The Resiliance of a Pagan
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Introduction:
For those of you this morning who are heavy weight boxing fan you may recognize the man on the screen behind me. His name is Jack Johnson.
Jack was the first African-American heavy weight champion in the world.
Before becoming a boxer he grew up poor being the son of a slave.
Because he was poor it was impossible for him to hire a coach to help him get better at boxing.
So without a coach he took matters into his own hand and used his time in the ring receiving blow after blow, he used this time to improve his game.
He would purposely prolong his matches so he could learn from is opponent. In some cases he would endure being beat by his opponent for twenty round just to toughen himself up.
Then in later rounds after his opponent was exhausted, he would knock them out to win the match.
As I stand here this morning I know that there are some of you this morning and many around the world who’s lives may resemble the path that Jack had to take in order to win.
Maybe you are here or listening this morning and you are having a hard time trusting God because you feel defeated.
You are having difficulties because you feel as though he has been slow in responding to your needs.
Maybe you feel as though life has dealt you blow after blow and the impact is causing you to have the thought of just giving up.
If this is you this morning or if you know others who are currently going through similar situation that you wish you could help with than this mornings lesson is for you.
In the passage that was just read for us God through his word provides us with an example of someone whose life has taken blow after blow but instead of giving up she persevered and becasue of her perseverance and faith she won in the end.
Let’s take a closer look at this passage again. Matthew 15:21-28.
And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
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.”
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.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Here in this story Jesus and his apostles find themselves in a Gentile region thus a Canaanite woman, a woman who would have been a descendant of the people that Joshua in the Old Testament was told to wipe out because of their sinful behaviors comes to Jesus begging him for help.
She says in verse 22, Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, Son of David.
Although this woman was not a Jew she no doubt-ably had heard about Jesus and all that he was able to do. She must have had some understanding of the Jewish teachings thus she referred to Jesus as Lord and the Son of David.
Its interesting that this Gentile woman came to Jesus instead of traveling just a few miles down the road to where the pagan god of healing was located.
This woman had to of been familiar with the pagan deity of healing, but it must have been that the popularity of Jesus had been so widespread that this woman understood that she would have had a better chance of receiving help from Jesus than the pagan god of healing.
Right away we see that Jesus responds to this woman who is in desperate need of help in a way that the apostles would have expected any Jewish person to respond to a Canaanite or Gentile person.
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.”
Notice how Jesus responds in, verse 23.
Here is this woman who is pleading for help and what does Jesus do? He just ignores her. Thus offering another blow to this woman who has obviously faced many hardships becasue she was a woman, and because she had a daughter in serious need of help.
But thankfully the silence of Jesus did not turn her away from Jesus. She knew that Jesus had the very thing that she needed. So what does she do? She doesn’t give up. Instead she begins to cry loader. She doesn't care how this makes her look, all she cares about is getting the help she needs for her daughter.
She is crying so loud the disciples ask Jesus to send her away. Now many may wonder why did Jesus just ignore this woman? I believe as we will see in a moment that Jesus was testing her faith in him.
After this desperate woman continues to cry out Jesus finally acknowledges her by saying in verse 24.
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Not only does this woman receive another punch in the gut because God first seemed to be ignoring but now she receives another blow because it seems as though Jesus is communicating that she doesn't deserve his help when he says I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Here Jesus is making it clear to this woman that he was sent here to first help his people the Israelites. The Apostles already understood this becasue he made this clear to them back in Matthew 10:5-6 when he said...
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Thankfully for us we know that Jesus eventually does offer all people of all nations help but right now in his ministry He is focused on His people the Israelites.
Despite Jesus words this didn’t stop the woman from seeking his help. Verse 25
But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
The persistence of this woman and her willingness to not give up hope and to be willing to kneel before Jesus shows that she understood that He and only he had the power to assist her.
The persistence of this woman is indeed amazing. She would not let anything rob her of the blessing she needed from the Lord. She understood that if she turned away from Jesus that she had nowhere else to turn.
In verse 26 we learn that Jesus is not done testing the faith of this woman. He again what would seem like to most offers her another blow or test that many would not be able to respond to. Notice what Jesus says next in verse 26.
And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
What in the world is Jesus communicating here. Once again Jesus is communicating his commitment to his mission to help the Jews first. The children’s bread emphasizes the care that God promised to his people the Israelites and the dogs represent everyone else the gentiles.
This latest blow,as you can already anticipate doesn’t stop this dedicated woman from getting what she needs. Instead of being offended by what Jesus said she quickly turns this analogy to her own advantage by responding to Jesus by saying…
She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Here this woman says to Jesus, we Gentiles or dogs might not be able to sit at the table with the Jews and eat their bread, but even us dogs under the table can eat the crumbs.
Her response here implied that she understood that Jesus was the Lord of all nations therefore even her being a gentile deserved help from the Lord even if it meant receiving the leftovers.
In reality what this woman is saying is; Lord, I know that you are great and I am not worthy but if it is possible I would be glad to take your leftovers and be satisfied.
Also, this persistent woman seems to have understood the prophecy that God was going to help Israel first, but she also understood that He was the messianic Son of David, therefore she presses Jesus by calling on the extended blessings promised to the Gentiles.
She must of had some understanding of God’s promise to Abraham all the way back in Genesis 12:3 when we said that through Abraham all people of the earth will one day be blessed not just God’s people the Israelites.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
This woman understood Jesus point that he must help his people first but that didn’t stop her. She continued to persist. And because of her determination and understanding of God’s plan Jesus finally responds to her very positively by saying… Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
It seems as though from this story that Jesus is testing this woman to see if she is willing top remain faithful knowing that if she does God will bring about healing and blessings to her along with everyone else who remains faithful.
Thankfully this woman passes the test with flying colors because she acknowledged that Jesus is Lord and master of all and she had faith that God would keep his promise to care for the needs of all, whether Jews or Gentiles.
Her response is called by Jesus an exercise of great faith, which is rewarded by having her daughter healed that very hour.
There is no doubt that Jesus was impressed by the faith and determination of this persistent Canaanite woman. Only one other time in his ministry does he commend someone for their faith and ironically in both cases they were Gentiles. The other example of someone having great faith is found in Matthew 8:5-13 where Jesus heals the servant of the Roman centurion.
How many of you this morning can relate or know people whom you love who can relate to this persistent Canaanite woman?
How many of you feel as though you keep getting knocked down or you keep receiving bad news after bad news.
Because of this, you may think that God is ignoring you. But let me reassure you that if you are a Christian, silence from God does not mean that our God doesn't care.
As we learn from this story, throughout the faith of the Canaanite woman was silent but it was purposeful silence that was eventually rewarded.
This means that we will not always see the answer to prayer that we want but becasue of Jesus, those who are faithful through their trials will eventually be rewarded.
Because of Jesus there is no trial or condition that can keep you from his Kingdom and the eternal blessings that he offers to those who remain faithful.
Because Jesus was willing to go to the cross for everyone now there is nothing that can separate us from the love and eternal blessing of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I pray this morning that the example of this persistent Cananite woman can help all of us remember that no matter what this world throws at us that we must be strong enough to be seen by Jesus as one who has great faith in order to persevere through life so that we can one day be reward just like this Canaanite woman.