Matt 15:21-28
SS Lesson for 04/28/2024
Devotional Scripture: Rom 4:18-20
The Gospel of Matthew does not explicitly identify its author. The early church, however, attributed authorship to Matthew, a tax collector who became one of the apostles (Matthew 9:9; 10:3). Other Gospels mention this person by his given name: Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27-28), named after one of the sons of Jacob (see Genesis 29:34; 35:23). As a tax collector, Matthew worked with the foreign occupiers of Palestine: the Romans. During the first century AD, tax collectors were despised by their fellow countrymen (example: Luke 18:11). They were seen as traitors to the Jewish people because they assisted the Romans in taking tax money. They were also held in low regard because they frequently enriched themselves at the expense of others (example: 19:2, 8). The only other information we have about this apostle is that he was the “son of Alphaeus” (Mark 2:14). The apostle James was also the “son of Alphaeus” (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15). These two may have been brothers, but none of the Gospels make that relationship apparent like they do with other sets of brothers (Matthew 4:21; 10:2; Mark 1:19). Matthew’s Gospel contains the most quotations from the Old Testament of the four Gospels. The Gospel of Matthew has about 65 Old Testament quotes; Mark has about 30; Luke has about 26, and John has about 16. As such, students frequently call Matthew the “most Jewish” of the four Gospels. It is thought that Matthew intended his Gospel to be received by a primarily Jewish audience. Although this Gospel emphasized the Jewish context of Jesus’s ministry (see Matthew 10:6; 15:24), its message reveals that the gospel of Jesus Christ was intended for both Jew and Gentile. Matthew is the only Gospel to record the visit of the Gentile Magi (2:1-12). It is also the only one to include Jesus’ commission to his disciples that they “make disciples of all nations” (28:16-20). The events leading to today’s Scripture reveal the intended expansion of the gospel message. As Jesus’ ministry in Galilee drew to a close, it became evident that his people would reject him and his mission (see Matthew 13:53-58). His disciples displayed little faith regarding his identity (see 14:22-32). They also failed to understand his teaching (15:12-20). Even the religious leaders were offended by Jesus’ message (15:1-9). The people most expected to accept Jesus and his mission failed to understand. Mark 7:24-30 is a parallel account of Matthew 15:21-28.
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.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."
24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground.
So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul; 12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-- 15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; 16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money 19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
15 So the prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat." 16 The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the LORD: 'You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.'" 18 The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. 20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what the LORD says: 'You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.'" 23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"
26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."
27 And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
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.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
I. The Circumstances: Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon (v. 21). There are two things you have to explain here: the withdrawing, and the location.
Tyre and Sidon were the two main Phoenician cities just north of Mount Carmel on the coast. In the Old Testament times this was all the region of the Phoenicians, better known as Canaanitish tribes. The word does not refer to one specific ethnic group, but an amalgamation of different groups (usually a list of twelve or more people known as the Canaanites) living in the land of Canaan. The word “Canaan” is the ancient name of the whole land before Abram arrived. The word itself may be related to the purple dye of the shellfish, or the merchant class that traded in the material. Because of its seaports and corresponding trade the Canaanite empire became a dominant power in the third millennium B.C. It had weakened tremendously by the time of the conquest, but still provided a formidable military challenge for Joshua and then later the Judges. But the Canaanites were also thoroughly pagan and corrupt. Their presence in the land was a strong threat to the purity of Israel’s religion and morality. So there is a long history of spiritual and military conflict between the Israelites and the Canaanites. David and his royal successors managed to control them; Solomon even did business with them when he was building he temple. But over the years the Canaanites were defeated and most of them fled the land. The bulk of those who fled settled in North Africa in Carthage, and met their doom in 146 B.C., which essentially ended the curse on Canaan and any threat from Canaanites. There were still people of various ethnic origins living in the area of today’s Lebanon and Syria, and they would be called Canaanites (like our term Americans). And Jesus met one of them here.
But why did Jesus go to the region? He withdrew from the conflict with the Pharisees and elders about thirty to fifty miles north into Gentile country. He had “withdrawn” before (2:12, 22; 4:12, 12:15, 14:13). Jesus was trying to control the timing of things. He did not want people to make Him king, and He did not want the confrontation with His enemies to come to a head too soon. So frequently He withdrew, or told people not to say anything about the miracle, or a number of other unexpected acts. It appears that Jesus withdrew for a time, both to let the conflict settle a bit, and to turn attention to Gentiles in this act. The timing is most significant--the Jewish leaders were rejecting Him, and Gentile woman who hardly knows Him was seeking mercy.
Some suggest that Jesus only went to the border, but did not enter Gentile land. There is no basis for that, and no reason. He had been in Gentile lands, and while that may have been a defilement in the minds of the Pharisees, it was not so in biblical tradition. It is clear that He left Galilee and entered a Gentile region (v. 21; Mark 7:31).
