Genesis 32:22-32; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7; St Matthew 15:21-28
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
We may not know the name of her husband, of if she even had one, but we know the name of her father. For this woman who came begging to Jesus was not just another run-of-the-mill Gentile. St Matthew tells us that she was a Canaanite. That meant that her father was Ham, the son of Noah. Ham, the man of no mercy. With a family tree like hers, it took a lot of gall for her to approach Jesus and ask, no plead, for mercy.
You see, after the flood Noah planted a vineyard and drank too much wine and lie in his tent naked and exposed. But Ham showed no mercy. He pointed at his father and mocked the one through whom God saved the world. It doesn’t get much lower than to speak ill of your parents, to laugh at their weaknesses and question their wisdom. To our shame, we’ve all done it.
But Noah’s other two sons honored their father by walking into the tent backwards, not looking upon his nakedness, and covering him with a garment. Noah would be fine in the morning. But Ham and his descendants wouldn’t. Noah cursed Ham’s son Canaan. And the curse would be deep. It included many of Israel’s enemies including Egypt and the Philistines; plus all the peoples who were supposed to be expelled by Joshua and the Israelites upon entering the Promised Land. But the people of God didn’t listen. They grew complacent and lived alongside the heathen peoples, even inter-marrying with them. Perhaps the apostles’ gut instinct was right in shooing her away: “No mercy for you, cursed daughter of Ham.”
But she insists on it. Her daughter is severely oppressed by a demon and she needs help. No one has been able to help her. Not doctors, not her Canaanites pagan priests, not anyone in her pantheon of gods. She’s a bit like the Celtic peoples unto whom St Patrick went and shared the Gospel. A pagan and primitive people. Putting trust in trinkets and charms, rocks and trees. But this Canaanite woman, like Patrick, was convinced that the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, has sent His Son for her type too. She has faith.
And she shows us all what faith is. Faith is not just reciting facts about Jesus; knowing some Bible passages and doing well on Jeopardy. Faith is clinging to Jesus, even when He seems against you. Faith does what Jacob did in that wrestling match in the dark. She wants what Jacob got. Jacob thought perhaps he was wrestling with his older brother Esau in the night, just as he wrestled with him in the darkness of their mother’s womb.
But it was Jesus, disguised as a man, not yet incarnate. The trickster wouldn’t be out tricked. He wouldn’t let Jesus prevail. I will not let You go until you bless me. He wrestled to receive the reward of a word. A good word from Jesus. Literally a benediction. Jacob would not let go until he received a benediction. That’s faith. Faith knows that it deserves not one good word from Jesus. Yet with clings to Jesus, as the Father’s Good Word sent to save sinful man.
And Jesus does give a benediction to Jacob. He names him Israel - “God’s Wrestler.” He may have hobbled away from that bout with an injured him, but he limped away blessed.
Now the Canaanite woman wants a good word from Jesus. And she seeks it undaunted. First ignored, then insulted, she insists on getting her good word. Our text says she knelt before Him. But what she did was much stronger than that. She worshipped, that is, she literally fell on her face and stuck her head in the dirt, begging like a dog.
And Jesus confirms her status. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The insult is softened a bit by the use of the diminutive. He does say, in fact, “little dogs,” and He might well mean lap dogs or house dogs. The kind trendy socialites carry around in purses. But even so, it is an insult.
And lacking the presence of her husband, and the genealogy of her father, is could be taken to mean something far worse: a dog who lets men use her for money. The implication is that she is unclean. She is, after all, a not only a Gentile, but a Canaanite Gentile. Has she used her body in the passion of lust? Has she thrown herself down in the same desperation that causes dogs to run to vomit or dung as well as to meat? Who else has she thrown herself down in front of? How did this demon come into their lives in the first place?
Demons rarely come uninvited. We dangle our fingers in shark-infested waters with every sin. To open the internet to a porn site is to open a portal for the demons to come into your home; into your soul. The internet never forgets. Neither do demons. To harden your conscience so that you can enjoy your sin and then repent later is to invite them in as well. There are no victimless crimes, no small sins without consequences.
In any case, the Canaanite woman knew her place. In faith she owned her role. There is no wrestling move she doesn’t counter in faith. “Jesus, if You say that I am a dog, that’s what I am. I am a dog. But Jesus, You are the Bread of Life and You say there is no portion for a Canaanite. Okay. Fine. But even a Canaanite dog gets the crumbs once in awhile.” “Jesus, I know that You have come to spread a feast for the blessed family of Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the lost sheep of the House of Israel. But I’m happy to be under the table and get what falls off. I’m not asking for a turkey leg or velvet cake, all I need is a crumb and I’ll be overjoyed to receive it.”
