Faith Fed in the House of the Lord
Matthew 15:21-28
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 15:28 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.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord. Throughout the Church Year we hear numerous times about our Lord’s heartfelt compassion for the lost and helpless: Jesus feeds the 5,000, Jesus heals the sick, Jesus raises the dead, Jesus comforts the downhearted. But at almost every turn Jesus is met with rejection, even from His own people; He is rejected by the very ones He came to save. That is why He withdrew from the Scribes and Pharisees and went toward the Gentile regions of Tyre and Sidon.
Tyre and Sidon are familiar names in the Bible, but certainly not popular ones. These towns are known for being primarily pagan territories rife with unbelief. Sidon, for example, was the home of the wicked Queen Jezebel in the Old Testament. But at the same time, it was another woman from that region who received miraculous food and healing from the prophet Elijah. And it was the King and expert workmen from Tyre who helped King David build his royal palace and who for 20 years assisted King Solomon in the building of the temple in Jerusalem.
There is an urgent question being asked in our text today; and that simply is, Will the “bread” that Jesus has given first of all to the Jews also now be given to the Gentiles? And the answer is a resounding “Yes!” The bread of grace and mercy, which God has showered upon His chosen people, Israel, is indeed offered and given to the Gentiles as well.
And that is good news for all of us, although we often take it for granted, for it is not always so obvious to us. It was not always so obvious to the earliest Christians either. The vast majority of them were Jews, and it was difficult at best for them to welcome the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, at least initially.
The Bible says that salvation is from the Jews. But that very salvation is for Jews and Gentiles alike. As we sing in the Nunc Dimittis at the end of the Liturgy, Jesus Christ is a “light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of [His] people Israel.” Sadly, many of the Jews rejected their own greatest glory while many of the Gentiles were hungry for the mercy and salvation of the Jewish Messiah, the Son of David, Jesus Christ.
That hunger of the Gentiles is portrayed vividly by the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel. As a people the Canaanites were among the most hated and morally despised of Israel’s enemies. They were the lowlifes of that day and time. Their ancestors were driven out of the Promised Land by Joshua and the other Old Testament judges. Even the name “Canaanite” is virtually synonymous with Baal worship. Canaan is the very last place you would expect to find a person with such great faith in Jesus as that woman in our Gospel.
But here she was nonetheless. This woman’s hunger for the Lord’s mercy was very specific, and her faith was driven by her need. She was desperate for mercy; she was desperate for compassion; she desired deeply that her daughter be healed of her demon-possession. She was a mother anxious about her child, an anxiety any parent certainly can relate to. She was, in a way, like us as we also sometimes must hit rock-bottom before we seek the Lord. Hers is a hunger of faith – a faith which was bound and determined to eat from the hand of the Lord. And that determination is what moved her to plead, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
But where does this faith and hunger come from? How is it that a pagan sinner came to seek the Lord? Mark’s Gospel account informs us that the woman had heard some good news about Jesus. And as Martin Luther indicated in a sermon on this text, it was this good news – this Word of the Gospel – that called forth such faith in her life. She was clinging to that Gospel, the Gospel which called Jesus “Lord” and “Son of David.” In spite of the response she received from Jesus, she clung to His Word like a cocklebur sticks to a dog’s tail.
Oh for a faith and a hunger like that in our own hearts. Oh that we had a faith that clings to the Gospel and refuses to let go even when Christ seems to ignore us and reject our cry for help. God give us a faith that is so hungry for His grace and healing that we would dare argue and debate with the Lord God Himself until He should feed us.
Our text says that the woman “came and worshipped Him” in an attempt to gain the Lord’s help. But the original Greek indicates that she literally threw herself on the ground before Him in an act of worship. She rightly worshipped Jesus as Lord and God; her worship, therefore, was an expression and result of her great faith in Christ.
