St Matthew 15:21-28/Genesis 32:22-32/1 Thessalonians 4:1-7
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Our Lord was contending with this woman even before she approached Him, begging for mercy and help. Her daughter was sick, demon-possessed. Obviously it would have been torturous for the daughter. But for anyone who has cared for a sick or dying loved one, it is torturous on the caregiver as well. The mother bears this hardship, this cross, in her own way.
Where is her husband? Surely every daughter has a father? Where is he? Has he left? Did he blame himself for his child’s affliction? Did he blame her mother and so abandon his family? Where are her friends, her family? She has no one; she turns to Christ alone.
And so she approaches our Lord in boldness. Her confidence lies not in her own worthiness or merit, but in the great promises of God in Christ. She has His Word. Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Let not my enemies exult over me. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
But she is a Canaanite. Her genealogy is of the heathen tribes Joshua and Israel were commanded to destroy and they did not. She is an outsider; from the pagans. She has no claim on the Messiah of Israel. Still she hopes. For He is good and upright; a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench (Is 42:3).
And so she cries, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. He answers her not a word. Were her friends and family equally silent? What had they said?
The apostles become embarrassed, though it is hard to tell why. Is it because she is continually crying out and is a nuisance to their comfort, like the beggar with the sign at the interstate exit; the one who makes eye contact with you? Or are they embarrassed because our Lord is not acting as He should. Where is His kindness, His compassion? Do they want Him to serve her need or simply to send her away?
Whatever the reason, they intervene; in fact, they beg. And in this way they are like the Church. She prays not only for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, but for all people, according to their need. For the wayward and erring, for those outside the kingdom of grace, for those who suffer in affliction and hardship, the Church lifts her petitions before the throne of grace, clinging in confidence to the promises of our Father who commands us to pray and promises to hear us for the sake of Christ.
But our Lord responds, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
How does she react to this reproach? Does she slink away and hope everyone will forget about her? No. She comes and she worships Him! It is often translated as kneel, but really it means to prostrate on the ground, to thrown oneself face down, to be completely submissive. Her initial boldness may have waned, but her determination does not. The promises she has heard compel her toward this Christ, who hears the cries of the young ravens and opens His hand to satisfy every living thing. He is the Helper of the helpless and her plea is distilled simply to this: Lord, help me.
And He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
God sometimes contends with His dear Christians in this manner. He treats you as if you were people about whom He does not care, even as if He were your enemy instead of your Helper and Friend. This often happens in earthly affliction. Though, not always as Job suffered, bodily tormented by Satan himself, but in one’s own sicknesses, the suffering and death of loved ones, poverty, loss of a good name or reputation, unfaithfulness of trusted friends.
Our Lord removes all feelings of comfort from your heart, so that you would not rely on your feelings, or emotions, or experiences. Rather that when your heart and conscience condemn you as sinners about whom God does not want to know anything, to then trust evermore in His Word of promise, and rely not on your own understanding.
For you are indeed more precious in His sight than gold, which is refined by fire. Thus He refines you, purifies you, as He is pure, and causes you, through cross and sorrow, to cling more fervently to His mercy and help, gloriously hidden in the shame and offense of the Cross of Christ Jesus. The attack is not always removed, but the Light of grace arises. Lift up your eyes to the hills! Sings the Psalmist. Your help comes from the Lord, the One whom on the hill of Calvary was lifted up before the eyes of the world to draw all men to Himself in mercy.
And there is mercy hidden in these offensive words, It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The blow is lessened by the use of the diminutive. Little dogs. Not stray, wild, or rabid dogs. Rather, house dogs, ones that sleep indoors during the cold nights, if only in the garage. They have their master’s heart; they catch him in his soft pity.
And so the Canaanite woman catches Jesus in His Word. “You say that I am a dog. Indeed it is true, I am a dog, not a child, I have no rightful place at the table; but I do belong in the house. I know my Lord and Master, and seek only the crumbs that fall from His table, to which even a dog is entitled.” And she has won. She has striven with God and prevailed. She caught Jesus in His Word. And He answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.
