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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, yet 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 Jesus. Amen.

No one likes being insulted. I remember playing kickball in 7^th grade and kicking a home run. One of the 8^th grade girls on the other team complained to her teammates about not getting me out. I can still hear her saying, “Come on guys, we can’t even get string bean out!” It hurt, but, in her defense, calling me ‘string bean’ was probably accurate. I think I had just reached 6’ 2”, probably weighed all of 120 lbs. when soaking wet, and was as coordinated as a linguini noodle. And if I remember right, it wasn’t a home run because it was some high, majestic kick that cleared a fence. The ball probably made it to the outfield and they tried to throw it at me a couple times, but I was too skinny of a target. Back then, I was basically two dimensional.

Insulting words can hurt from certain people’s lips, but there are times words can feel insulting and we should not be offended because those words are simply true. A prime example of this is when God Himself doles out insults in Scripture. Jesus said that He came to call not the righteous, but sinners (Mt. 9:13). Yes, Jesus came for everyone, so Jesus is calling all of us ‘sinners.’ Jesus says that He came to seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10), that means you and I are the ‘lost.’ When you read Ro. 3[:10b-18] there is a whole series of insults for all people. Here’s a few for you: no one understands, no one seeks for God, together they have become worthless, no one does good, their throat is an open grave, the venom of asps is under their lips, their mouth is full of curses and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, the way of peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes.

In our text today, we have this Canaanite woman whose daughter is severely oppressed by a demon; she gets ignored, rejected, and even insulted by Jesus. But then Christ holds her up before us as an example of great faith because she continues to beg and pray to Jesus – the only One who can help her. In fact, she is only one of two people in all the Gospels whose faith is praised by Jesus. The other person whose faith is praised by Jesus is the Gentile centurion who had a sick servant (Mt. 8:5-13). Not even the disciples, who were personally called by Jesus, get praised for their faith. Because she has great faith, she has something to teach us. As Christians and disciples of Jesus, we should always learn from Christ, and here today, Jesus tells us to be learners and disciples of this Canaanite woman.

So, settle down class. Let’s all learn from our guest lecturer visiting us from the Canaanite School of Beggary.

This Canaanite woman comes to Jesus asking for mercy because, again, her daughter was severely oppressed by a demon. She is going to the right place – to Jesus – and asking Him to do exactly what He came to do. 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” But what does Jesus do? “He did not answer her a word.”

According to this woman’s experience Jesus is completely ignoring her. But rather than letting her experience discourage her so that she goes away, she keeps crying out. She cries out so much that the disciples become embarrassed and tell Jesus to send her away. Not only is her experience with Jesus harsh, but this foreign Rabbi’s disciples are actually praying against her. And notice that still Jesus doesn’t address her. He answers the disciples. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

So now, this woman is not only fighting against her experience, she is also fighting against the disciples’ prayers and Jesus’ own words. When Jesus says that He’s only sent for Israel, 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 stubbornly clings to her hope in Jesus. She kneels before Jesus and gives Him a command, “Lord, help me.” Finally, Jesus gives her some attention, but it’s devastating. He replies, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” And that is as insulting as it sounds.

I think it’s safe to say that if most people heard Jesus say this to them, they’d be looking for another god. But this woman knows there is no other help for her, so look what she does. She takes the insult, holds on to it for dear life and says, “Yes, Lord.” Then our translation, the ESV, does something weird here (so do all English translations); they translate the next word as ‘yet.’ Some other translations will use the word ‘but.’ (I think I understand why all the English translations use ‘yet’ or ‘but’ as their translation.) But the word there means ‘for.’ It’s one of the most common words in the New Testament, and of the 1,009 times it’s used in the New Testament this is the only place the ESV translates it as ‘yet.’ The problem with using ‘yet’ or ‘but’ is that it sounds like she is disagreeing with Jesus. She isn’t disagreeing with Jesus. Instead, she agrees with him. She confesses that she is a dog. “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

Basically, she is saying, “Ok, Jesus. You call me a dog? Then a dog is what I am. I don’t need the bread You give to Your children. You’re correct. It isn’t right to give Your children’s bread to a dog like me. Treat me like a dog and I’ll be more than content to get the crumbs that dogs get. The crumbs that the children drop without realizing it are enough for me.”

