Well, good morning. It is a joy to gather with you. I did, like Daniel said, spend some time with the men last fall, but it's great to have more of the church family gathered together. And as we were singing, I was just reminded that though from week to week we worship in different cities, we still have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. So if you haven't done so already, you can grab a copy of God's Word and turn with me to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, verse 21, and if you're using one of the Pew Bibles, I think that's page 821. Matthew 15, 21. Before I read, I want you to think about something with me. There is a word that we use a lot as Christians, and that word is faith. Faith. Sometimes the Bible uses faith to describe the content of the gospel, the doctrine that we believe. We possess the faith, once for all entrusted to the saints. More often, the Bible uses faith to describe a personal act, such as believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. In that sense, faith is the instrument God uses to unite us to Jesus and his saving benefits. But what exactly is faith? Historically, Christianity has argued that faith includes three elements. Knowledge, assent, and trust. Knowledge, right? Faith is not blind, but it acts on a knowledge of God, his character, what he's like, what he has done in his son Jesus. Ascent is the next element, not ascent as in like going up, but ascent as in agreeing that the knowledge you have about God is true. Okay, and the final element is trust, that restful reliance upon Jesus to save. We could say that demons have knowledge, but they don't trust. They don't rest in the goodness of God. All three elements help us speak carefully about the nature of saving faith. And you'll find these in the older confessions and catechisms, but sometimes we just need a good picture, don't we? We need a story. We need to see faith in action to grasp what it really is like. So today, the story of the Canaanite woman is one of the greatest pictures of faith. Jesus says to this woman, a woman great is your faith. In the process, though, we also learn about the object of her faith, Jesus, who he is, why he came, and what he offers to all who come to him like this woman. So let's begin reading in verse 21, and as we do, may your own faith in Jesus become stronger. Listen to God's word, Matthew 15, verse 21. And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him saying, send her away, for she is crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and knelt before him saying, Lord, help me. And he answered, it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. She said, yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. And then Jesus answered her, oh woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly. Father, I ask that you would guide us now as we look at this text. Would you keep me true to its meaning and help us see more of Christ today? Amen. I love this passage. There are four parts to this dialogue, and each begins with someone speaking, either the woman or the disciples, and then it closes with an answer or a non-answer from Jesus. But with each part, something further stands out about this woman's faith, and we also learn more about the Savior in whom she places her faith. So the first part comes in verse 21, and it stretches to Jesus' non-answer in verse 23. And here's what we learn. Faith comes to Jesus confident that He is merciful to sinners. Faith comes to Jesus confident that He is merciful to sinners. To this point in Matthew's gospel Jesus has ministered primarily among Jews. Now He withdraws to Gentile territory. Our text says that it is Tyre and Sidon. And it's no accident that this move follows Jesus' teaching on defilement earlier in chapter 15. Now I don't know the last time you checked in your Bibles, but Tyre and Sidon don't score so high. on the purity charts, okay? Just read places like Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 26. I'm sorry, Ezekiel, yeah, it's 26, Zechariah 9. Historically, these are cultures of arrogant injustice, trading humans for products, rampant idolatry, Jesus has withdrawn to what was considered unclean territory. And if that wasn't enough to ruffle Jewish feathers, well, verse 22 gets even more surprising. It's the only place that Canaanite appears in the New Testament. When Mark tells this same story, he describes the woman as a Gentile. a Syrophoenician by birth, but Matthew wants us to see more here. Her backstory includes a long family history opposed to God's covenant people. Her people are enemies of Israel. In other words, she is the last person that you'd expect to find seeking out a Jew for help. Perhaps that's why Matthew himself is so surprised when he says, behold, a Canaanite woman. Her daughter is severely oppressed by a demon, verse 22 says. In chapter 17, verse 15, there's also a boy who's severely oppressed by a demon. And it included things like convulsions and falling into the fire or into the water. just to kind of help you get a feel for what it must have been like for this mother to watch her daughter suffer this way. But she comes out looking for Jesus, and then upon finding Jesus, she repeatedly cries to him. She wants her girl healed, but it is also agony for her as the mother. Notice how she says, have mercy on me, on me, oh Lord, son of David. Now, Matthew's gospel, Matthew himself, his goal is to reveal Jesus as the son of David. I mean, the first line of this gospel says, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David. But the characters within the book, well, they're not always so confident. Take the Jews, for instance, in chapter 12. They say, can this be the son of David? They're not so sure, and of course, as you keep reading, the Pharisees are constantly trying to squelch that idea. Of all the people that should have seen Jesus as son of David, it was the Jews. I mean, for centuries, God revealed his purpose to them, but to this point, they totally missed Jesus. Instead, A Canaanite gets it. She calls him Lord, Son of David, which are both loaded terms. Lord appears regularly in settings where Jesus does only what God was known to do in the Old Testament. Son of David was a title reserved for God's anointed king, the one whose kingdom would make all things right. Jesus will later bring both of these titles together, Lord and Son of David, in chapter 22 verse 45 when he asks them, if David calls him Lord, how is he also David's son? In other words, this Gentile woman seeks help from the Jewish Messiah. She knows something about this man. Mark's gospel tells us how earlier in Jesus's ministry, some folks from Tyre and Sidon had seen him cast out demons in Galilee, right? Perhaps word made it back to this woman, and now she's coming out. She's putting the pieces together, and she knows that God's mercy to sinners flows through this man, Jesus. But then Jesus does the unexpected. Verse 23 says, he did not answer her a word. In her agony, he did not answer her a word. Now, some have said this is pretty cold-hearted of Jesus. But one only has to read the rest of the New Testament to know that's not true. Jesus is compassionate, gentle. Earlier in this gospel it said He was lowly of heart. Better is that Jesus must be testing the woman's faith. I think that's part of it. But we also must not forget the disciples here. They are part of the picture too. And given the disciples' response in verse 23, I think Jesus stays silent for their sake. He wants the disciples and all of us to see this woman's faith and learn something more about Him. Jesus doesn't respond like we always think He should. Sometimes He says nothing, but it's not because He's cold. It's not because He lacks compassion. Surely the love He displayed on the cross has taught us to draw better conclusions than that. Yes, even in silence, He is working to give us a better understanding of our need. He's working to draw others in for a deeper understanding of who He is and why He came. which leads to the next part in verses 23 and 24, we see that faith embraces the priorities in Jesus's mission. Faith embraces the priorities. in Jesus's mission. Again, this woman is following Jesus, pleading that he heal her daughter. Jesus's deliberate silence lets this persist for a while to the point where the disciples finally say something. Don't they? Verse 23, send her away for she's crying out after us. Now, you could read this as the disciples wanting Jesus to heal her. I mean, it's unlike him to stay silent like this. To this point, he's healed nearly everybody who's asked in the gospel. So, the words, send her away, might include an element of heal this woman already. Also, Mark's gospel tells us Jesus was trying to lay low anyway and not cause a big scene. So in this case, Jesus' answer in verse 24 explains why he hasn't healed her. But it's also possible that they've misunderstood Jesus' silence in a far different way, in a more negative way toward this woman. It wasn't the norm for a Jewish rabbi to interact so closely with Gentiles. especially an unclean Canaanite. And so they tell Jesus to send her away. Let's avoid this awkward situation altogether. Given the disciples track record, I think that's a better way to read it. What then does Jesus mean in verse 24 when he answers, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel? The woman hasn't left the scene, she's still there. I imagine Jesus answers within earshot of the woman, but his answer here is first for the disciples. He wants the disciples to reflect on the nature of his mission. I think in a couple of different ways. One, he was sent to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The lost. He wasn't sent for the righteous, but for sinners. unclean people in Israel who aren't so different from this woman. Two, he's highlighting the historical priority of his mission to Israel. But I think he's doing it to eventually show the disciples in the miracle how that historical priority does not mean exclusive priority. He said similar words before. In chapter 10 of this gospel, verse five, Jesus commissions the 12 and he says, go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Historical priority. But you keep reading in that same chapter, And you find how the disciples' mission wouldn't always be limited to Israel. Eventually their testimony, it says, would come before governors and kings to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. Chapter 10, verse 18. I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And here's this Canaanite woman in desperate need of Jesus's mercy. If the disciples set the priorities of Jesus's mission, we know what they would do. Send her away. Send her away. But is that what Jesus meant? by his being sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Does he mean for that mission to exclude Gentiles begging for his mercy? He's getting his disciples to think for a minute about the priorities of his mission. At this point in Jesus's earthly mission, the Jews receive historical priority. That was