In Jesus Holy Name August 20, 2023
Text: Matthew 15:28/Isaiah 9:1b-2 Pentecost XV - Redeemer
“A Light That Shatters the Darkness”
I have seen many beautiful stained glass windows displaying various aspects of the life of Jesus. But I don’t think I have ever seen a stained glass window of Jesus laughing. But, can you imagine Jesus smiling as He bounces children on His lap? I can. Do you think He smiled when Moses took a double look at a burning bush? He must have laughed at a stubborn Jonah when he landed on the beach dripping gastric juices and smelling like whale breath?
Was there a twinkle in His eye when He watched the disciples feed 5000 from a little boy’s lunch? At the wedding which ran out of wine, do you think there was a smile on the face of Jesus when the wedding party tasted the best wine ever?
I think there is going to be a smile on his face in his discussion with a Canaanite woman in our Gospel lesson.
There were times when Jesus ventured outside the confines of Israel and entered the Gentile region, but even here the stories of a prophet named Jesus were not a secret. Word had spread far and wide that Jesus had supernatural power to heal the sick and raise the dead. Even in this Gentile territory, people knew about His ministry, and that’s why one particular woman came to see Him.
In this story the words of Jesus seem harsh to our ears. Yet it is classic Jesus. He should not be talking with her…but He engages in conversation. He speaks in parables to Jews, which must be explained even to His disciples. (Matthew 15:16) His conversation with a non-Jewish woman is verbal banter, a little sarcasm…but does He have a smile on His face? I don’t know, I was not there but I think it is possible. There is a reason Matthew includes this miracle, so we must think about it a little more.
Matthew called her a Canaanite woman, meaning she descended from the Canaanites in the Old Testament who were mortal enemies of the Jewish people. She had many things going against her that day. She was not Jewish. She was a woman. An outsider. A foreigner. Might as well have been a junkyard dog. She lived in a culture that had little respect for women outside the bedroom and kitchen. But her daughter was very sick.
Every parent can understand this. If you have a sick child, how far will you go to help your son or daughter? To ask the question is to answer it. It’s not a matter of time or distance or money. When your son is sick or your daughter is ill, nothing matters except getting them well again. When your child is sick, you don’t care about test results, x-rays, percentages, new medicines, research protocols, or anything like that. “People just want to know one thing: ‘Is my child going to be all right?’” Nothing else matters. (from a sermon by Ray Pritchard Matthew 15)
She is clearly desperate. Her daughter is demon possessed. She knows she has no right to ask anything of Jesus. She is not a Jew. She is not a disciple. She offers no money for the ministry. She makes no promise to devote herself to missionary service. Yet she is asking for a miracle. Maybe Matthew includes the story is to answer the question: “Is God’s grace available to all?”
It was a lesson Peter had to learn when invited to the home of the Gentile Centurian named Cornelius. (Acts 10)
We don’t know a thing about this woman. We don’t know her name. All we
know is her background and her hometown. She disappeared the same way that she appeared. Like a puff of smoke. Jesus had an usual conversation, spice with banter and sarcasm.
1) She begged for mercy…. But Jesus did not answer a word….
2) That did not stop her. She kept crying out and begging for His attention. She is confronted by 12 disciples who keep pushing her away. The scene was like any secret service agent who has the responsibility to stand between the President and the crowd. Don’t get too close!
3) The disciples are frustrated… “Jesus, she keeps crying out after us.” Just send her away…. She is not Jewish…. She doesn’t deserve your kindness.
4) Now Jesus speaks but they are words meant to distract.
a. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
b. She is not distracted by words of refusal… she gets in His path and kneels in front of Jesus, grabbing His attention.
Again, Jesus provides a distraction. “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Pretty sarcastic! In other words…. It is not right to give God’s grace which is meant for His chosen people, Israel, to non-Jewish people. That is what His offensive words mean. This is not a compliment. No one wants to be called a “dog”. Most people would be filled with anger and turn away. Not this woman. She is not distracted.
