Matthew 2024

Matthew chapter 15 verse 21.

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Taya and Siden. A canaanite woman from the facility came to him crying out, lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter was demon possessed and suffering terribly. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, send her away for she keeps crying out after us.

He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord helped me. She said. He replied, it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.

Yes, it is lord. She said, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table, Then Jesus said to her, woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted, and her daughter was healed at that moment. Thank you, Karen. And, good evening, everybody.

My name is Tom, if we haven't met before, and I'm 1 of the pastors here. And as Josh said, we've been working our way through Matthews's gospel in these evening services. And, if you're joining online, then, welcome to you. It's nice to have you tuning in, and we are gonna be looking together just at these few verses. It's a it's a surprising yet tender wonderful story, isn't it for us to be looking at?

And, by way of, introduction, I want us to think together for a couple of minutes about the word entitlement. Now, it seems to me that there there are 2 main ways that we use the word entitlement. 1 is for those things that we are genuinely entitled to. So for instance, things like fair wages for fair work, that kind of thing, or natural justice, or a fair trial. There's probably a whole list of things that at least in this part of the world, we are we are genuinely entitled to.

It's it's what we can expect under law, to have those type of things. That's 1 way in which we might use the word entitlement. But there's another way that we use the word, which is at much less sort of complimentary, I suppose, which is if you call someone entitled, it refers to a sort of a sense of entitlement that people might have. And by that, we mean something like Here is a person who feels that they deserve a certain level of honor and respect just by virtue of who they are, whether that be where they were born, or whether that be the educational level that they have risen to, or whether that be their cast or their clan, they walk into a room, and they are entitled. They feel that their ideas need to be heard and put into practice and that others should sit and listen, and they're entitled, they're entitled people.

And so you might hear it used in that sense sometimes. You know, I can't stand him. He's so entitled. And there's all kinds of illustrations. I mean, but what here's 1, this is the and this is quite a money 1, I'm afraid.

But I sort of run into this kind of entitlement on the k 1, bus, quite regularly. I I get it in the morning from very near my house, and early on in the morning, there's 2 types of people on the k 1. There's Tollworth girls and there's Southborough boys. Those are the those are the 2 types of people on on the bus. Where I get on the bus, all the Tollworth girls come off and because it's the nearest 1 to their school, and all the southborough boys remain on the k 1.

Now what I'm about to say is not true of all southborough boys, and it may not even be true of most southborough boys. So with all those qualifications in mind, south bravoist. Wait. And and then when I come onto onto the k 1, and try to find a seat, I notice that many of them feel that their rucksacks are more entitled to the seat next to them. Than like me, you know, or or anybody else in the general public.

And so you go up and you stand there for a little bit. You must have had this experience, and you stand next to the seat, and, the bag is on the seat. And fact, this week, for the first time ever, I had to move the bag myself, which wasn't a very popular thing to have done, but I just wasn't gonna get the seat any other way. That's what I mean by a sense of entitlement. You know, the bag is more entitled to the seat.

That than I am. Yeah. Have you had that? Yeah. Right.

Yeah. That's what I mean. It's a sense of the so those 2 ways we use it entitlement, something genuine, a sense of entitlement, which is something you know, altogether, not as good. Now what I'm about to show you, is is not not very good. But, I think it's true.

This is a graph that I put together this week. And Steve, I think you'll have to, you'll show it up. I think there is a relationship between, our sense of entitlement and how easily offended we are. So as my sense of entitlement grows, I'm more likely to get offended if I don't get those things, which I feel that I deserve. So if I walk into a room where I'm in a meeting and I feel entitled, I feel like I deserve all my ideas to be heard and people listen to me and people to do as I say and think as I think.

If I'm entitled in that way, and people don't give me the respect and the honor and the submission that I feel I deserve. I'm going to be quite offended. I'm going to be easily offended because my sense of entitlement is is quite high. Whereas, if my sense of entitlement is low in the bottom left of that graph, then I'm less likely to be easily offended or bruised or sullen or upset if my ideas aren't listened to, and I don't I don't get that entitlement that I feel I deserve. I think it's a pretty straightforward graph, isn't it?

Sense of entitlement versus how easily offended we are. Now, this is, I I know I know pharisees are always an easy target. But if we had to plot them on this graph. They'd be somewhere up there, wouldn't they? Sense of entitlement very easily offended.