II. The Conversation: Jesus draws faith out of the Canaanite woman (22-28a).The way that Jesus deals with this woman has been given some very strange interpretations. One scholar suggested that Jesus had been a racist and this woman converted him from that narrow view. That is just silly. If he had been a Jewish racist, and therefore a sinner, he would not have come to Tyre and Sidon. No, what Jesus is doing is typical of the way He dealt with people--He would put stumbling blocks, as it were, in their way to see if they had faith to step over them. For example, when someone called Him “good,” He said, “Why are you calling me good, there is no one good but God.” How they responded to that would show what they thought of Him (He was not denying that He was good, or God).
The woman came crying out to Jesus, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” Her words are significant, given Matthew’s description of her as a Canaanite. She is well aware of the ancient rivalry between the Jews and the Canaanites. She believes He is the promised Messiah; but if that is true, then He is to her a Jewish king, “Son of David.” As such, He is sovereign over her and her land, and all she can do is cry for mercy. Her words open the old wounds. But she was desperate for her daughter, and so would cry out for mercy from the visiting Jewish king.
It is the setting and her words that prompt the disciples, and then Jesus, to respond the way they do. At first Jesus was silent, no doubt to see if she would persevere--and she did, following Him down the street crying out. The disciples said, “Send her away.” Now this could mean a couple of different things. They could mean, “Send her away because she is a nuisance.” Or they could mean, “Send her away by healing her because she won’t go away.” This last interpretation makes the best sense, because Jesus’ answer in verse 24 speaks to it and not the other. In other words, “I am only sent to the lost sheep of Israel” would explain why he was not healing her, and would not explain a request to dismiss her without healing her.
His answer, reflecting what He has already said in 10:6, focuses on His primary mission in the world, as reflected by Matthew. He was the promised Jewish Messiah who came to His own (John 1 tells us), but when His own rejected Him, He turned to the Gentiles. The “lost sheep of the house of Israel” does not mean there were lost sheep in Israel, but that all Israel was lost (Isaiah 53: all we like sheep have gone astray). His own mission was primarily to Israel; the mission of the disciples will be to go into all the world. But events like this will inform the disciples that Jesus set the precedent.
Jesus wanted the disciples and the woman to understand fully that His ministry in the brief time He had on earth was very focused. He was the Son of David, the Messiah. That fact did not admit this Canaanite woman to the benefits of the covenant made with the Jews. The kingdom had to be fully offered to them first, in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the kingdom. (The passage is like John 4:22 where it was recognized that “salvation is from the Jews.”) So all the woman could do is ask for mercy, general mercy as a non-Israelite.
(Many students of the Bible for one reason or another are afraid of this race issue; but the people of the times were very much aware of it. And Jesus came as a Jew, as the promised king of the Jews, whose kingdom would eventually extend to all the world, as it had in bits and pieces in the Old Testament. But it began with Israel).
Well, this woman would not be put off, and so knelt before Him and begged, “Lord, help me.” Jesus pushed her a little further, reminding her of the historic distinction between the cursed Canaanites and the blessed Israelites. In the short saying the Jews are the “children” and the Gentiles are the “dogs.” The children get fed first.
But the woman’s answer is marvelous: even the “dogs” eat the crumbs that the children drop. She acquiesces to the role of a “dog” in relation to Israel (she knows the Messiah came to Israel first); she may not be able to sit down at the Messiah’s table and eat with the “children,” but she should be allowed to pick up some of the crumbs they drop. She wants some of the uncovenanted mercy of God, His general saving grace to all people.
The word for dogs here refers to small dogs, perhaps children’s pets who are harmless and somewhat helpless. She accepts Israel’s historical privilege over the Gentiles, especially the powerful ancient Canaanites; but she is no threat to that in her request for grace that is freely given to the Gentiles. Besides, she will take what the Jews do not want. And that attitude played out again and again in Paul’s missionary journey when he turned to Gentiles because the Jews did not want their Messiah, but the Gentiles did.
III. The Conclusion: Jesus rewards her faith by healing her daughter (28b). Jesus honors the faith that seeks mercy. She had no resentment, no anger about her situation; she only knew that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah who came to heal people, and for some reason He was in her town. She sought mercy from Him. And this time Jesus responded with emotion (“O woman” has emotional force). Her faith was rewarded. And she became one of the early Gentiles to enter the kingdom.
(Adapted from URL:https://bible.org/seriespage/23-faith-canaanite-woman-matthew-1521-28)
The woman in today’s text was the ultimate “outsider” to a first-century Jewish audience. She was aware of the biases against her. The deck would be stacked against her if she approached a Jewish teacher. Despite that awareness, she came to Jesus anyway. Her desperate situation, and her suffering daughter, necessitated a bold response. The woman’s behavior revealed a persistent and great faith. As a result, she received mercy from the Son of David. She was considered an “outsider” to some people, but she was an “insider” because of her life of faith. This Scripture invites us to desire a life of great faith. What blessings do we fail to receive because we limit or misplace our faith? A life of great faith requires steadfast confidence that God will show mercy to everyone. How does your perspective need to change in this regard?