The woman doesn’t dispute what Jesus said, She agrees with him.
She could have become indignant and said, “Don’t talk to me that way. I’m no dog! I’m a human being. But she did not. She agreed with Jesus.
This woman knew that she did not have any claim on the goodness of God. No one deserves heaven. That’s been a major problem from the beginning. We all think we are better than we are. We like to compare ourselves to the fellow down the street whose sin seems worse than our own. But God does not grade on the curve.
I love this story… she provides a powerful lesson for us. She is not distracted.
“Yes, Lord, but even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Yes, I have no claim to your grace. “Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”
The bible tells us that “faith” is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 “For it is by grace that we have been saved through faith.” Ephesians 2:8-9 She knew that Jesus was a healer. She knew He could heal her daughter. So what does faith mean? Simply put, faith means relying completely on who Jesus is and what he has done to be made right with God.
Faith is more than intellectual agreement. To use an old illustration, imagine you are at Niagara Falls watching a tightrope walker push a wheelbarrow across the rope high above the falls. After watching him go back and forth several times, he asks for a volunteer to sit in the wheelbarrow as he pushes it across the falls. At an intellectual level you may believe that he could successfully push you across the rope over the falls, but you are not exercising biblical faith until you get in the wheelbarrow and entrust yourself to the tightrope walker.
The object of faith is God and faith is trusting in His words and promises.
The words of Jesus…to this Canaanite woman is a way of asking “Do you understand you are completely outside the covenant of grace and that you have no claim on me, the Jewish Messiah?”
Here is the truth. You and I are like the Canaanite woman. We are outside the grace of God. Like the Jewish Pharisees our own works of righteousness fall short of earning God’s grace. We are dogs. You might be a poodle, I might be a basset hound, but we are dogs nonetheless, underserving sinners. Our broken commandments keep us separated from the holiness of God. Paul reminds us that we are just like this non Jewish woman. She is powerless to heal her daughter. We are powerless to provide our own key to the gate heaven.
On the night when Jesus was born, the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem hear the angels say: "I've got Good News of great joy ... for you a Savior has been born." That sentence changed our world, it certainly changes your eternal destiny. Once there was darkness….in the land of the Gentiles. Darkness is the reality if the casket is all you have. Darkness is the reality if you believe your broken commandments, and broken ethics cannot be erased. Darkness is the hopelessness that leads to depression that leads to suicide.
God knows that “darkness” is in the world. We can see it in the lives of
of people without hope, sleeping on the sidewalk with needles all around. God promised that there would be a “light” that shatters any darkness. It is found in the Person of His Son who throws every sinner a lifeline —a rescue from the fact which once seemed so inevitable. That rescue becomes reality when the Holy Spirit places faith in your heart. At that moment, your sins are forgiven. No longer can the world and Satan accuse you; no longer can the grave lay claim to you. (Hebrews 2:14) You are redeemed, you are rescued; you are restored and recycled. That is good news which brings great joy. The words and promise of Jesus shatter the “darkness” that holds people in fear.
God knows you and me. Paul writes: “Once we were alienated from God ….because of our evil behavior. But now He has “brought us back” reconciling us through the death of Jesus on the cross… so that He will see us as “holy in His sight” without blemish, free from accusation…’ as we place our faith in Him.
The Jews, including the disciples thought that the Messiah was for them, and only them. Jesus broke the rules. He healed the child of a Roman Centurion’s servant. (Matthew 8) Jesus breaks the rules and visits the well in a Samaritan village and speaks to a woman there. Jesus heals the daughter of the woman from Gentile territory. Jesus was pointing to the future. God’s grace. God’s mercy and forgiveness. God’s gift of eternal life. God’s Holy Spirit would be available to all. This is why Matthew includes this miracle.
Isaiah prophesied that one day God would “honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Jesus was the light.
Matthew quoted the words of Isaiah when Jesus began His ministry. Now we see the fulfillment. God’s grace is available to all. Put your faith in Jesus. His cross is the wheel barrow across the canyon of death.
