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Matthew 15:21-28

²¹ And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² 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.” ²³ 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.” ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶ And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Imagine you regularly find yourself tired and worn out. You decide it is worth getting checked out, and you schedule an appointment with the doctor. At the appointment, you tell the doctor, “I can’t enjoy the things I used to. When I go for a walk, I start sweating and can’t catch my breath. When I take out the garbage, my heart starts pounding. Can you help me?”

And imagine that your doctor doesn’t say anything. He just hooks you up to a bunch of wires and puts you on a treadmill. As you walk, you get short of breath, but the doctor turns up the speed. Your heart is pounding. Your lungs are burning, and he raises the incline. You had gone to him for healing, and all he is doing is making you miserable.

But in reality, your doctor is giving you a stress test. He is putting you through all of that so he can figure out why your heart is not working properly so he can heal you. But if you don’t know that your doctor was giving you a stress test, you would think that your doctor is some sadistic mix of two parts lunatic and one part jerk (or vice versa) and torturing you.

If we understand today’s text in any way other than a type of spiritual stress test, we will fall into all sorts of errors. This text is teaching us to trust, to believe, that God’s promises are for us even when all things appear to contradict that fact.

This Canaanite woman comes to Jesus asking for mercy. She wants Jesus to help her daughter who was severely oppressed by a demon. She is going to the right place – to Jesus. 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Just like Peter sinking in the water last week, Jesus is this woman’s only hope.

Notice her faith, she addresses Jesus as the “Son of David,” and that is a loaded term. In 2 Samuel 7, God had promised David that He would raise up a son of David’s who would sit on his throne forever, and there are many other places in the Old Testament (Is. 9:6; 16:5; 22:22; 55:3; Jer. 23:5; Ezk. 34:23; 37:24; Amos 9:11; Zech. 12:10; Ps. 89:4–5, 50; 132:10–11, 17) where the Scriptures talk about the reign of this Son of David and what God would do through Him.

So, we know that Jesus came to do exactly what this woman wants and that her prayer is pleasing to Jesus. But what does Jesus do? “He did not answer her a word.” Similar to a doctor not telling you about the stress test, Jesus throws her on the treadmill.

Because we know the end of the story, we know that Jesus’ silence is not a refusal to give her the mercy she is begging for, but in that moment, she doesn’t. All she knows is two things: first, her experience – that Jesus is ignoring her; and second, the words and promises of God. Rather than trusting her experience, which must have felt like indifference from the Son of David, she trusts the words and promises of God. She keeps crying out.

She cries out so much that the disciples become embarrassed and tell Jesus to send her away. And notice that still Jesus doesn’t address her. He answers the disciples. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Jesus cranks up the speed of the treadmill.

Now, this woman is not only fighting against her experience, she is also fighting against reason. When Jesus speaks these words, it is reasonable to think that Jesus is saying that He was not sent for her. But she fights against what reason would say and tenaciously clings to the promises of God’s Word. This woman is a fulfillment of Old Testament lesson (Is. 56:6-8) that foreigners would join themselves to Yahweh and love His name and be His servants.

There is no denying that Jesus is putting her through difficulties. But Jesus knows what is good for her. His intent was not that she would give up. Instead, He is exercising her faith and making it even stronger, and her faith in God’s promises persists.

She kneels before Jesus saying, “Lord, help me.” Finally, Jesus gives her attention and answers, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” And that is as insulting as it sounds. Jesus maxes the incline of the treadmill.

In this text, Jesus starts with silence, then dismissiveness, and finally insult. Imagine you are this woman. At what point do you give up? Do you stop asking for mercy when Jesus doesn’t answer? When Jesus says He isn’t there for you, do you go home? When Jesus calls you a dog, are you looking for another Messiah?

And yet, in her humility and trust, this woman accepts the insult. She doesn’t argue with Jesus. She simply reminds Jesus of God’s promise, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Luther says that she hears Jesus’ ‘yes’ behind the ‘no’ and that the woman traps Jesus in His word.

In other words, the woman is saying, “Ok, Jesus. If you call me a dog, I’ll be a dog. Just let me have what the dogs get. I’ll take the crumbs that fall while the children eat.” And if you come to our house after a meal and enter our carpeted dining room, you’ll know there are plenty of crumbs.

This text teaches us about prayer. Prayer consists of two things: first, our need, and second, the promises of God. And the main thing to remember in prayer is the second – the promises of God. In prayer, we grab hold to the promises of God and insist that He keep those promises.

In prayers of confession, we say, “Ok, God. You’ve said that You are the Savior. Save me. Deliver me from my sin.” When we pray for health, when we pray for God to provide for our needs, when we pray for God’s protection and healing, when we ask for stuff, we pray, “Ok, God. You call Yourself my Father. Be my Father. Provide all good things for me, Your child.”

Often in prayer, God puts us through a spiritual stress test to weed out anything false that we would put our trust in so that our trust would be only in God and the promises of His Word.

Jesus answers her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. And this is one of only two times in all the Gospels that Jesus praises someone for their faith (the other is also a Gentile centurion in Mt. 8:5-10).

You see prayer and faith go together. Prayer is the first flower that blooms on the plant of faith.

Be like this woman. Trust God to be good to you. Believe that God will keep His promise to deliver you from whatever evil you face. Do not be discouraged no matter how things appear. Don’t trust your reason and don’t trust your experiences. Trust the promises God has given you in His Word. Cling to them. You can even demand that God keep those promises.

You cannot overcome evil and demons on your own. That is why Jesus came. He came to defeat sin, death, and the devil for you. By His death and resurrection, He has reconciled you to God and made you His child. God is now your Father, and there is no good thing He will ever withhold from you (Ro. 8:32).

May Jesus, the Son of David, give us all the faith that tenaciously clings to the promises He gives us in His Word. Amen.[1]

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] I am thankful to Pr. Hans Fiene for the idea of a stress test as an analogy for this sermon.