plain all along. God works his saving plan first through his promises to Israel. Romans chapter 9 verse 4 and 5 says, to Israel belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. Romans 1.16, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek. We observe this same priority in Acts when Paul offers the gospel first to the Jews. Isaiah 49 anticipated the same pattern. The servant would come first to lead Israel back to God. But that historical priority did not mean exclusive priority and Jesus is about to prove it. He's going to prove it first by showing how this Canaanite woman grasps the mercy of his mission better than his own disciples do. Which brings us to the third part of this dialogue in verses 25 and 26. Faith knows it deserves nothing, but gains everything in Jesus. Faith knows it deserves nothing, but it gains everything in Jesus. The woman has heard Jesus answer the disciples. She's heard Him raise the historical priority of His mission to Israel. And while all of that is still hanging in the air, well, she comes and begs for mercy again. With all of that hanging in the air of whether that's all His mission is. She comes and begs for mercy again, Lord, help me. Now, how many of you have been in situations where that's all you know to pray? How many of you have been so desperate in the silence that this is all you know how to say? Well, it's a good prayer. It's one that is filled with faith that Jesus will answer. And yet again, Jesus answers in the most surprising way. The point he made to the disciples, he now says to the woman in the form of a parable, it's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Now the children seem to represent Israel, and especially the disciples here. The bread represents the blessings of Jesus' kingdom. And the dogs represent this Canaanite woman. But before we read too much into it, let me clarify one aspect that's not immediately apparent, at least in English. Jesus has used dogs before in the gospel, like in chapter seven, verse six, when he tells the disciples, do not give dogs what is holy. And dogs, in that context, represent people who are viciously opposed to the gospel. Paul uses it the same way in Philippians chapter 3 verse 2. He says, watch out for the dogs, and he's talking about false teachers. Now, in both of those contexts, the dog is more comparable to a jackal, okay, or a hyena, a scavenger, nasty scavengers. That's not the dog Jesus has in mind with the woman. He switches to a different word in its diminutive form, which amounts to a house dog, okay, your pet. All right, you can discern this just by looking at the woman's response when she says, yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. So she understands that Jesus means house dog, one that's under the table just waiting for the crumbs to fall. You've got dogs, you know what I'm talking about, big brown eyes, you know. So while it's still a hard pill to swallow, it's not as offensive as it could have been, she's inside the house. But Jesus is taking the point that he made with the disciples and he's now seeing what this woman is gonna do with it. His parable reiterates that there's a historical order to God's saving work and Gentiles were not first in line. Some of you might find that offensive. And to some sensibilities, perhaps it's meant to be offensive. We live in a culture of entitlement where everybody gets a trophy. But it might be good to observe how this woman is not offended by Jesus. She embraces Jesus' parable. She agrees with Him. She says, yes, Lord. In terms of historical priority, she accepts her place in line behind the children of Israel. The ESV has, yet even the dogs, I think a better translation here is, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. She goes there with Jesus, in other words, and draws further comfort from it. She knows she doesn't deserve anything from God's covenant promises, but she also knows that the blessings of Jesus's kingdom are so bountiful, there's plenty to satisfy her needs as well. Even the smallest of crumbs from Jesus's table are enough. That's how great her vision of Jesus is. The blessings he gives the disciples are more than enough to meet the needs of Gentiles too. She doesn't need to be first in line. Even if she catches some crumbs under the table, she's content with that because she knows that even a crumb of Jesus' kingdom will meet her where she's at. She knows that historical priority doesn't mean exclusive priority. Her faith sees that Jesus's mercy, while it goes to Israel first, is extended to Gentiles too. And this is the kind of faith that Jesus commends. And that leads to our last part. Faith is rewarded with the blessings of Jesus's kingdom. Faith is rewarded with the blessings of Jesus's kingdom. In verse 28, Jesus answers her, O woman, great is your faith, be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. Now, there are patterns. If you read the gospels, healings in Jesus' ministry were all about the kingdom's presence. These are things anticipated in the Old Testament, like when the Messiah would come, the lame would leap like the deer and all this. So by Jesus coming onto the scene and then healing people and doing this stuff, we are seeing He is... Everybody's supposed to be connecting to the... He's the King! This is the guy we've been looking for! They were signs, the healings were signs that Jesus himself was bringing a divine reversal of the curse. All that was broken would be made right through Jesus. That's what they're supposed to see. He