And I say that because if you look back to, chapter 15 or rather stay in chapter 15, and go to verse 7. This is what Rory was showing us last week. You remember Jesus was not pulling his punches with the hypocrites. So in verse 7, he says to them, teachers of the law, you hypocrites, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

And then the good friends that they are, the disciples come to Jesus following his statements like that in verse 12 and say, Jesus, do you know that the pharisees were offended when they heard this? Another translation puts it, do you know you upset them? And so these are like those good mates. Maybe you've got these mates that where where sometimes when you're, in a conversation and you maybe speak out of turn or you tell someone off or you just say something a bit too strongly and later a friend who perhaps witnessed you do that will come up to you and say, listen, mate. I know you didn't mean to, but you really upset her, or you really you really upset him when you put it like that.

I'm sure you were well intentioned, but I just thought it would be helpful to know, that you've sort of hurt them in that conversation. That's the disciples. They're trying to act like that sort of good friend who's coming to Jesus and saying, look, Jesus, I know that was a great preach, and you meant well, and you quoted Isaiah wonderfully, but, it's just worth knowing that they were a little they were a little upset. They were a little offended. Do you do you realize that they were offended when when you did that?

And Jesus' response is quite extraordinary in verse 13. He replied, every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots, leave them blind guides. In other words, he's saying no wonder they're offended, they're not converted. You know, of course they're offended. Of course they're offended.

They're not converted. My father hasn't planted them. When they hear truth, they hate it because they're not converted. You know, so it's probably not the response to disciples were anticipating there. And so why would we what what why why why can we say that they were offended?

Well, Jesus seems to think it's because they're not chosen of the father. But on this graph, why else were they offended? Well, because that's not like that's not how they like to be spoken to in public. You know, they they feel that they deserve a certain honor and recognition that ought to come with their position. You know, we're Hebrew of Hebrews, we're sons of Benjamin.

Abraham's our father. We sit on the seat of Moses. We live in the city of the great king. You don't talk to us like this. We deserve honor and submission.

We deserve you to listen and respect us. You don't talk to us like that. And so sense of entitlement is quite high, and therefore, 15 verse 12. Well, very easily offended. We'll now compare that with this woman because when you look at it, she is on the end of some pretty testing words in this story.

And perhaps from where we're sat today, we get offended on her behalf. Maybe we feel offended for her. She ought to be offended, by the way Jesus has just spoken to her and by what those disciples are doing. She must be offended. I am.

I'm offended for her on her behalf. But notice she doesn't seem to be that offended. And why might that be? Well, if you click on Steve because she's probably there, on the graph. And that's what we're gonna see in the next few minutes.

You know, here is a woman coming to Jesus without any sense of entitlement. She's not coming, feeling that she deserves a certain miracle or a particular treatment. She's empty. She's got nothing. She's coming with empty hands.

She's got no entitlement whatsoever. And therefore, she's not offended because she doesn't feel she deserves anything. So let's look at this amazing story under 3 headings. Firstly, we're going to look at a desperate faith. This is the first point, a desperate faith.

And let's stick with the comparison between her and the pharisees. Just look just look at how they both approach the lord Jesus. Here's 15 verse 1. Then some pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat, so that's 1 way in which you can approach Jesus.

15 verse 22, a canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him crying out. Lord son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is demon possessed, and she's suffering terribly. Those are 2 very different ways to approach the lord Jesus, aren't they? In verse 1, we've got the pharisees, who come up to Jesus and say, we've got a big problem with you and what you're doing, and we demand you answer us.

In verse 22, you've got a woman saying, I've got a big problem with myself, and my own life, and I'm desperate for you to help us. Very different, isn't it? We demand you help us. You're the problem. I'm the problem.

I'm desperate that you help me. And then look, the pharisees in verse 1, where are they coming from? They're coming from Jerusalem. As I've just said, Jerusalem, very religious, very important place, very, very significant, religious people coming from Jerusalem pride in their city, pride in themselves. Well, where's this woman?

She's coming from or rather she's called a canaanite. It's a very interesting label for her because at this time, canan no longer really even existed as a place. But Matthew is calling her that because he wants to identify her, not with the people of god, but with the ancient enemies of the people of god. She's a cane that she's an enemy of god. See the difference?

Jerusalem, a can and I. And then in verse 22, look at her problem. My daughter is demon possessed and suffering terribly. That that's a severe uncleanness. In verse 1, the pharisees wanna deal with, have you washed your elbows properly level of cleanness?

