Faith in Action
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Introduction:
Pledge
21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Segway:
Segway:
The Jews had 3 BADGES of JEWISH IDENTITY:
1. Dietary
2. Sabbath-keeping
3. Circumcision
• Up to this point in Matthew we have seen Jesus be accused of violating 2 of these 3: the Sabbath (Chapter 12) and the dietary (Chapter 15).
But what we have to come to understand is the significance of these accusations.
To help us understand this “significance” it would be fair to compare this situation to someone who is accused of violating the constitution of the US.
What we find with the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees is of the same magnitude.
But what we know about this situation is this, Jesus is not violating the Jewish constitution (The Law of God).
Jesus has come to fulfil the Law and help the people (the House of Israel) see it correctly. The way God had intended it.
Body:
What we find, starting in verse 21, is Jesus and his disciples moving out of Gennesaret.
It reads … And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
WHY?
Is the reason WHY?
Why did they go to this region?
There is 2 reason why?
“To withdraw”
This word, in the Greek, means “TAKE REFUGE”
This could mean to get some much needed rest.
Mark may be insinuating this in stating that they “entered a house.” ()
This could mean they went to get away from the Pharisees.
Jesus and his disciples have already commited offense to 2 of the 3 Jewish Badges of Identity.
Which leads to the 2 reason to enter this region...
A Canaanite woman.
PAUSE
Before we can understand the significance of what is taking place in this pericope we need to remind ourselves of what just happen before this encounter with this woman .....
Quick synopsis ....
The Pharisees travel a great distance to confront Jesus
They approach Jesus without a greeting or acknowledgment of who He is (The Son of David, teacher, Rabbi).
They bring about their accusation.
The disciples are concerned with the fact that the Pharisees are offended.
Jesus didn’t care!
Not that he didn’t care about them but that he didn’t care that he offended them.
So, now, (VS 22-28) we read about this encounter with this Canaanite woman.
The introduction of this woman is done with a very “Matthew” kind of way, “And Behold!”
This statement is used 24 times in Matthew
41 times in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).
Matthew uses it over half the time in the Gospels.
This woman comes toward Jesus “Crying out!”
This is the same word used in
Peter “Crying out to Jesus “Lord, save me!”” as he started to sink in the water.
This word is what you would call an onomatopoeia which is the use or invention of words that imitate the sounds of what they refer to; for example, “swishing,” “bang!” or “bubble.”
Bratcher, R. G., & Reyburn, W. D. (1991). A translator’s handbook on the book of Psalms (p. 1207). New York: United Bible Societies.
when one utters loud cries, without words capable of being understood
This is important to understand!
She is in a state of despair. Here crying out is not a “Yelling loud” as much as it is “Excruciating pain of the heart.”
She identifies Christ as “Son of David.”
This is huge to the reader (Jews).
A Canaanite women acknowledging Christ as the messiah.
Most of the Jews and (Specifically the Pharisees) don’t acknowledge Jesus as “The Son of David” The coming Messiah!
Shares with him her pain, “the oppression of her daughter by a demon.”
Not just oppressed but “Severely!”
Meaning “Badly,” “intensified.”
We see Jesus’ response, (Vs 23) “But he did not answer her a word.” (It appears as if Jesus has a lack of compassion)
The disciples appear to lack compassion as well.
(Vs 23b - And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”)
“Begged” has the feel of “pleaded with him earnestly”
Same word used in And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him,
the elders of the Jews coming to Jesus on behalf of the Centurion.
The disciples encourage Jesus to “Hurry up and grant her request so she will leave and stop drawing attention to us. “
Jesus makes a statement that he has made before, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ( but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.)
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.)
She hears this and falls at the feet of Jesus (Worshiping aspect) and acknowledges him again, “Lord” and makes her plea one more time, “HELP ME!”
Speaking directly to the woman, Jesus ask a question.
He uses the reference of children and dog’s.
Children - the House of Israel (Jews)
Dogs - little dog’s/house pet’s (Gentiles)
The Canaanite woman responds to his question ....
And Jesus finds her response as such ....
O Woman, great is your faith!
Climax:
This pericope has to do with “FAITH!”
Faith is a huge thing when it comes to Christianity.
But on a more personal level its a huge thing when it comes to our walk with Jesus
Faith is defined in - “Now Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
() goes on to pinpoint this thought, “Faith is what we are to walk by, not sight.”
( tells us … And without Faith it is impossible to please God (him).
() says, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Some of you might be saying, living by faith is hard. I get that but tells us, “Jesus, (is) the founder and perfecter of our faith.”
This word, “perfecter” is only used here in scripture.
It means “one who brings something to a successful conclusion.”
What does this mean?
As we walk and live out our faith, Christ will perfect (bring it to a successful conclusion).
Can I get an AMEN?
This pericope brings about what Faith looks like when it’s in action.
When its being played out.
What does “Faith in Action” look like?
What does it looked like when its being played out?
This Canaanite woman helps us to see what Faith in action looks like ......
We see 3 things in this passage of scripture as faith is being played out.
When Christ is perfecting faith in someones life.
The first thing is that when Faith is being played out it has a ......
Reverent Attitude!
When you are allowing Christ to perfect your faith you will have a reverent attitude.
This Canaanite woman knew who she was in the presence of.
She new who Christ was and she payed the proper respect toward him.
Calling him “Son of David” and “Lord!”
The Pharisees didn’t pay respect to Jesus when they came to him.
No calling out “Teacher, Rabbi!”
This Canaanite woman understood who she was in the presence of.
As Faith is being played out it will come with a reverent attitude.
The second thing is that when Faith is being played out it has a .....
Sense of Humility!
Just as the Canaanite woman understood who She was in the presence of, she also understood who she was.
She was not part of the chosen people (Jews)!
This Canaanite woman allowed herself to be in the same comparison as a DOG! (A household pet.)
Have you been in a situation where you used an analogy of something, but it was taken the wrong way?
EXAMPLE: You are like an elephant: you never forget!
And the person says, “You calling me Fat?”
This woman didn’t let her pride or self confident issues get in her way.
She didn’t let pride get in the way of her faith in Christ.
She didn’t sit there and say I’m offended.
She was humble to the understanding that the one who could and would heal her daughter, she was in the presence of.
Finally, when faith is played out it is ....
3. Unshakable!
She had a quick-witted answer to Jesus’s question!
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Jesus says, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” (Vs 26)
And look what she answered, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
What is being stated here?
The very blessing of God that’s for His people can spill over to the GENTILE.
She didn’t let the fact that she was a woman stop her.
She didn’t let the fact that she was not a Jew.
She didn’t let the fact that she was a Gentile stop her.
Her faith was unshakable!
PAUSE
Conclusion:
This leads us to that moment that I would like to think we all would like to hear spoken to us by Christ .....
“Great is Your Faith!”
And Because of her GREAT FAITH, Her daughter is healed.
By her faith, not only was a mothers heart healed but a daughter received a healing as well.
FAITH!
Is it being played out in your life today?
If you was to do a check-up today on your faith ....
Do you have this Reverent Attitude toward Christ?
Do you have Humility being displayed?
When it comes to believing in Christ, are you Unshakable?
You know how you can test this?
Listen to your self or have someone listen to you share your faith.
Do you say, “I believe or I have faith!” or is this statement followed with a “BUT?”
Let us not forget the one who is perfecting our Faith: Christ Jesus!
What does this mean?
As we walk and live out our faith, Christ will perfect (bring it to a successful conclusion).