gives the presence of his kingdom to this woman and her daughter. Now we have to say it's just a taste. It's just a taste of His kingdom. The fullness of His kingdom doesn't come until the very end, but here He gives them a glimpse of its healing, a glimpse of its goodness. Perhaps some of you have prayed for healing before, and that healing hasn't come like it did for this woman and her daughter on this particular occasion. But that doesn't mean you don't have the kingdom. If you have faith in Jesus, you have the king. And he's bringing the kingdom. If you have the king, you have everything. If you have Jesus, you have the kingdom. Even if final healing doesn't come now for you in this life, like it did for this woman's daughter, you can rest assured that it will. This story is but one confirmation of that healing. The main confirmation is Jesus' resurrection from the dead. That is our hope. I also love how Jesus says, oh woman, great is your faith. Great is your faith. In Matthew's gospel, Jesus finds hardly any faith among the Jews, and the faith he does find, it's in his disciples, and what's he always telling them? Oh you of little faith. Good. Oh you of little faith. But here he commends this Gentile, a Canaanite of all people, for her great faith. The point being that in the place that we least expect faith, there's great faith, there comes great faith. God's grace always surprises us, doesn't it? So in the end, what does Jesus teach his disciples in this? Well, he certainly proves that they're more lost than they think. Send her away, really guys? They really are lost sheep in need of a shepherd. They need Jesus to save them and open their eyes. The woman's faith was tested too, but not in vain. She passes with flying colors. And in the process, we learn that while Jesus's earthly mission prioritized Israel, there's also mercy for us unclean Gentiles as well. Jesus's mission of mercy reaches even the worst of enemies. of all people, behold, a Canaanite." But Jesus doesn't send her away. He sends the demon away and brings rest to this weary mother's soul. Now, I started this message describing the elements of saving faith. But God has preserved for us, in his word here, a great picture of saving faith. And from that picture, I want us to consider a few ways that this should impact us. Okay, so first, the first way I think it should impact us is come to Jesus for mercy, no matter your history or need. Come to Jesus for mercy, no matter your history or need. This woman belonged to a culture known for its idolatry and human trafficking. Canaan hated God's covenant people, and yet Jesus doesn't hesitate to show her mercy. He did it in His own time and in His own way. But he proved that his mercy extends to anyone who comes to him like this woman. It becomes an important contrast to the Pharisees earlier in Matthew 15. Earlier, the Pharisees are trying to keep themselves pure through ritual. And the result is that they remain cut off from Jesus' kingdom. This woman just casts herself on Jesus' mercy and she's brought into Jesus' kingdom. Being a sinner myself, I can imagine some of you have dark things from your past. I can imagine we're all played with regrets over past choices that we've made. Maybe we hung out with the wrong crowd far too long. Maybe we've hated where we should have loved someone. Our priorities have been out of whack and not aligned with God's kingdom. Perhaps some of us have even been so bothered by the needs of others, like these disciples, we've wished they'd just go away. Listen, Jesus came for sinners of all kinds. That's what this story is telling us. No matter your background or history, you too can come to him like this woman and receive mercy. God's grace isn't handcuffed by your sinful past. Jesus says these words on His way to the cross, a cross where He will take away all our sins and give us everything we need to enter His kingdom. Even the crumbs of Jesus' kingdom are enough for you. This woman also has a daughter oppressed by a demon. As a mother, she carries a great burden as the girl's caretaker. Some of you right now might be facing great burdens as you care for ones that you love and you hold dear. The weight of that rests on your shoulders, and that weight is great. The agony you feel because you just want them well again, it's sometimes overwhelming. And all you have left is this cry right here, Lord, help me. You too, come to Jesus for mercy. God intends our afflictions to drive us nearer to Jesus. And Hebrews tells us that through His death on the cross, Jesus opened the way for us to the throne of grace where we may find help in time of need. So don't hesitate to pray and ask for His help. Something else we should consider, stay humble when Jesus puts you in your place. All right? Stay humble. when Jesus puts you in your place. Jesus teaches his disciples a lesson about his mission, but he also tests the woman's faith. At first, she gets no answer. Then twice, she hears something about Israel's historical priority, and the last one compares her to a house dog getting leftovers. But never once does she say, that isn't fair. You can't talk to me like that. I deserve to be first in line. No, she agrees with Jesus. She goes there with Him. Charles Spurgeon once said of this passage, if the Lord reminds you of your unworthiness and your unfitness, He only tells you what's true. And it will be to your wisdom to say like this woman, yes, Lord. Great faith is always sister to great humility. It doesn't matter how low Christ puts her, she sits