sf169 - What Makes Faith Great (Matthew 15 21-28)
Matthew 15:21-28
Introduction (15:21)
Jesus is under pressure
From the multitudes to perform miracles
From Herod Antipas who feared Him
From the religious rulers who hated Him
So He sought rest and a teaching opportunity
The district of Tyre and Sidon was the Gentile territory of ancient Phoenicia, an area now in southern Lebanon, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
It is possible that He and the disciples spent most of their time in the foothills of the mountains, which would have been a refreshing change in climate from the hot and arid region of Galilee.
He found a willing audience
Most of the native Gentiles in and near Palestine were less religiously and intellectually proud than their Jewish neighbors. Their pagan religious systems had repeatedly failed them and now had little influence on their living.
The Lord’s going to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon must have been refreshing because of the people as well as the climate. They were deep in darkness, but many anxiously sought for light (cf. John 1:9-11).
This woman had been raised in a pagan culture that was renowned for its wickedness and vileness. She had no heritage of God’s Word, God’s blessing, or of His Tabernacle, Temple, priesthood, or sacrifices. Therefore, because she believed so much relative to so little revelation, Jesus called her faith great (Matt. 15:28).
Four characteristics of Great Faith…
1A. Godly Repentance (15:22a; 2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
1B. You must turn away from sin and to Christ - She “came … and cried out to Him”
Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Acts 20:21 “testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2B. You must call upon God for mercy – “Have mercy on me”
Mercy is integral to God’s redemptive work for man. (Exodus 34:6-7)
Ø In the New Testament and the Septuagint various forms of the verb eleeoô (to have mercy) are used some five hundred times.
God’s mercy is an essential need.
Ø By definition, the person who asks for mercy asks for something undeserved. (Psalm 51:1)
Psalm 51:1 “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.”
Repentance is the inseparable companion of faith. All the while that we walk by faith and not by sight, the tear of repentance glitters in the eye of faith. That is not true repentance which does not come of faith in Jesus, and that is not true faith in Jesus which is not tinctured with repentance. Faith and repentance, like Siamese twins, are vitally joined together.… Faith and repentance are but two spokes in the same wheel, two handles of the same plow. Repentance has been well described as a heart broken for sin and from sin, and it may equally well be spoken of as turning and returning. It is a change of mind of the most thorough and radical sort, and it is attended with sorrow for the past and a resolve of amendment in the future.… Repentance of sin and faith in divine pardon are the warp and woof of the fabric of real conversion. (Spurgeon, All of Grace)
2A. Complete Trust (15:22b)
1B. Great faith has a proper object
For faith to make sense and to have power it must be placed in a trustworthy object; and as the Canaanite woman turned her back on her idols she placed her faith in the Lord, the Son of David.
Jesus Christ is the only worthy object of our faith.
John 6:68 “But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
John 14:6
2B. Great faith has a proper reverence
She had heard of the Jews’ coming Messiah, who was called the Son of David; and she reverently addressed Jesus as her sovereign and omnipotent Lord.
Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
3A. Determined Persistence (15:23-24)
1B. Jesus was not being cruel, He was testing her faith.
His silence tested her resolve. (Luke 18:1-7)
His statements tested her repentance.
Ø She demonstrated the fruit of true repentance.
2B. She refused to give up.
Most people would have indignantly said, “So much for your God of love, your message of compassion, and your narrow bigoted religion. I want nothing to do with a God or religion like that.” But this woman had no resentment or bitterness.
4A. A Humbled Heart (15:25-27)
1B. The woman’s cry (15:25)
Her posture – Worshiped (proskuneo) bow, to prostrate oneself
Her plea – Lord help me! (boetheo) run to the aid of one who cries for help
2B. The Lord’s comment (15:26)
Two different Greek words are used in the New Testament for dogs. One refers to the mangy and often vicious mongrels that ran in packs and lived largely off garbage and carcasses of dead animals.
The dogs referred to here, however, were household pets that were sometimes treated almost like family.
Even so, Jesus’ remarks were far from a compliment. The woman knew that children’s referred to Jews and dogs referred to Gentiles, because both figures were commonly used by Jews.
In essence the Lord was emphasizing the woman’s unworthiness.
3B. The woman’s confession (15:27)
She knew she was sinful and unworthy of anything He had to offer.
She demonstrated a complete absence of the pride, self-reliance, and self-righteousness that characterized all men.
Application (15:28)
Because of her great faith, Jesus granted her wish that her little child be delivered from the demon, and her daughter was healed at once.
As Spurgeon observed, “The Lord of glory surrendered to the faith of the woman.”
Matthew 15:21-28
1A. Godly ___________________________ (15:22a; 2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
1B. You must _________________ away from sin and to Christ - She “came … and cried out to Him” (Acts 20:21)
2B. You must call upon God for __________________ – “Have mercy on me”
Mercy is integral to God’s redemptive work for man. (Exodus 24:6-7)
God’s mercy is an essential need.
2A. Complete ___________________________ (15:22b)
1B. Great faith has a proper _____________________
Jesus Christ is the only worthy object of our faith. (John 6:68; John 14:6)
2B. Great faith has a proper _____________________ (Romans 10:9-10)
3A. Determined ________________________ (15:23-24)
1B. Jesus was not being cruel, He was ___________________ her faith.
His silence tested her ______________. (Luke 18:1-7)
His statements tested her _______________________.
2B. She refused to give up.
4A. A Humbled _________________________ (15:25-27)
1B. The woman’s _______________________ (15:25)
Her ________________ – Worshiped (proskuneo) bow, to prostrate oneself
Her __________________ – Lord help me! (boetheo) run to the aid of one who cries for help
2B. The Lord’s _______________________ (15:26)
The dogs referred to here, however, were household pets that were sometimes treated almost like family.
3B. The woman’s _______________________ (15:27)
She knew she was sinful and unworthy of anything He had to offer.
She demonstrated a complete absence of the pride, self-reliance, and self-righteousness that characterized all men.