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Sermon for Reminiscere – Lent 2
1 Thessalonians 4:1-7 + Matthew 15:21-28
Remember that, last week, we talked about how the devil tempts believers, trying to get them to fall into sin, unbelief, and, finally, eternal condemnation, while God tests believers, putting them through certain trials and challenges to see what they’re made of, to remove the impurities from them, to strengthen their character, and to praise them in the end—even though it’s God Himself who always helps believers to pass these tests. How could a teacher ever praise a student for his or her intelligence if that intelligence were never tested? How could a player on a sports team ever earn a trophy, or the praises of the spectators, if the players were never tested in an actual competition? No, testing is necessary in life, and even more so in the Christian life, which is much more important than any game or competition. The stakes are much higher. But the praise at the end is also much greater.
It’s testing that we see in today’s Gospel. Oh, there was also tempting going on on the devil’s part; he isn’t absent from the account of the Canaanite woman. But whereas last week we mainly saw the devil’s temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, for His harm, today we mainly see Jesus, not tempting, but testing the woman’s faith, for her good. God does that testing of His saints throughout the Old and New Testaments, and it continues to this day, even through this very Gospel account. So let’s consider again today the account of the testing of the Canaanite woman, and be comforted with the assurance that faith will survive being tested.
The first test came in the form of silence. Then Jesus went from there and departed to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same territory and was crying out to him, saying, “O Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is dreadfully tormented by demons.” But he said not a word in reply.
Why Jesus stepped outside the territory of Israel on this one occasion, into the northern territory of Tyre and Sidon, we don’t know. But He did. And, even though He was trying to stay out of the public eye, as Mark tells us, this woman from the region found Him, somehow. Both Matthew and Mark make it very clear that she was not of Jewish descent. And yet she addresses Jesus by that special Jewish title that only came from the Jewish Scriptures: Son of David! —that is, David’s promised descendant, the Christ, who was to come and sit on David’s throne as King over Israel, but not only over Israel. His kingdom would fill the earth. That’s what the prophecies said. Obviously the word of God, including some of those prophecies, had reached those Gentile regions, and so had the word about Jesus, including the fact that He had power over the demons, including the fact that He was the promised Son of David. So, believing that simple word, she called out to Him for help for her demon-afflicted daughter. Mark tells us that she cried out repeatedly to Jesus. But He “said not a word in reply.”
That was the first test, the first challenge to her faith. And you can imagine how hard it was, to get up the nerve to go begging to this Jewish Man for help, and then to have Him ignore her cries. If she had any sort of haughty spirit, any sense of entitlement, any chip on her shoulder, she would have just gotten angry and left. Or, if she had a judgmental attitude, or rashly jumped to conclusions, she would have taken Jesus’ silence in the worst possible way, assuming He was just arrogant, assuming He was just uncaring. But silence doesn’t have to mean any of those. Sometimes silence, especially from God, just means, “I want to test your persistence and your perseverance for a little while. I want to test your faith, to see if you’ll give up on Me or assume the worst about Me just because I don’t answer you right away.”
This is often how God tests His people still today. God is always silent, in that He never speaks an answer to anyone. He spoke a few answers to people in the Old Testament, and then Jesus spoke many answers to people while He walked the earth. But now? God doesn’t speak, except through the preaching of His Word. Many questions that people have are, in fact, answered in God’s Word, if they take the time to study it and understand it. Why is there suffering in the world? What is the meaning of life? Why do wars happen? Those questions God answers, but it takes study. Other questions, or prayers, God doesn’t answer verbally, though He may grant a request, or deny it, or delay its granting. That denying or delaying is part of the testing. And it has a purpose, a good one. Don’t give up on God, and certainly don’t assume the worst about Him. Trust, and wait. You won’t be disappointed if you do.
