Gone to the Dogs

it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

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.

Introduction

Blessed Reminiscere. Today we continue our Lenten journey through the Ten Commandments with the Third Commandment. We say it together:

The Third Commandment

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

The account of this Canaanite woman is my favorite account in the Gospels. This woman has a great need that she knows that only Jesus can heal. The disciples have no idea what her great need is, nor do they understand Whom it truly is that they are following, and how Jesus can meet the most desperate needs in their lives or ours. They see a pest. Someone who is interfering with the true ministry of Jesus. Ironic that His true ministry is in this woman, right before their eyes. They dismiss her. They want her to go away, like you wish your problems in life would just go away.

Not only is she a pest in their eyes, she is a sinful, unclean Gentile. Not of their race. Not of their faith. Not of the lost sheep of Israel to whom Jesus was called to minister— He had said so Himself right in this text!

But the twist comes in that Jesus appears to side with the disciples. He gives her the silent treatment.

She doesn’t take it. She keeps pleading: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” A reality that even the learned scientists of today wrongly deny.

Jesus. Keeps. Walking.

The disciples try to send her away.

His answer to His disciples was meant for her to hear: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

She cries out again in deep desperation: “Lord, help me!”

Jesus makes sure that she heard what He just said to her: It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

Dogs is what the Jews called these unclean vermin Gentiles. Jesus calls her a dog to her face. I’m sure the disciples were loving this. Put that woman in her place, Jesus! Send her away!

And then, in a confession more beautiful than even Peters, she comes back in agreement, “Yes, Lord” and then continues, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s Table.”

In an amazing twist, not understood by the disciples, Jesus commends her: “O woman, great is your faith!” “Be it done as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very moment.

What Happened Here???

Jesus does two things here. First, He brings out this beautiful faith of this woman. Something He knew all along, but she did not. And second, He puts the disciples— those who were of the Lost Sheep of Israel to shame and shows them their own faithlessness.

This wasn’t the first time that Jesus commends and heals a Gentile dog. Seven chapters earlier in Matthew, Jesus heals the Centurion’s servant. The Centurion and his servant were Romans, not Jews. The Centurion comes to Jesus and begs him to heal his servant. Jesus asks to go to his house. But the Centurion stops Him and says,

Matthew 8:8–9 ESV

But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Do you remember what Jesus’ response was?

“Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

Grasp it, dear brothers and sisters. Unbelievers and sinners are the ones worshiping and calling out to Jesus here. Not the disciples. Not the Children of Israel. But outcasts. Like prostitutes, murders, cheats, drunkards, street people. They see the Power of God at work in Jesus and they bow down and worship Him. He heals them and He saves them.

He has done that for you as well. Comfortable Christian that you have become. But in many cases I think we just expect Him to do this. After all, we are baptized, we are saved so no desperation here, at least usually— unless we have a need, and then God can’t act fast enough.

Matt Harrison, the President of our Synod, wrote an amazing article this week. I included it in the eNews for those of you who get it. In part listen to what he says:

The Church is not, and never has been a country club — though in the last century especially in North America, it might have been confused for one…

We have become like the disciples. We have our comfort zone. Anything that upsets that must somehow go against the faith in our minds.

But the crumbs are still falling, and the desperate still eat them.

Enter the Third Commandment

God gives us the Third Commandment to prevent this from happening. Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. This speaks more than just to singling out a day of rest— though that is included. This speaks directly to our hearts.

When it speaks its law to us, we see the disciples in ourselves. Thinking “we’ve got Jesus all the time” and then not seeing the depth of the depravity of our own lives for which He came.

The only way that this can be defeated is through hearing the Word of God and allowing it to change our lives.

The only place this happens is in the gathering of the Saints. Oh sure, you read your Bibles and have devotions, and hopefully pray as you rise, before and after all meals, and before you go to bed. But if you absent yourself from the gathering into which you were Baptized, all of that is for naught.

It’s not like God takes attendance on Sundays. But to absent yourself from worship, to make worship simply a calendar appointment that can be bumped if something better comes around, despises the preaching of God’s word and is a sin that condemns us.

So does daydreaming. So does having your cell phone go off in church (leave them home!). So does getting so riled up about things in church that your mind is there that you totally miss Jesus who has come right here to forgive and save you.

It is a word of law when we hear Jesus say, “I have never seen such great faith even in the Church. Because that is exactly what he said to his disciples.

Worship is a gift, beloved

The greatest news on planet earth is that God has chosen you to be His own. He is the one who created the Church. He is the one who has gathered you in. He is the one who loves you and made you a kingdom of priests unto God His Father through His blood. He doesn’t bring us in by threat, but by love. He is the one who forgives all your sins, who comforts the fainthearted and the distressed. Who heals our diseases. Who comes to us in His body and blood (try to find that at your own kitchen table!).

It is in the hearing of His Word and the receiving of His sacraments that you are rebooted. Where He Himself pulls you to Himself in love.

Martin Luther once said, “we are beggars, every one.” Indeed we are.

But God has answered that in sending His Son. What a joy it is to worship Him. The crumbs fall from the cross in bread and wine. And God gives them to the dogs— you and me. “That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true!