Genesis 32:22-32/1 Thessalonians 4:1-7/St Matthew 15:21-28
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen,
The Canaanite woman is a brilliant theologian! For with the eyes of faith she sees the visible and manifest things of God through suffering and the cross. Despite His rebuffs and even harsh rebukes, she refuses to let go of Jesus. She is tenacious in her plea. In faith she holds Him to His Word. She knows He has healed others. He has shown Himself to be merciful and loving, kind and compassionate. And so she believes what she has heard.
Therefore that voice of faith which approaches the throne of grace with all boldness and confidence, like that of little children asking their dear Father, arises in her heart and from her mouth by the hearing of the Word of Christ. Christian prayer necessarily begins not with our speaking, but with that hearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. For He is merciful to all who call upon Him in truth, but how shall we call upon Him whom we have not heard?
Therefore the Canaanite woman goes to Jesus, the Son of David, of whom she has heard great and marvelous things, and she boldly and courageously intercedes for her daughter who is demon possessed.
But what she encounters is not the Jesus of whom she has heard. He does not show Himself to be merciful and full of pity for her. In fact, He seems to be her enemy. They disciples appear more compassionate than our Lord Christ, for they intercede on her behalf, begging Jesus, Send her away for she is crying out after us. Give in to her demands, Lord; at least she’ll stop being a nuisance. Her persistence has at least broken down their stubbornness. What about Jesus? He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. There will be nothing for the Gentile Canaanites. She is not worthy.
But she doesn’t care about herself. This is for her daughter; her little one held tight in the torturous grip of the Evil One. Ironic, isn’t it, that it is the devil himself who drives this woman to Jesus in such desperation? The trials and suffering of life force her to the only One who can help; the One who is Life Incarnate; who brings freedom and healing. She knows He can help. And so she endures all manner of ridicule and contempt, insult and injury to pride. She is relentless. Even though it seems as if Christ Jesus has cast her aside, she will not let Him go.
Her plea has been reduced from Son of David, have mercy on me, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon; to, Lord, help me. And then when Jesus finally responds to her cries, when He at last acknowledges her presence, He says, It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. It is better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Better to be a dog, eating the crumbs from the Table of the Lord, than to be the play-thing of demons. She own her posture before the Lord and in so doing, she is the one who has Him by the collar. She has caught Him in His Word. Which is precisely where Jesus puts Himself for your sake.
But what about you? How is your prayer life? Do praise and thank God for the good your eyes have seen, your ears have heard and your life has known? What about when you hear bad news? When you experience sorrow or loss? When you endure suffering in your own mind, body, and soul? To where do you turn in those sleepless nights of anxiety and fear? Do you see with the eyes of faith the mercy and compassion of the Lord our God hidden within that very suffering and the cross, which He in His wisdom, places upon you?
I tell you a mystery, a theological paradox only parsed out through faith: It is in the holy and precious Cross, both of our Lord Jesus Christ, and your own, in which God actively hides Himself. He simply refuses to be known in any other way.
Reason does not comprehend this. Neither can you, by your own wisdom or strength, believe such truth concerning the manner and means by which God the Father graciously and lovingly serves you in the Cross of Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord. For the Cross is not only foolishness to the eyes of the world, it is scandalous to the pious sensitivities of our flesh. We would rather have a God who coddles us when we wake up terrified over our sins, One who pats us on the head, hands us a warm glass of milk and sends us off to bed. We don’t want a God with whom we strive and wrestle all hours of the night, who leaves us walking off with a limb and a blessing hidden in suffering.
But it is precisely this latter God that you have!
The One who bestows a new name and a blessing upon Jacob and gives him a disjointed hip as a sign of His grace and favor, His mercy and protection. The God who gives His chosen instrument to carry His Word before the Gentiles, St Paul, a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to keep him from becoming elated. The God who hands over His sole-begotten Son, His beloved in whom His heart delights, to be the despised and rejected by men, ridiculed and spit upon, and then ruthlessly killed; torturously hoisted upon the Tree in shame and agony to make men His again; to reconciled the world to Himself.