In verse 22, we're dealing with cruel, severe demon oppression, uncleanness. That's the difference, difference in approach, difference in city, difference in issue. And then everything in the language is trying to show us what this woman is like. In verse 18 and 17, Jesus has just been telling his disciples that what comes out of the heart is what defiles us. And then in verse 22, we've got a woman coming out of this particular region as if to say she's 1 of those things that comes from the heart.

Lust, and selfish ambition, and all those things, they come out of the heart. I know, look, a woman has come out of. She's like, what proceeds for from our hearts. And so Matthew is trying to show us that this is a desperately unclean, undeserving, sinful, hopeless woman. And yet here's the big difference between her and the pharisees.

Whereas they are utterly deluded about themselves. She has her feet firmly in reality. How does she approach? Well, it's that graph again, isn't it? She comes not with any sense of entitlement.

She knows who she is. She knows what her issues are. She knows what she can offer. And it's nothing except her desperation. Now for those of us who are familiar with the gospels, how would you expect Jesus to respond to a woman like that?

I think if we were writing this story and we had to take over after verse 22, we would say be it done for you, woman, extraordinary faith. Be it done. But that's not how the story is told. And so firstly, we saw that desperation. And secondly, here's a tested faith.

This is a tested faith now. First 22 to 23. Lord, son of David have mercy on me. My daughter is demon possessed and suffering terribly. Jesus did not answer.

A word. Very difficult to know what to do with a silent Jesus. And when you go over it, it's hard to see what has led to his response. It doesn't seem to be that she's got a problem with her theology. Her theology looks good.

Lord son of David, she says. She calls him lord, And then she identifies him as the Messiah king, son of David, king in the line of David, your lord and king, and Christ, and promised 1. Her theology of prayer or her theology in prayer We wouldn't have a problem with. Her heart seems to be okay. Have mercy on me.

That's a posture of humility, isn't it? Not do as I demand, but I need you. Be merciful to me. Her heart is right. The need she has is selfless.

My daughter is suffering terribly. And so friends, if we were at the prayer meeting and somebody prayed like this, we'd think good theology. Good heart. Good selfless need. That's the sort of prayer that's gonna be met with a loud Jesus.

Saying yes, of course. And yet, we're told in verse 23 that Jesus did not answer a word. What do you do with a silent Jesus? Maybe there's some people here who've felt like that in the past. You've had this desperate need, whether that be a health trial or a relationship that is showing signs of collapse and you're desperate for it to hold together and be good and healthy again.

Maybe it's a conversion need in your family or your workplace. It's a desperate need. Time is running out. You bring this thing to the lord in desperation, and your theology is pretty good, you think? I mean, we will need our theology sharpened, but you can't see any major holes in it.

You think you believe in the right god and pray along the right lines. The request is selfless, you're not asking for, you know, just more money, me, me, me, easier life. You're desperate for someone else on their behalf. Big need, theology right, selfless request, but what you experience is what feels to you like. A silent Jesus.

What do you do with a silent Jesus? It only gets harder for her. Verse 23. I don't know if she was in earshot of this, but So his disciples came to him and urged him, send her away for she keeps crying out after us. Strordinary, isn't it?

Because back in verse 12, they were very quick to defend the pharisees. Jesus, you know you upset, you know you upset the pharisees. But with this woman, well, you know, she's the wrong gender. She's the wrong faith. She comes from the wrong place, and she won't leave us alone.

They don't seem too worried about her feelings, do they? Jesus, you offended the Farah cease. Do you realize what you did? Send her away. Send her away.

And then we get to verse 24. He answered I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. And then verse 26, he replied, it is not right to take take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs. Now before we get into those words, let's just zoom out for 1 and get get 1 important thing in place. Verse 24 cannot ultimately be true, can it?

The very fact that Jesus is here in this place with this woman shows us that ultimately his mission does extend beyond the borders of Israel. This story is actually put here to make the opposite point, funnily enough. Sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Well, where is he? You see, Jesus isn't like, you know, you or I are some people who occasionally might fall asleep on public transport on the bus or the train and wake up surprised at where you are, not intending to have been there.

It's not like Jesus sort of fell asleep in Jerusalem and woke up in tyrants. How did I get here? You know, it didn't mean to be here. It was intentional withdrawing to going to these places in order to meet this woman and draw out of her something remarkable. He didn't fall asleep on the bus.

He meant to drive there, and he meant to meet her. So this story is hears to say, salvation goes way beyond the borders of Israel. But he does say verse 24, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Now, what does he mean by that? What he's not saying there, that he has no plans to save or to redeem the gentiles, but rather he's talking about an order of revelation.