But Jesus’ response is seemingly cold. Verse 23: “Jesus did not answer a word.” Jesus literally turned His back on the woman. And we are shocked at this response from this Lord whom we know is full of tender mercy and compassion. Why didn’t He help her as we would expect? Why isn’t He doing what we want Him to do?
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But we, too, are sometimes met with a stony silence from the Lord in response to our prayers. It seems to us that at times the Lord turns His back on us. We don’t get the answer that we asked for; we get nothing from Him at times. Our fervent and tearful prayers seem to bring no relief, and that causes us to wonder, just where exactly is this friend we have in Jesus now?
Like the Canaanite woman we too must go on; we too must continue to cling to the Gospel. We must ignore the silence. We must trust the Word that we have already heard. Like a little child that tugs at his father’s pant leg or pulls on his mother’s apron string and who will simply not go away until he knows they are listening, we hang on to Jesus; we pester Him with our prayer and with our crying out over and over again.
Before long the disciples were moved to intercede for the woman. “So His disciples came to Him and urged Him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.’” Their request that Jesus should send her away implies that He should first answer her prayer. But then it seems to get worse; there is rejection: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” That seems harsh. It also seems that Jesus is sending the message that He is not for her.
Have you ever considered what might have gone through this woman’s mind? What might she have heard between the lines of Jesus’ answer? “This Jesus might be the Savior of others, but apparently not for someone like me.” And how often haven’t we felt the same way? How often have any of us thought that maybe Jesus has forgiven everyone else but forgotten about me?
And yet, here is precisely where the woman falls on her face before the Lord and worships Him with deep humility. Shutting out the uncomfortable “no” she believes she has heard, she remembers only the “yes” she knows she has heard in His Gospel. With a faith that is hungrier than before, she pleads again: “Lord, help me!” That should do the trick!
But then the final blow, and it is utter humiliation. “The bread of Christ is not for the dogs, but for the children of His house.” This, then, is the condemnation of the Law which turns this poor woman into a dog and pushes her down and away from the table. It is just the same as when the Law of God reduces all of us, in our pride and self-achievement, to nothing more than dust and ashes. And we can almost hear the slamming of the door.
Where do we go then? What do we do then? What more can we say or do in response to this Word of the Law? Shall a dog raise its whimpering head before Almighty God and go on begging for bread from His table? How many of us could have stood firm in the face of such words from our Lord?
By God’s grace the Canaanite woman did. She was granted an opportunity to demonstrate and confess with her lips the great faith she had in her heart. In fact, she not only confessed Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, but she also worshipped Him as her Lord and Master. She expressed confidence that, even as a “dog” she was already in His house and waiting at the foot of His table for whatever crumbs of bread He might allow her to have. This reminds us of Jacob in today’s OT lesson who wrestled with the Angel of God and refused to let go until he received a blessing. He did, and so did the Canaanite woman.
Jesus said to her, “Be it done for you as you believe.” And at the Word of Jesus the woman’s daughter was healed that very instant. Even though she was a Canaanite and not a biological Israelite, her faith and belief in Christ made her every bit an Israelite as any born in the land. She simply and by God-given faith firmly believed the Word of the Lord to her. She simply and by the gift of faith trusted that Jesus was the One to come and take away her sins that she so readily confessed. She simply received what Jesus had to offer. And her daughter was healed.
This is a perfect example of hungry faith fed by the Lord. Completely. Fully. Perfectly.
Whatever challenges you face; whatever difficulties you encounter; whatever your hunger; whatever your need; Jesus continues to feed You with Himself in His Word and in His Sacraments. Jesus promises to heal you of all your diseases either in this life or, more dramatically and eternally, in the life of the world to come.
But that life is yours already through Christ who received in His body the full punishment of all your sins. That life is yours already because Christ died for your sins on the cross. That life is yours already because Jesus rose again to defeat even death.
And the great blessing of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for you means that we do not receive mere crumbs, but the very feast of heaven itself. Come to His Word. Receive His Sacrament. He welcomes you to His table forever.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy SPirit.
