Great Is Thy Faith

Scripture

Matthew 15:21–28 KJV 1900

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 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. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 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.

Nine months of nerve-racking mood swings, cravings for weird food combinations, a bladder that never stops flowing, constant back aches, swollen ankles and overall general fatigue become but a distant memory the moment you held your bundle of joy in your arms for the very first time. Gazing into those beautiful eyes you could not help but feel incredible love and see many blissful futures for your son or daughter and yet this euphoria of happiness soon dissipates with night feedings, mending busted knees, bullying incidents, dealing with utter defiance, friends from the wrong side of the track, and your child’s romantic adventures that while seem quite grand to them just keep you up late at night! In light of the trials and tribulations of parenthood that you go through you can’t help but wonder, am I truly a good mother to the children God has given me? When you read the stories of Jochebed who had the wisdom to put her son Moses in a basket and then later nurse him for his adopted mother, Hannah who dedicated her child to the Lord, Elizabeth who believed in miracles, and Mary who listened and believed the angel who told her the Holy Ghost had impregnated her with Son of God; you can’t help but be inspired that being a good mom might not be out of your reach! In today’s sermon we are going to review another of these great mothers in the Bible, a Canaanite woman, who despite us not knowing her full identity has become a model mother of faith that is still talked about today! From her story in Matthew 15:21-28 we are going to learn that the key to being a good mom is: out of one’s unworthiness and tribulations cry out to the Master for mercy and when opposition comes have the unsurmountable faith to do what God asks with the assurance that He who gave you your child will teach you how to rightly raise your child!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Situation requires Great Faith

Submission reveals Great Faith

Solution requires Great Faith

- Perhaps you are at a dead end over some situation in your life and you need help. Perhaps you have exhausted every means at your disposal and do not know where to turn for help.

- Whatever the need in your life may be today; you should take a lesson from this woman: Get that need to Jesus. Regardless of what you face in your life today, the answer will be found in Him. He can move your mountain; meet your need; save your soul; forgive your sins; touch your loved ones; you name it, He can do it.

• She is poor woman -Humble, not looking for recognition.

• She is outcast Canaanite Gentile.

• She was never given a name in the story,

• Yet she was elevated among the greats of Scripture and we are reading about her 2,000 years later.

• Her love is more powerful than her fear

• Her love is more powerful than her shame

• Her love is more powerful than all her hardship and sacrifice combined. She would not leave anything undone to help her daughter.

- Whenever there is a difficult situation that seems hopeless and impossible, then great faith in God and His Word is required.

- Throughout the New Testament, the people who show the greatest faith in Jesus are the ones who need him the most.

- The ones who are helpless and hopeless and who came to seek Jesus as the only solution to their difficult situations.

- Great faith requires us recognizing that we need Jesus. Realizing that we are helpless and hopeless without Him, we can’t get it right on our own unless He shows up for us.

- We can’t fix ourselves, our families, or our world, on our own. We need Jesus to do all that in us and for us.

- The woman was prepared to humble herself and embarrass herself. She was ready to do whatever it takes, because her need is that great and no one else apart from Jesus could help her out.

- Every difficult situations concerning our Health, the Economy, our Family, our Businesses and Careers and our New Life in Him, that seems hopeless, can be turned to Him with an unwavering faith that He will give us a solution better than we could ever imagined.

James 1:5–8 KJV 1900

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

- Our world has a great need. But that need won’t be filled by anything but Jesus. The Canaanite woman has great faith, not just because she is desperate for help, but because she comes to realize that her help can only come from Jesus. Great faith means recognizing our greet need, and turning to our great Saviour. Knowing what we need is something, and knowing who alone can fill that need is the real thing.

Closing

- You are encouraged to take heart today. There is hope! Today might be the day when the Master responds to your cries. Today might be the day when you see that mountain moved in your life. Today might be the day when you come to Him and call on Him to be saved. Today might be the day when God speaks in your soul and says, “It’s going to be all right! I’ve taken care of it.” Today might be the day when His peace replaces your pain and you get the help you need.

- Bring that need to Him again today. Bring it with faith in your heart, that He will hear you; that He will help you and He will fix it. Bring it to Him and place it in His hands. Watch Him take it and make it as it ought to be.

A GODLY MOTHER DOES NOT NEED A NAME.

A GODLY MOTHER OVERCOMES ALL BARRIERS

A GODLY MOTHER IS ARMED WITH DETERMINATION

A GODLY MOTHER KNOWS THE POWER OF PRAYER

A GODLY MOTHER KNOWS HER OWN SPIRITUAL NEED

A GODLY MOTHER TRIUMPHS BECAUSE OF FAITH