And faith receives the benediction is desires. “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Now that’s faith. Jesus was actually dealing mercifully with her.
So don’t be surprised, dear Christians, when Jesus seems to ignore your prayers. Don’t be surprised when you experience shame, degradation, or humiliation. For God doesn’t want your faith to be as vigorous as an old, tired, overweight dog, sleeping all day. He wants faith hungry for Him. Hungry for His Word. Hungry for His Supper. Desperate and focused on Jesus only.
So He wrestles with those whom He loves. God is like a father, who doesn’t pamper His children, but disciplines them. Wrestles with them like a 185 pound father wrestling his 40 pound son and pinning him and getting the count to three. But then, in the end, letting His son win. And leaving His son stronger than before.
Jacob prevailed. The Canaanite Woman prevailed. You prevail because God has remembered you in mercy. According to His steadfast love He remembers you, for the sake of His goodness He wrestles with you. He remembers not the sins of your youth or your many transgressions, but that His mercy and steadfast love demanded His faithful Son to pay with His life. And He did.
Jesus is Israel reduced to one Man. Jesus is God’s true Wrestler. He wrestled with Satan last Sunday and prevailed. He wrestled with God the Father at the Cross in the darkness of Good Friday. Only the Father didn’t let Him “win” at the last minute. He finished Him off for your sake with the final stroke, until He was pinned to the ground dead in the tomb, bearing Ham’s curse and everyone else’s. He didn’t walk away with just a broken hip or a dirty face. He suffered until the hell we put Him in was conquered in His bursting from the spiced tomb and His riding up the heavenly way. By this your guilty conscience is at peace and finds its rest in Him.
Not in trinkets or charms, like the pagan Celts. Not in dabbling in the demonic and becoming prey for demons. The power of faith is in Christ’s Incarnation, as a Man, to wrestle with Sin and Death, and to prevail. He is the Bread of Life thrown to the dogs that He might be devoured and then raised, so that you may be invited to this Altar to eat like king and queens. He hears and receives the sentence of death so that you might hear His benediction, His good word, this morning: “O Christian, great is your faith, be it done for you as you believe. In the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I forgive you all yours sins in the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Bind this name unto yourself, it is your breastplate and shield, your aid in the hour of deepest need, your hope in this life and the promise of the life to come. The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
We may not know the name of her husband, of if she even had one, but we know the name of her father. For this woman who came begging to Jesus was not just another run-of-the-mill Gentile. St Matthew tells us that she was a Canaanite. That meant that her father was Ham, the son of Noah. Ham, the man of no mercy. With a family tree like hers, it took a lot of gall for her to approach Jesus and ask, no plead, for mercy.
You see, after the flood Noah planted a vineyard and drank too much wine and lie in his tent naked and exposed. But Ham showed no mercy. He pointed at his father and mocked the one through whom God saved the world. It doesn’t get much lower than to speak ill of your parents, to laugh at their weaknesses and question their wisdom. To our shame, we’ve all done it.
But Noah’s other two sons honored their father by walking into the tent backwards, not looking upon his nakedness, and covering him with a garment. Noah would be fine in the morning. But Ham and his descendants wouldn’t. Noah cursed Ham’s son Canaan. And the curse would be deep. It included many of Israel’s enemies including Egypt and the Philistines; plus all the peoples who were supposed to be expelled by Joshua and the Israelites upon entering the Promised Land. But the people of God didn’t listen. They grew complacent and lived alongside the heathen peoples, even inter-marrying with them. Perhaps the apostles’ gut instinct was right in shooing her away: “No mercy for you, cursed daughter of Ham.”
But she insists on it. Her daughter is severely oppressed by a demon and she needs help. No one has been able to help her. Not doctors, not her Canaanites pagan priests, not anyone in her pantheon of gods. She’s a bit like the Celtic peoples unto whom St Patrick went and shared the Gospel. A pagan and primitive people. Putting trust in trinkets and charms, rocks and trees. But this Canaanite woman, like Patrick, was convinced that the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, has sent His Son for her type too. She has faith.
And she shows us all what faith is. Faith is not just reciting facts about Jesus; knowing some Bible passages and doing well on Jeopardy. Faith is clinging to Jesus, even when He seems against you. Faith does what Jacob did in that wrestling match in the dark. She wants what Jacob got. Jacob thought perhaps he was wrestling with his older brother Esau in the night, just as he wrestled with him in the darkness of their mother’s womb.
