Miracle-Working Faith

Secular -

A young boy was asked by his Sunday School teacher to say the grace before the annual church potluck. The boy was nervous, looking at the massive crowd and the piles of food. He closed his eyes tight and prayed: "Lord, thank you for this food. And please, if there isn't enough to go around, remember what You did with the loaves and the fish. But if there is enough, please don't make me eat the broccoli."

Historical/Cultural Context -

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 15:21–39 NKJV

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?” Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Get A Sense of Desperation, Give God Your All & Glorify God.

Life Point- Get A Sense Of Desperation

Exegetical -

Matthew 15:21–28 BSB

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.” But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said. But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” “O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Homiletical -

Jesus leaves the area He was at and goes to the area of Tyre and Sidon.

While there a Canaanite woman finds him. Now here is a woman who has some major things against her. She was not a Jew, she was an enemy of the Jewish people and she was a woman. At this time women were considered second class citizens.

This woman hears what the Jews were saying “have mercy on me Son of David.” So she cries out copying the saying.

The term Son of David harkens back to King David. King David was told that he would have a descendant that would rise up and reign forever. This would be the Messiah, which as we know is Jesus.

Now you might think Jesus is being calloused here, but what He is trying to do is to get her out of using someones borrowed words and demeanor and show her desperation for a miracle from God. A true expression from her to Him.

Which is why He ends the conversation with “your faith is great.”

Now notice something about this that you may not have noticed. The scripture shows that His fame has gone far and wide. Even amongst Israel’s enemies. How else would this woman know to go to Him.

Also, it says that she was possessed of a demon. These people during this time period knew the difference between true demon possession and sickness.

This woman finally shows her desperation for Jesus when she says “Jesus help me!”

Jesus gives an analogy about taking the Children’s bread and giving it to the dogs. She was desperate that she wasn’t offended and didn’t walk away but answered in the affirmative stating she just needs a crumb from the master’s table.

Then Jesus tells her about how great her faith is.

Folks, we are not the dogs at the Master’s table. We have been engrafted into the family of God. We are a part of God’s family

So what hinders us from seeing a miracle of God in our lives? Desperation. A desperation that says Jesus I need you more than anything else in this life.

Illustration -

In the 16th century, Martin Luther felt utterly desperate about his own salvation. As he climbed the stairs of the cathedral on his knees, he wondered if he would ever be worthy of God’s grace. But it was in that moment of despair that God’s truth gripped his heart, leading him to the realization that salvation is a gift of grace, not works. Just as Luther learned, our feelings of desperation might just be the moment God uses to open our eyes to His incredible mercy and love!

Life Point - When God Comes Through, Glorify God!

Exegetical -

Matthew 15:29–31 BSB

Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down. Large 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 crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Homiletical -

After this as Jesus and His disciples were going on their way he found what we would call a hill, but they called it a mountain and he sat down.

Then large crowds of people came to Him. What did they bring? They brought the sick. Those who couldn’t walk, the crippled, those who couldn’t speak and many other types of ailments and laid them at His feet.

You ever notice that in today’s sensationalized Christianity that you don’t see a bunch of people who are missing limbs or have a palsy getting healed at these massive meetings?

You ever notice that some people believe that you can lose your healing because your faith isn’t strong enough.

Well I got a greek word for you that explains this, it is called Bol-ogn-ai. It is hogwash. When God heals, He heals. Sometimes he does it through natural processes, helped along by Doctors. Sometimes He does it by miracles.

In this instance everyone that came to Jesus got healed no matter what the malady was. He healed them.

You know what? The crowd was amazed when they heard those that couldn’t talk, able to talk. It doesn’t say they stammered or got a little bit out. It says they began speaking. I would say they began speaking perfectly otherwise we would have been told that. How big is our God?

It says those that had been crippled were restored, the lame began to walk and the blind began to see.

What did the crowd and the healed people do? They glorified the God of Israel. Not pagan gods with a small g that are no god at all, but are demons masquerading as something they’re not. No, they glorified the one true God of the Bible.

When God comes through for you, what do you do? Do you glorify God? Do you worship Him and Him alone? If so, praise God!

Illustration -

Did you know that during the Great Depression, many churches saw a surge in attendance? People were seeking hope and turned to God in their struggles. Local congregations banded together to feed the hungry, clothe the needy, and pray for one another. This era brought communities together, reminding us that when God comes through, it often ignites a communal spirit of glorifying Him through our acts of kindness.

Life Point - Give God Your All

Exegetical -

Matthew 15:32–39 BSB

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because 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 faint along the way.” The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. A total of four thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children. After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Homiletical -

Now we are going to see something that we have seen once before. Jesus is about to feed the crowd.

He calls His disciples together again and He says that He is having compassion on this crowd because they have already gone 3 days without food, following Jesus and he doesn’t want them to get sick on the way back to their towns and villages.

The disciples, you know these bastions of faith who you think would have caught on by now decide that Jesus can do anything right?

Nope. They give the same old refrain. They ask Where are we going to find bread to feed this great crowd. You are looking at a conservative estimate of about 10,000 people as they only counted the men and not the woman and children also.

So now, He asks how much they have? Well they have seven loaves and the fish. He gives thanks, breaks them, gives to the disciples and the disciples give the to the people.

You know what happened? They all ate and were satisfied. They got exactly what they needed nothing more and nothing less. There was so much left over that again they picked up 7 basketfuls this time.

Jesus dismisses the crowd and he goes to another region.

Now notice something about the two accounts. Jesus took what was given to Him. Whatever they had, all of it was given to Him. Nothing was held back. Then He blesses what was given and gives it out.

God can take what you give Him, if you give Him your all. All your finances, all your love, all your talent and He can and will bless that and multiply it. But not so that you can hoard it on yourself, but to give to others.

Acts 20:35 BSB

In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

It is more blessed to give than to receive. How are we to give?

In every way that we can think of to give. Give Love, Hope, finances whatever God gives you, give it back to Him and be creative with what He gives you. How will you spread the message of Love and Hope to others?

When it comes to giving the tithe or offering what does God say about it?

Malachi 3:8–12 BSB

Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts.

I don’t like talking about finances in the church. I hate it. But you can’t talk about God blessing the fruits of your labor without talking about it. So here it is

What does God say? He says to test him in this. Did you know that this is the only time in scripture God says to test Him?

It says He will rebuke the devour for your sake. Did you know that stuff just seems to work longer when you are tithing?

Well, what is tithing? The tithe literally means the tenth. You are to give 10% of your income to the church as a starting point. Anything above that is called an offering. The tithe is where we are supposed to start, not end up.

But pastor I can’t afford to tithe.

Hey I was there too, but I have gotten to the point where I can’t afford not to tithe. I will not rob God.

So here is what I did when I started to tithe. I picked a percent and then increased as God blessed me and increased me. Over the years as my income has gone up so has my tithe. As it has gone down, I still tithe the ten percent of what it has gone down. The point is the same. It all belongs to God anyway and all He is asking for as a minimum is ten percent. That is half what you tip your waiter or waitress.

Now I am not going to spend any more time on that. But sometimes we have to put our money where our mouth is.

The point is, are you giving all that God has asked both in tangible ways and intangible ways? If so then expect a miracle, glorify God when it happens and live in the peace that is The Lord.

Life Principle– Get A Sense of Desperation, Give God Your All & Glorify God.

Call to Action – altar call….