there. That's not the attitude we often find in our culture or even in some Christian subcultures when they sit before the Word of God. God's word teaches that salvation comes through Jesus and Jesus alone, and people say, that's not fair. God's word teaches that he elects some to salvation and passes over others, and people say, that's not fair. God's word teaches that the office of pastor is limited to qualified men, and people say, that's not fair. The thief on the cross will get eternal life as much as those who served Jesus for 40 years. And people say that's not fair. God chose Israel first from all other nations to accomplish His saving plan and people say that's not fair. But the attitude of this woman is one of humble acceptance of her place in God's plan. She says, yes, Lord. Talking about Israel's historical priority, I was also reminded of how Paul exhorts Gentile Christians in Romans 11, right? He's explaining how Israel experienced a partial hardening so that the Gentiles, most of us in this room, I'm assuming, that the Gentiles might be grafted in But, he says, if some of the branches were broken off and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, don't be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it's not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. In other words, Gentile, you ain't the good tree. You're the wild tree. Again, that puts us Gentiles in our place. We don't say, well, how dare you? We say, yeah, you're right. And whatever sap I can get from that tree, I'm good. It's enough. Thank you, Jesus. I don't deserve anything. I was once alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. I was once far off, but now I've been brought near by the blood of Christ. That's how faith talks. Jesus' word puts us in our place and we say, yes Lord. Also embrace the priorities in Jesus' mission. Embrace the priorities in Jesus' mission. Jesus proves to His disciples that His mission will stretch beyond the house of Israel. In the Old Testament, it's embedded in God's covenant with Abraham, right? In you, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Here and there, you know, a Gentile enters God's covenant people in the Old Testament like Rahab and the Gibeonites and Ruth and so on. The prophets then anticipate an even greater day. Israel is compared to a tent, but they're going to have to get their tent pegs and stretch out that tent because not enough people can fit in the one that's currently there. The root of Jesse will come and in him the Gentiles will hope. The Psalms anticipate all the peoples in all the languages praising the Lord and extolling him. During Jesus's earthly ministry, that Gentile mission is still kind of a small trickle and this woman is part of that trickle. But after Jesus dies for our sins and rises from the dead, that trickle becomes a massive raging river bringing life to all nations. He says, all authority, at the end of this gospel, all authority in heaven and on earth is given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations. So he is not just son of David, he is son of Abraham. The blessings come through him. The plan for Jesus was to come first for Israel, and then after he fulfills those promises given to Israel, blessings would flow to the Gentiles far and wide. That's his priority right now. all nations coming to know him. So is that your priority? Do you see that he's pouring out mercy to Gentiles right now? Are you on board with that? You better be. I mean, he brought you into the kingdom. Weren't you lost? Weren't you unclean like this Canaanite? Are you on board with With Jesus's mission when he brings someone to you that at first, you know, I'd just rather not deal with that kind of person right now. How are you arranging your life to participate in that flow of mercy to all peoples? No matter their background or need. Pray that God would use you to help others know the mercy of Jesus. Pray that God would give you courage to speak to someone, maybe even this week, about the saving mercies that are found at His cross. Pray that the peoples that you're around would extol the Lord and then ask God to use you to help communicate Jesus' compassion to others. Perhaps He's already preparing some of you to speak of His mercy to others. You know, this woman didn't know it, and she's going through all the sufferings that she's going through. She didn't know it, but as her faith was being tested, Jesus was at work to open the eyes of others to His saving work. Her story is still being told to this day to help others understand the mercy of Christ. Perhaps your faith is being tested right now. Perhaps you are walking through all kinds of suffering. Some of you might even feel like Jesus isn't answering you soon enough. And the answers you do receive from him, they're kind of hard to hear. But as your faith is being tested, know that Jesus is at work to reveal himself to others. Stay true to Jesus, just like this woman. Yes, Lord. Keep coming to Jesus for his mercy. And Jesus will use your story as well to show others a few things about his mission. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, I thank you for the truth of your word. Sometimes it is hard for us to receive the kinds of words that Jesus might speak to us or maybe even some of his non-answers. But help us to trust you that in the midst of all that we're going through, you are at work. Give us the faith, the kind of faith that we find here in this woman, so that others might know Christ. And we ask that in His name, amen.