In this way, like the Canaanite woman, Christians overcome God Himself. You storm the very gates of heaven confessing your wretchedness and demanding His mercy. In patience and humility, with fervent and incessant prayer, by faith Christians hold fast the Word of God against all experiences and feelings of the heart, and even against all physical and visible circumstances.
Above all, they take refuge in God’s Word. It is written, Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; and We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. God does not struggle against Christians to overcome them, but rather to be overcome by them. For ever so gladly does He let Himself be overcome.
This boldness and confidence, granted you as dear children, who are able to ask your dear Father, is on account of Christ Jesus, Son of David, our Lord. Who in mercy did not abandon or forsake His creation. He did not cast you off forever.
But for us men and for our salvation, Christ came down from heaven and was made Man. The Shepherd of Israel became the outsider, the Canaanite dog, cast off and rejected by His Father. And though He pleaded three times, praying, Father if it be possible, remove this cup from Me, He was ignored, reproved. And the beloved Son endured agony and hardship, scorn and ridicule, in order that you might be made children. And so you are.
Beloved, God has called you not for impurity that you may bow to the lusts and passions of the flesh. Demons rarely come uninvited. But you dangle your fingers in the shark tank every time you sin. When you open the pornography site you open a portal into your home, into your soul for the sewage and filth of sexual immortality, of which St Paul warns.
Little ones, God has called you in holiness. He has driven off your demons with water and His Word through Holy Baptism, where He also made you His children. And more, remember that this Canaanite woman comes alone to Jesus, without father or husband. But by faith Christ Jesus has become her true Husband, and His Father is her Father. So it is for you, the holy Bride of Christ, His Church who have His ear and His heart, His promises and His mercy. His Father is your Father, even as you are taught to pray.
And in that child’s prayer, do you not say, Give us this day our daily bread? Here are more than crumbs for little dogs. Here is the true and living Bread from heaven, the very Body and Blood of Christ the Son of David. This is Mercy Incarnate. This is help for the helpless. Come, kneel before Him and receive more than food for your body, but healing for your soul and life for your death.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Our Lord was contending with this woman even before she approached Him, begging for mercy and help. Her daughter was sick, demon-possessed. Obviously it would have been torturous for the daughter. But for anyone who has cared for a sick or dying loved one, it is torturous on the caregiver as well. The mother bears this hardship, this cross, in her own way.
Where is her husband? Surely every daughter has a father? Where is he? Has he left? Did he blame himself for his child’s affliction? Did he blame her mother and so abandon his family? Where are her friends, her family? She has no one; she turns to Christ alone.
And so she approaches our Lord in boldness. Her confidence lies not in her own worthiness or merit, but in the great promises of God in Christ. She has His Word. Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Let not my enemies exult over me. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
But she is a Canaanite. Her genealogy is of the heathen tribes Joshua and Israel were commanded to destroy and they did not. She is an outsider; from the pagans. She has no claim on the Messiah of Israel. Still she hopes. For He is good and upright; a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench (Is 42:3).
And so she cries, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. He answers her not a word. Were her friends and family equally silent? What had they said?
The apostles become embarrassed, though it is hard to tell why. Is it because she is continually crying out and is a nuisance to their comfort, like the beggar with the sign at the interstate exit; the one who makes eye contact with you? Or are they embarrassed because our Lord is not acting as He should. Where is His kindness, His compassion? Do they want Him to serve her need or simply to send her away?
Whatever the reason, they intervene; in fact, they beg. And in this way they are like the Church. She prays not only for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, but for all people, according to their need. For the wayward and erring, for those outside the kingdom of grace, for those who suffer in affliction and hardship, the Church lifts her petitions before the throne of grace, clinging in confidence to the promises of our Father who commands us to pray and promises to hear us for the sake of Christ.
But our Lord responds, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
How does she react to this reproach? Does she slink away and hope everyone will forget about her? No. She comes and she worships Him! It is often translated as kneel, but really it means to prostrate on the ground, to thrown oneself face down, to be completely submissive. Her initial boldness may have waned, but her determination does not. The promises she has heard compel her toward this Christ, who hears the cries of the young ravens and opens His hand to satisfy every living thing. He is the Helper of the helpless and her plea is distilled simply to this: Lord, help me.