For this is the God that you have: Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Father, who in willing obedience submitted Himself to the will of His Father for you. You endured the Cross and despised the shame for it is the very means of your justification and redemption. The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the answer to all your pleas and prayers. It is your life and salvation. It is your sanctification, as St Paul writes to the Thessalonians.
And He who has perfectly completed your salvation and sanctification for you, now works in and with you by His Word and Spirit, through the preaching and the bearing of His Cross, by the faithful wrestling with His Word and promises, working out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God Himself who works within you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Hence the admonitions of St Paul to abstain from sexual immortality and with self-control and discipline bear the Cross and suffering that Christ Jesus, in His wisdom and mercy, has placed upon you in love for the mortification of the old man. For the works and will of God often seem unattractive and even appear evil. Nevertheless they are really eternal merits done according to His good and gracious will and Word.
Take heart, dear children, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is your God and Father, is treating you as sons. For the Lord disciplines the one whom He loves (Heb 12:6). He has adopted you through Holy Baptism and thereby has traced the watery Cross of His beloved Son upon your heart and mind. You belong to Him. He changed your name, bestowing upon you His own all powerful and redeeming Name - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And as a loving and all-compassionate Father He plays and wrestles with you, for your eternal good, in order to conform you to the image of His own Son, our crucified and raised Lord Jesus Christ, by the work of His Word and Spirit.
Therefore do not despair, dear ones. You have His Word and promises. He remembers His mercy and steadfast love. And you are the recipients and possessors of His grace and Spirit. The demons cannot have you. You belong to Jesus. See here He sets before the Table of His Body and Blood; food for His children. You do not lick up the crumbs as a dog, but are invited to the Table, given the seat of honor, and partake of the children’s bread as His own beloved brothers and sisters, as full participants and co-heirs, having the hope of eternal life.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen,
The Canaanite woman is a brilliant theologian! For with the eyes of faith she sees the visible and manifest things of God through suffering and the cross. Despite His rebuffs and even harsh rebukes, she refuses to let go of Jesus. She is tenacious in her plea. In faith she holds Him to His Word. She knows He has healed others. He has shown Himself to be merciful and loving, kind and compassionate. And so she believes what she has heard.
Therefore that voice of faith which approaches the throne of grace with all boldness and confidence, like that of little children asking their dear Father, arises in her heart and from her mouth by the hearing of the Word of Christ. Christian prayer necessarily begins not with our speaking, but with that hearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. For He is merciful to all who call upon Him in truth, but how shall we call upon Him whom we have not heard?
Therefore the Canaanite woman goes to Jesus, the Son of David, of whom she has heard great and marvelous things, and she boldly and courageously intercedes for her daughter who is demon possessed.
But what she encounters is not the Jesus of whom she has heard. He does not show Himself to be merciful and full of pity for her. In fact, He seems to be her enemy. They disciples appear more compassionate than our Lord Christ, for they intercede on her behalf, begging Jesus, Send her away for she is crying out after us. Give in to her demands, Lord; at least she’ll stop being a nuisance. Her persistence has at least broken down their stubbornness. What about Jesus? He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. There will be nothing for the Gentile Canaanites. She is not worthy.
But she doesn’t care about herself. This is for her daughter; her little one held tight in the torturous grip of the Evil One. Ironic, isn’t it, that it is the devil himself who drives this woman to Jesus in such desperation? The trials and suffering of life force her to the only One who can help; the One who is Life Incarnate; who brings freedom and healing. She knows He can help. And so she endures all manner of ridicule and contempt, insult and injury to pride. She is relentless. Even though it seems as if Christ Jesus has cast her aside, she will not let Him go.