If you think about the whole old testament story, we know, don't we? That god's law and god's prophets came first to the people of Israel. That's who the truth came. Now it was never meant to stay with them. They were meant to be a light to the nations, and the nations were supposed to see them and come in and worship their god.

But in terms of order, that truth was given first to them. And so it makes sense that when the lord Jesus Christ comes as their Messiah, that he would come first to be the final piece in their puzzle to show that here he is, the 1 that you have seen in the law and seen in the prophets and have been waiting for. Here I am people who've had access to all of this revelation. And so that's what he's saying. He's not saying that women like this are intrinsically less valuable.

He's talking about an order of revelation. First to first to them. But then what about verse 26? He replied it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs. Now you read the commentaries on this and people try to sort of soften that a little bit by saying that what he's really talking about there is not dogs, but like andrex puppies.

So apparently, it's a word that is used for the sort of the household puppy, the cute andrex puppy who who sits and plays with your toilet rolls, and, you know, you might give your toast crusts to it at the table. You know, he's he's calling her that sort of dog, and that may well be the case, but I think it p misses the point. I don't think Jesus is really saying, oh, yeah. Look at that. So like a little Andrew.

Roll over. Let's give her a stroke. You know, she's like a little Andrew's puppy. No. What he's doing here is he's he's bringing out the Jewish thinking at the time that actually we are the children and you people are the dogs.

You're the dogs compared to us. We're the children. We're first in line. You're the dog. That's what people say about you.

You know? That's what peep that's how people think. So I think what he's doing here is bringing to the surface those beliefs that exist. You're you're you're you're dogs. It's not right.

We don't believe it's right to get the children, not the dogs. And so we gotta ask the question. What what is the purpose of this way of treating the woman and speaking to this woman? Well, perhaps it would help to imagine Jesus' comments a bit like a closed door. And this I hope it sort of works in your mind, but that there's 2 ways to look at a closed door.

You can either say there is a closed door and it's locked from the other side, and the purpose of that door is to keep me out and I am never to come in. That's what that closed door says to me locked. You're not welcome. Or you might look at a closed door and say, I reckon behind that door is a very hospitable guest. And if I will just go and knock I think that hospitable guest will open up and have me in and be willing to provide for me.

2 ways of looking at it. 1 might be comments in order to lock her out. The other might be a door inviting a knock. Come and knock. Let's see if you'll knock.

Because behind this door is a very hospitable guest, man. Come. Will you will you not? And I think that's that's got to be the sense in which he means these comments because that's what happens. From the way the story ends, it's clearly not you're a dog.

I'm not coming to you. Door locked and bolted and chained. You're not coming in, but rather a closed door inviting and asking and a knocking and a pleading. So that the door might be opened. The message translation of the Bible, which I which I, which I love normally, translates it this way, and I just think it misses it.

So it says here they had hardly arrived when a canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded. Mercy master son of David, my daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit. I think that's very helpful. Jesus ignored her. I'm not sure that's what he's doing.

I don't think he's ignoring her. I think he's choosing a purposeful silence. He chooses a silence. He hears her. He doesn't ignore it.

He hears her. He knows her, and he chooses silence. In order to invite a knocking hand on the door. And for us, when we feel like we're experiencing or wrestling with a silent Jesus, That may be 1 important thing for us to bear in mind. It's quite easy for us to interpret silence as a locked door and a rejection.

But perhaps based on this story, we might interpret what we feel like silence as an encouragement to keep knocking and to keep asking and to keep seeking knowing that behind the door is not a savior who wants to lock you out. But 1 who beckons you in through the through the knock door. So that's the trial of her faith. Secondly, thirdly, let's look at now a triumphant faith. A triumphant faith.

Let's go back to this woman now in verse 25 and verse 27. What a response? I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord help me.

She said. He replied it's not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs. Yes, it is, lord. She said. I love it.

It's just brilliant, isn't it? It's not right to take, no, it is lord. Yeah. No, it is. Yeah.

It is. It is lord. She said. Even the dog's eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Charles Bergin, in his sermon, on this passage, comments, it's on the screen.

She could not solve the problems of the destiny of her race and of the lord's commission, but she could pray. If as a shepherd, he may not gather her. Yet as lord, he may help her In other words, she's saying, I hear what you're saying about lost cheap of Israel, and I don't really know how to argue with that whole order of revelation thing. But I've got a desperate need and it's not gone away. And so I don't wanna wave that comment aside Jesus, but help me help me.

