confronting them for not being obedient to God’s Word, command #5, honor your father and mother.

They had more faith in themselves to make up rules that in God who made up His own rules. Who would have more faith in? Your ability to make up rules, or God’s?

Just before feeding the 4000+, Jesus healed many of the non-Jews and they praised the God of Israel.

While the Jews confronted the God of Israel for not playing by their rules, the Gentiles praised the God of Israel for working w/in His rules.

Again, you see the connection thru the opposite reactions.

The mid-point of this chiasm, the main point Matthew is making, is the message of the Canaanite woman and the deliverance of her demon-possessed daughter.

The children of God have rejected the Bread of the Life and wiped it off their table. The dogs have been anxiously waiting, drooling, hoping for a crumb and the got it.

We Gentiles have benefited a great deal by the rejection of Jesus by the Jews, b/c a crumb of the Bread of Life is enough to save you if you have faith in Him to do it.

From this moment on, to the present and beyond, everyone has the same opportunity to believe in the name of Jesus to be saved. Jews still do, but so do those who were not born into the family.

I know you’ve known this. But, here it is. This is the way the HS instructed Matthew to structure this part of his gospel to show us the transition from a strictly Jewish org, to a brand new org where there are no distinctions between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, Israelite or barbarian.

Anyone, everyone can be saved the same way, by faith in the name of Jesus.

Some things seem so easy. Plumbing 101. Computer problems, not so much. But some are complex. Not that we can’t. YouTube, tech support, Phone a friend and we can do what needs to be done.

I’m a simple guy. But w/ a little work, what turns out to be more than meets the eye can be seen.

There is so much more to Jesus and His word than meets the eye. The obvious is easy to glean off the top. But w/ a little work, so much more can be gained.

Applications

Availability

Jesus does not depend on our ability, only our availability. He is not hamstrung nor limited by what we cannot do.

We may be painfully aware of our own limitations. Jesus does not care. He will provide in an abundance if we will only make ourselves available.

What do you need to make yourself available to Jesus to do? You may be reluctant b/c you believe you can’t do it. You are unable. But that’s the perfect condition for Jesus to provide and abundance in.

Where do you need to make yourself available?

Persistance

Jesus’ silence is not necessarily rejection. How bad do you want what you’re asking for? Just bad enough to ask once or twice? Or, are you willing to be humbly self-disciplined to ask, maybe, thousands of times?

Keep praying. Keep asking. Jesus is not bound by your request. He is bound by the promises He makes to listen to the prayers of faithful ppl and do what’s best for us.

What do you need to keep praying for?

Repetition

Sometimes we need to repeat a lesson before we get it. Don’t be surprised if Jesus brings you back to the same lesson again and again until you get it.

We had to pass first grade before we could go to 2nd grade. That’s not necessarily the case today. Teachers and schools seem t/b pressured to promote kids even if they haven’t mastered the material.

Trust me. Jesus isn’t like that. He won’t promote you until you master the material and He will keep giving you opps to master it.

Is there a situ you seem t/b repeating? What’s the lesson you’re not getting that Jesus wants you to master before you move on?

Crumb

Let’s go crazy. 4 applications today.

It only takes a crumb of the right Bread to save you. It only takes faith in the amount and size of a mustard seed if the object of the small faith is in the right thing.

You don’t need to know any more than this to be saved.

You’ll spend the rest of your adult saved life learning who this Jesus is that you believe in to be saved. You will learn from guys like me there is more to Him and to His word than meets the eye. And, you’ll be given ample opportunities to master the material about the Master before you get promoted to the next level.

Take the crumb. Take advantage of each lesson to learn more about who this Jesus is, in Whom you have placed your faith t/b saved.

Some things seem so easy. Plumbing 101. Computer problems, not so much. But some are complex. Not that we can’t. YouTube, tech support, Phone a friend and we can do what needs to be done.

I’m a simple guy. But w/ a little work, what turns out to be more than meets the eye can be seen.

There is so much more to Jesus and His word than meets the eye. The obvious is easy to glean off the top. But w/ a little work, so much more can be gained.

A deeper dive in the Word will lead to more discoveries and a deeper knowledge of Jesus and a stronger faith.

Paul prayed in Eph. 1 that we believers would get to know Jesus better and grow in our depth of insight into our spiritual lives. That’s what we’re doing here.