But it was Jesus, disguised as a man, not yet incarnate. The trickster wouldn’t be out tricked. He wouldn’t let Jesus prevail. I will not let You go until you bless me. He wrestled to receive the reward of a word. A good word from Jesus. Literally a benediction. Jacob would not let go until he received a benediction. That’s faith. Faith knows that it deserves not one good word from Jesus. Yet with clings to Jesus, as the Father’s Good Word sent to save sinful man.
And Jesus does give a benediction to Jacob. He names him Israel - “God’s Wrestler.” He may have hobbled away from that bout with an injured him, but he limped away blessed.
Now the Canaanite woman wants a good word from Jesus. And she seeks it undaunted. First ignored, then insulted, she insists on getting her good word. Our text says she knelt before Him. But what she did was much stronger than that. She worshipped, that is, she literally fell on her face and stuck her head in the dirt, begging like a dog.
And Jesus confirms her status. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. The insult is softened a bit by the use of the diminutive. He does say, in fact, “little dogs,” and He might well mean lap dogs or house dogs. The kind trendy socialites carry around in purses. But even so, it is an insult.
And lacking the presence of her husband, and the genealogy of her father, is could be taken to mean something far worse: a dog who lets men use her for money. The implication is that she is unclean. She is, after all, a not only a Gentile, but a Canaanite Gentile. Has she used her body in the passion of lust? Has she thrown herself down in the same desperation that causes dogs to run to vomit or dung as well as to meat? Who else has she thrown herself down in front of? How did this demon come into their lives in the first place?
Demons rarely come uninvited. We dangle our fingers in shark-infested waters with every sin. To open the internet to a porn site is to open a portal for the demons to come into your home; into your soul. The internet never forgets. Neither do demons. To harden your conscience so that you can enjoy your sin and then repent later is to invite them in as well. There are no victimless crimes, no small sins without consequences.
In any case, the Canaanite woman knew her place. In faith she owned her role. There is no wrestling move she doesn’t counter in faith. “Jesus, if You say that I am a dog, that’s what I am. I am a dog. But Jesus, You are the Bread of Life and You say there is no portion for a Canaanite. Okay. Fine. But even a Canaanite dog gets the crumbs once in awhile.” “Jesus, I know that You have come to spread a feast for the blessed family of Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the lost sheep of the House of Israel. But I’m happy to be under the table and get what falls off. I’m not asking for a turkey leg or velvet cake, all I need is a crumb and I’ll be overjoyed to receive it.”
And faith receives the benediction is desires. “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Now that’s faith. Jesus was actually dealing mercifully with her.
So don’t be surprised, dear Christians, when Jesus seems to ignore your prayers. Don’t be surprised when you experience shame, degradation, or humiliation. For God doesn’t want your faith to be as vigorous as an old, tired, overweight dog, sleeping all day. He wants faith hungry for Him. Hungry for His Word. Hungry for His Supper. Desperate and focused on Jesus only.
So He wrestles with those whom He loves. God is like a father, who doesn’t pamper His children, but disciplines them. Wrestles with them like a 185 pound father wrestling his 40 pound son and pinning him and getting the count to three. But then, in the end, letting His son win. And leaving His son stronger than before.
Jacob prevailed. The Canaanite Woman prevailed. You prevail because God has remembered you in mercy. According to His steadfast love He remembers you, for the sake of His goodness He wrestles with you. He remembers not the sins of your youth or your many transgressions, but that His mercy and steadfast love demanded His faithful Son to pay with His life. And He did.
Jesus is Israel reduced to one Man. Jesus is God’s true Wrestler. He wrestled with Satan last Sunday and prevailed. He wrestled with God the Father at the Cross in the darkness of Good Friday. Only the Father didn’t let Him “win” at the last minute. He finished Him off for your sake with the final stroke, until He was pinned to the ground dead in the tomb, bearing Ham’s curse and everyone else’s. He didn’t walk away with just a broken hip or a dirty face. He suffered until the hell we put Him in was conquered in His bursting from the spiced tomb and His riding up the heavenly way. By this your guilty conscience is at peace and finds its rest in Him.
Not in trinkets or charms, like the pagan Celts. Not in dabbling in the demonic and becoming prey for demons. The power of faith is in Christ’s Incarnation, as a Man, to wrestle with Sin and Death, and to prevail. He is the Bread of Life thrown to the dogs that He might be devoured and then raised, so that you may be invited to this Altar to eat like king and queens. He hears and receives the sentence of death so that you might hear His benediction, His good word, this morning: “O Christian, great is your faith, be it done for you as you believe. In the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I forgive you all yours sins in the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Bind this name unto yourself, it is your breastplate and shield, your aid in the hour of deepest need, your hope in this life and the promise of the life to come. The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.
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