I can't solve the problem on my race. I can't fix who I am. I can't change the color of my skin or where I was born, and maybe you're never gonna be my shepherd, but as lord, you might be my helper. Help help me. That simple cry of faith.

Is the beginnings of what Jesus calls great. Great faith. Charles spurgeon later on when applying this comment, says this. I commend this prayer to you. Because it is such a handy prayer.

You can use it when you are in a hurry. You can use it when you're in a fright. You can use it when you have not time to bow your knee. You can use it in the pulpit if you're going to preach. You can use it when you are opening your shop.

You can use it when you are rising in the morning. It is such a handy prayer that I hardly know any position in which you could not pray it. Lord, help me. Help me. He replied it's not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.

Yes, it is lord, she said. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's tables, just an amazing sequence of responses, isn't it? She doesn't get offended by what he says, and she doesn't challenge with her clever arguments, what he says. She does something altogether more wonderful. She actually jumps inside of his illustration.

And turns it to her own favor. Isn't that amazing? She hears his illustration. She says, I'm going in, and I'm gonna turn it up. Amazing.

I don't need a whole loaf from you, and I am what you say I am. But if you are lord, then a crumb from you is all I need. I may not be in first place, and I know it. I may be a bit of a dog at the table and I know it. And I might only get a crumb for your hands, and I know it.

But given who you are and the power that lies in 1 of your crumbs, then I'll have it. It's all I need, and I'll be thankful for it. And I'll be so happy I came. Verse 28, then Jesus answered her, and the ESP puts it slightly differently. The Jesus Jesus answered her Oh, woman, great is your faith.

Oh, woman, great is your faith. There's only 2 times in Matthew's gospel that Jesus calls faith great. He says it wants in Matthew chapter 8 verse 10 about the centurion, and he says it wants here. Both of those characters were gentiles. But in chapter 8 verse 10, he doesn't actually say it to the centurion.

He says it to those who were following. Here's 8 verse 10. Jesus turned and spoke to those who were following. Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. But in chapter 15, he looks at the woman and says, oh, woman.

Great is your faith. This is the only person that Jesus tells to their face that they have great faith. And so what is it? Or what was it that unlocked Christ in this way? It was not our credentials.

And it was not her sense of entitlement, and it was not her elaborate CV. It was a humble, persistent trust in the savior. The sort of faith, which would not give up. It's very interesting, isn't it? That the very thing the disciples are annoyed about is the thing that ends up being her glory Look how the NIV is brilliant what the NIV does in verse 23.

The disciples came to him and urged him send her away. Now why? What's the reason? She's so **** persistent. Send her away for she keeps crying out after us.

But as it turned out, the thing which was such an irritant to them was the very thing that unlocked Christ. And everything that she'd came for, that sort of humble persistent trust. And so brothers and sisters, can we see that this woman is not just a 1 time only example to us. She is an ongoing example of a Christian person of how we are to approach our lord Jesus Christ. Not with a great sense of entitlement, not feeling that we deserve everything from his hand, not puffed up and boasting how better we are than other people, but with the kind of faith which says lord Jesus Christ.

I don't even deserve a crumb. And if you give me 1, I'll rejoice. I'll rejoice. Just just a crumb from you will do. And so back to that graph, if we can get that up, Steve.

We've seen where the pharisees are top right. We've seen where the woman probably is bottom left. How about ourselves? Where would we plot ourselves on that graph? It can be quite a difficult question to work out how entitled we are.

And so maybe it's better to come at it from the other axis. Do we find ourselves easily offended? Quite a lot of the time. Do we find ourselves quite often feeling a bit offended and a bit too defensive and a bit sullen And if so, what might that say about how we view ourselves before god and before other people? Well, then let's remember.

This canaanite woman. Wonderful words we just sang. Let not conscience make you linger. Nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires.

Is to feel your need of him. Lord, I am nothing. Lord, help me. Let's pray together. Just give you a moment of quiet to read over that story and respond in whatever way you feel you need to.

Heavenly father, we're we're sorry that the hearts that we have don't don't have the capacity to trust you in this way. And so we pray please for the gift of great faith. A faith which trusts in you, and which perseveres, and which doesn't come with any boast or sense of entitlement, but comes desperate and needy to a loving, kind feeding savior. Help us we pray in Jesus' name.