Then there was a testing in the Gospel, not of the woman, but of Jesus’ disciples. Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away! She is crying out after us!” But he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” To them, it looked like Jesus wasn’t going to help the woman, so He might as well send her away, because her incessant, unanswered cries for help were becoming troubling, so they prayed against her, instead of praying for her. Now, previously, Jesus had sent His disciples on a mission, instructing them not to go to the towns of the Gentiles, but telling them to go “only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And yet, there’s a difference, isn’t there?, between not going to Gentile towns, and not helping a Gentile who is right there, calling out for help. What’s more, the disciples had followed Jesus up here to the territory of the Gentiles. They had previously watched Him heal a Roman centurion’s servant, and praise the man’s faith. So, how would they take these words of His, and His silence? Would they assume He really didn’t want to help this woman, simply because she wasn’t a Jew? Would they assume Jesus had no interest in helping the Gentiles? Or would they pause, and consider that, as the Old Testament said and as Jesus had already shown, the Messiah had come to save all people from their sins, and that the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” didn’t actually have to be Israelites, but could include any who, like this woman, put their faith in the Lord Jesus?
There is a test here for us, too. How will you read those Old Testament prophecies about Israel’s future? How will you recognize a true Israelite today? Will you look for the lost sheep of Israel among a certain ethnic or racial group or economic group? Or will you recognize that everyone who calls on the name of Jesus, in repentance and in faith, is a true Israelite, no matter their race or their background? And when you recognize a brother or sister in Christ, will you pray for them?
In the final testing of the woman’s faith, her faith was tested, not by Jesus’ silence, but by the words He spoke to her. Then she came and fell down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
There she was, on her knees, begging for her daughter, begging for Jesus to conquer the demons for her, which only He could do. His answer would test anyone’s faith, comparing the people of Israel to children sitting at the table with their food, and comparing the Gentiles to little dogs under the table. The thing is, there was an enormous difference between Jews and Gentiles at that time. The Jews weren’t God’s children by nature. They, like the Gentiles, were sinners by nature and hostile to God by nature. The difference was that God, out of pure mercy and grace, without any goodness on their part, had brought the Jews into a covenant with Him. He had made them His people, His children. And, at least outwardly, they worshiped the true God. But the Gentiles, for their part, were idolaters who worshiped false gods, who didn’t want anything to do with the true God, the God of Israel.
Except that, this woman here is looking to Jesus, the true God of Israel. She was coming to Jesus in faith. Would her faith be strong enough to keep trusting in Jesus’ goodness when all external signs pointed to His indifference? Would her faith survive being tested?
It certainly did. Her answer is a shining example for all of us. She said, “Yes, Lord. But the dogs do eat from the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Oh, woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly. For a few minutes, it looked like this Gentile woman was being shamed and ignored. But looks are so often deceiving. In the end, we hear Jesus giving her some of the highest praise anyone has ever received from God. How often did He say to His own (Jewish) disciples, “Oh, you of little faith!” But to this Gentile woman, He says, “You have great faith!” Great, because she kept trusting in Jesus for good, in spite of how things looked on the outside. Great, because she humbly submitted to being tested by her God, unlike Old Testament Israel, who always grumbled and complained against God whenever He tested them. And by contrasting this Gentile woman’s great faith with the very weak faith often shown by the Jews, the Holy Spirit used this encounter to teach all future generations that it’s not your bloodline that matters before God, or any great works you’ve done. It’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that will result in salvation.
Let this Spirit-inspired account of the testing of the Gentile woman inspire you to humbly submit to God’s testing, too. God’s testing is not intended to harm you, but to help you. It’s a form of discipline from a loving Father who knows all and whose plans for His children are perfect. He will never let you be tempted—or tested!—beyond what you can bear, but He Himself will provide the way out so that you can bear up under it. Faith will survive being tested, if it remains focused on the Lord Jesus and His goodness and love, which never fail. And after faith survives the testing, you will receive God’s praise, and, ultimately, God’s gift of salvation from sin and from every evil. Amen.
