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I usually don’t like preparing for holiday messages. I find that after I’ve spoken about most holidays, there really isn’t much more to say, so I find holiday messages generally difficult to put together and to stay relevant and fresh. However, Mothers Day is different. I enjoy finding biblical mothers to talk about, to delve into their situations and to find how they react to those. I enjoy Mothers Day messages because:
1 – they are great for mothers as they show wonderful role models and the proper reactions to situations in their lives
2 – they are great for everyone else as their lessons are appropriate not just to mothers but to all
Today we will learn about an unnamed mother, one who wasn’t even a daughter of Abraham.
Matthew 15:21-28 (NIV)
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
The Canaanite woman has great faith in Jesus
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
Jesus withdraws:
- Whenever Jesus withdraws in the New Testament, he is hiding or getting away from those who are around him.
- In this case, he is getting away from the Scribes and Pharisees who are arguing with him about the unclean things that enter into our bodies.
- Jesus tells them that what is unclean is not the food that enters the body from the mouth but the words that come out of the mouth from the heart
- He withdraws to Tyre and Sidon, two gentile territories.
- Mark 7:24 (NIV)
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.
Here we find a Canaanite woman
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
- A Canaanite would not have been a Jewish person from Israel but one of the people whose ancestors were in the land even before God gave the people the land He had promised them
- She is deeply distressed because her daughter has an evil spirit possessing her
- She cries out to Jesus to help her
- She must have heard about him and what he has done in Israel
- She hasn’t ever experienced God before, but as she has heard the testimonies of others who have, she realizes that God can help her.
- This gives us insight into how great our own testimony can be in the life of others
- There are people who we might not even know are hearing about our testimony of what Jesus has done for us and they are coming to faith because of it
- When she realizes that there is a way to help her daughter, she grabs it and doesn’t let go
- She recognizes that he is Lord. She gives him authority over her and her situation
- Is Jesus your Lord? Do you give him authority over your life and situation?
- She recognizes that he is the promised messiah. By calling him the Son of David, she confesses that she knows he comes from God
- She asks for mercy. She knows she is undeserving and places herself at his mercy. If she is to get help, it won’t be due to anything she can do or because she has earned it.
- Satan will always try to attack us and our loved ones.
- We must stand firm against him and this can only come by the power of God
- Are you standing firm in the power of God against the Evil one?
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
She perseveres even through the tests and obstacles
- Jesus doesn’t answer her
- Why? She is being tested. Jesus is allowing her faith to be put through the fire
- 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV) In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
- James 1: 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
- Jesus tests us to refine, strengthen our faith
- She does not give up.
- She perseveres through the silence.
- James 1:4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
- She continues to ask again and again
- We as a Church have heard the silence as we look for a new space
- Do you remember a time when your prayers weren’t being answered, when God seemed silent?
- God is building up your faith, growing you stronger
- His answer may seem like silence but it actually is “Hold strong. If you do, in a little while, you will see your answer better than you imagined”
- The disciples are getting annoyed
- Sometimes the people who should be better and know better can get frustrated
- They seem to say, just help her already so she’ll go away
- They have not understood how to deal with Gentile believers
- Do we get frustrated at others going through their problems?
- See how she centers on Jesus – He is all she can see (not the disciples annoyance)
24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
- Jesus comments that he is only here to help the tribes of Israel
- Jesus wasn’t lying, this was his objective at that time
- Of course, Jesus died for all, not just for Israel. However, during his earthly ministry, most of his time was spent speaking to Israel. In the end, because Israel rejected him, he died for all nations.
- However, we also see throughout his earthly ministry that there were times when Jesus saved those who were not Jewish – The Samaritan Woman, the Centurion.
- In any case, the woman could have at this point given up
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
- Yet she continues to ask on her knees for Jesus to help her
- Naaman the leper was healed after he reluctantly did what the man of God told him to do (dip 7 times in the river), but this woman would gladly do whatever Jesus asked her to do. In both cases, God is faithful to bless us when we do what he asks us to do – anxiously or reluctantly.
- Her desire for her daughter’s healing is so great that she will not give up
- Do you persevere even when it seems that nothing is changing and no answer is forthcoming?
26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
- Jesus tells her that she doesn’t deserve any help since she is not a child (Jewish)
- This may seem harsh to us
- We must be careful not to judge the one whose ways are higher than our ways and thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
- Let’s not make the mistake of thinking our ways are better than his
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
- But the woman continues, even in the face of seemingly impossible odds.
- Her response is that she will take anything – even the crumbs
- Is your desire for the healing or salvation of one of your children great enough to continue to request assistance from the One who can bring it about?
- We can see why Jesus is so pleased with her faith.
- She doesn’t give up but perseveres in her belief that he can do this
- She doesn’t think herself better than Jesus but is willing to take even the crumbs, the smallest token
- Even this little bit is better than anything that she could get from anyone else
- She knows that the only place she can get what she needs is from Jesus. She can go to another person or another place, but she knows she can’t take care of this herself or even that anyone in the universe can take care of this. She is willing to take anything that Jesus gives her because she knows who it is from and how great that is.
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Jesus responds
- Persistence pays off
- Sometimes God might not answer our prayer immediately so that we can develop our faith
- He calls her faith “great”. Great faith requires great Perseverance.
- This great faith results in great blessings
- Healing of her daughter
- Great faith can result in blessings to you and to others
- What a blessing it would be to hear Jesus say to us, “Your faith is great, it shall be done for you”
- Do we need to be more persistent in our prayers, more fervent?
- Are others’ depending on our faith for their needs?
- May we be known as the disciples with great faith
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Reaching and Developing People for Jesus 