Her plea has been reduced from Son of David, have mercy on me, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon; to, Lord, help me. And then when Jesus finally responds to her cries, when He at last acknowledges her presence, He says, It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. It is better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Better to be a dog, eating the crumbs from the Table of the Lord, than to be the play-thing of demons. She own her posture before the Lord and in so doing, she is the one who has Him by the collar. She has caught Him in His Word. Which is precisely where Jesus puts Himself for your sake.
But what about you? How is your prayer life? Do praise and thank God for the good your eyes have seen, your ears have heard and your life has known? What about when you hear bad news? When you experience sorrow or loss? When you endure suffering in your own mind, body, and soul? To where do you turn in those sleepless nights of anxiety and fear? Do you see with the eyes of faith the mercy and compassion of the Lord our God hidden within that very suffering and the cross, which He in His wisdom, places upon you?
I tell you a mystery, a theological paradox only parsed out through faith: It is in the holy and precious Cross, both of our Lord Jesus Christ, and your own, in which God actively hides Himself. He simply refuses to be known in any other way.
Reason does not comprehend this. Neither can you, by your own wisdom or strength, believe such truth concerning the manner and means by which God the Father graciously and lovingly serves you in the Cross of Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord. For the Cross is not only foolishness to the eyes of the world, it is scandalous to the pious sensitivities of our flesh. We would rather have a God who coddles us when we wake up terrified over our sins, One who pats us on the head, hands us a warm glass of milk and sends us off to bed. We don’t want a God with whom we strive and wrestle all hours of the night, who leaves us walking off with a limb and a blessing hidden in suffering.
But it is precisely this latter God that you have!
The One who bestows a new name and a blessing upon Jacob and gives him a disjointed hip as a sign of His grace and favor, His mercy and protection. The God who gives His chosen instrument to carry His Word before the Gentiles, St Paul, a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to keep him from becoming elated. The God who hands over His sole-begotten Son, His beloved in whom His heart delights, to be the despised and rejected by men, ridiculed and spit upon, and then ruthlessly killed; torturously hoisted upon the Tree in shame and agony to make men His again; to reconciled the world to Himself.
For this is the God that you have: Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Father, who in willing obedience submitted Himself to the will of His Father for you. You endured the Cross and despised the shame for it is the very means of your justification and redemption. The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the answer to all your pleas and prayers. It is your life and salvation. It is your sanctification, as St Paul writes to the Thessalonians.
And He who has perfectly completed your salvation and sanctification for you, now works in and with you by His Word and Spirit, through the preaching and the bearing of His Cross, by the faithful wrestling with His Word and promises, working out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God Himself who works within you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Hence the admonitions of St Paul to abstain from sexual immortality and with self-control and discipline bear the Cross and suffering that Christ Jesus, in His wisdom and mercy, has placed upon you in love for the mortification of the old man. For the works and will of God often seem unattractive and even appear evil. Nevertheless they are really eternal merits done according to His good and gracious will and Word.
Take heart, dear children, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is your God and Father, is treating you as sons. For the Lord disciplines the one whom He loves (Heb 12:6). He has adopted you through Holy Baptism and thereby has traced the watery Cross of His beloved Son upon your heart and mind. You belong to Him. He changed your name, bestowing upon you His own all powerful and redeeming Name - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And as a loving and all-compassionate Father He plays and wrestles with you, for your eternal good, in order to conform you to the image of His own Son, our crucified and raised Lord Jesus Christ, by the work of His Word and Spirit.
Therefore do not despair, dear ones. You have His Word and promises. He remembers His mercy and steadfast love. And you are the recipients and possessors of His grace and Spirit. The demons cannot have you. You belong to Jesus. See here He sets before the Table of His Body and Blood; food for His children. You do not lick up the crumbs as a dog, but are invited to the Table, given the seat of honor, and partake of the children’s bread as His own beloved brothers and sisters, as full participants and co-heirs, having the hope of eternal life.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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