And He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
God sometimes contends with His dear Christians in this manner. He treats you as if you were people about whom He does not care, even as if He were your enemy instead of your Helper and Friend. This often happens in earthly affliction. Though, not always as Job suffered, bodily tormented by Satan himself, but in one’s own sicknesses, the suffering and death of loved ones, poverty, loss of a good name or reputation, unfaithfulness of trusted friends.
Our Lord removes all feelings of comfort from your heart, so that you would not rely on your feelings, or emotions, or experiences. Rather that when your heart and conscience condemn you as sinners about whom God does not want to know anything, to then trust evermore in His Word of promise, and rely not on your own understanding.
For you are indeed more precious in His sight than gold, which is refined by fire. Thus He refines you, purifies you, as He is pure, and causes you, through cross and sorrow, to cling more fervently to His mercy and help, gloriously hidden in the shame and offense of the Cross of Christ Jesus. The attack is not always removed, but the Light of grace arises. Lift up your eyes to the hills! Sings the Psalmist. Your help comes from the Lord, the One whom on the hill of Calvary was lifted up before the eyes of the world to draw all men to Himself in mercy.
And there is mercy hidden in these offensive words, It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The blow is lessened by the use of the diminutive. Little dogs. Not stray, wild, or rabid dogs. Rather, house dogs, ones that sleep indoors during the cold nights, if only in the garage. They have their master’s heart; they catch him in his soft pity.
And so the Canaanite woman catches Jesus in His Word. “You say that I am a dog. Indeed it is true, I am a dog, not a child, I have no rightful place at the table; but I do belong in the house. I know my Lord and Master, and seek only the crumbs that fall from His table, to which even a dog is entitled.” And she has won. She has striven with God and prevailed. She caught Jesus in His Word. And He answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at that very hour.
In this way, like the Canaanite woman, Christians overcome God Himself. You storm the very gates of heaven confessing your wretchedness and demanding His mercy. In patience and humility, with fervent and incessant prayer, by faith Christians hold fast the Word of God against all experiences and feelings of the heart, and even against all physical and visible circumstances.
Above all, they take refuge in God’s Word. It is written, Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; and We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. God does not struggle against Christians to overcome them, but rather to be overcome by them. For ever so gladly does He let Himself be overcome.
This boldness and confidence, granted you as dear children, who are able to ask your dear Father, is on account of Christ Jesus, Son of David, our Lord. Who in mercy did not abandon or forsake His creation. He did not cast you off forever.
But for us men and for our salvation, Christ came down from heaven and was made Man. The Shepherd of Israel became the outsider, the Canaanite dog, cast off and rejected by His Father. And though He pleaded three times, praying, Father if it be possible, remove this cup from Me, He was ignored, reproved. And the beloved Son endured agony and hardship, scorn and ridicule, in order that you might be made children. And so you are.
Beloved, God has called you not for impurity that you may bow to the lusts and passions of the flesh. Demons rarely come uninvited. But you dangle your fingers in the shark tank every time you sin. When you open the pornography site you open a portal into your home, into your soul for the sewage and filth of sexual immortality, of which St Paul warns.
Little ones, God has called you in holiness. He has driven off your demons with water and His Word through Holy Baptism, where He also made you His children. And more, remember that this Canaanite woman comes alone to Jesus, without father or husband. But by faith Christ Jesus has become her true Husband, and His Father is her Father. So it is for you, the holy Bride of Christ, His Church who have His ear and His heart, His promises and His mercy. His Father is your Father, even as you are taught to pray.
And in that child’s prayer, do you not say, Give us this day our daily bread? Here are more than crumbs for little dogs. Here is the true and living Bread from heaven, the very Body and Blood of Christ the Son of David. This is Mercy Incarnate. This is help for the helpless. Come, kneel before Him and receive more than food for your body, but healing for your soul and life for your death.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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