I think the first lesson we learn in the Canaanite School of Beggars is that we can be bold in our prayers. 

I love what Luther says when he preached on this text. (I included this quote in your bulletin insert.) “When we feel in our conscience that God reproaches us as sinners and judges us unworthy of the kingdom of heaven, then we experience hell and think that we are eternally lost. Whoever has this woman’s ingenuity should catch God in His own judgment and say, ‘Yes. Lord, it is true. I am a sinner and unworthy of Your grace. Nevertheless, You have promised forgiveness to sinners.’”

Dear saints, have the ingenuity of this woman. When God’s Law comes to you and says, “You are lost,” we take God at His Word and cry to Him. “Yes, God. I’m lost. Find me.” When God’s Law says, “You’re a sinner,” we say, “Yes, God. I’m a sinner. Save me” (Mt. 9:13). When God says, “You’re dead,” we cry to Him “Raise me.” And we can be bold when we pray these things. God has promised to do these things for the lost, the sinner, and the dead in sin. So we can take those promises, hold them in front of God’s face, and demand that He be true to His Word.

We actually had a little debate about this in our family this past week. I ran through this idea during our Bible time, and my family had a consensus that we should add a ‘please’ to these prayers. I’m glad my family has manners, but there might be times when we get frustrated with God because He appears to be continually denying our prayers for things He has promised to give us. In this text, it appears that Jesus isn’t going to answer this woman’s prayer.

Now, this whole event with might have lasted an hour or it might have been as short as fifteen minutes. But there is no denying that Jesus puts this woman through the ringer. In our lives, there may be times where it might seem that God is denying our prayers for days or weeks or years. Don’t stop praying. Grab God’s promises and hold them in front of His face like this Canaanite woman did. That’s faith, and Jesus praises that faith.

When the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, Jesus gives them the Lord’s Prayer. There isn’t one, “Please,” in that prayer. All the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are imperatives – they’re commands. “Make Your name holy. Bring Your kingdom. Do Your will. Give us our daily bread.” Even the petition, “Forgive us our trespasses,” is a command. “Don’t lead us into temptation. Deliver us from evil.” Every last one of them is a command addressed to your Heavenly Father. Dear saints, be bold when you pray. Hold God to His promises. Like Jacob in our Old Testament lesson (Gen. 32:22-32), don’t let God go until He blesses you. According to Jesus, that is great faith.

Also, you can be consistent and constant in your prayers. After being bold in our prayers, I think that’s the other important lesson we should learn from the Canaanite School of Beggary. God wants you to annoy Him with your prayers. In fact, Jesus teaches two parables to this effect. The first one is in Luke 11[:5-8]. The parable is about a guy who knocks at his neighbor’s door at midnight asking for some bread to give to a guest who has just showed up. And because the guy keeps knocking the neighbor will get out of his bed, get dressed, and find some bread to give to him.

The other parable is Lk. 18[:1-7] where a widow keeps going to a judge to ask for justice. And the judge gets so tired of her asking, he finally gives her what she wants so she doesn’t beat him down with her continual requests.

This text is those two parables played out in real life. She keeps going to Jesus until He gives her what she needs.

Dear saints, like this Canaanite woman, you can take God’s insults because we are all beggars before God. And even when God seems indifferent, when He seems distant, and even when He insults you, you can keep asking boldly. You can do all this because God has sent His Son Jesus to die and rise again for you.

Because Jesus has done this, He has taken us beggars and made us His children. God is your Father, and He won’t let His reputation as your Father be tarnished. He will answer your prayers. It is His good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Lk. 12:32). He will remember His mercy and steadfast love for you. Amen.

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