Well, turning the Bibles to Matthew chapter 15. We're going to begin reading this morning in the 21st verse. This is the Word of the Lord. And Jesus went away from there, and withdrew to the district of Tyre in 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. Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly. May the Lord bless the reading of His Word. If I had to apply a subject, it would be when God seems to ignore, reject, and insult us. Here this morning we enter into the story of a destitute woman in a dark land with a desperate need. We know of her extraordinary encounter with the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. In the context, the Light of the Word, the Lord Jesus, has, for the first and only time, left the borders of the land of Israel to withdraw to a more isolated place. a place where the religious Pharisees would not be found, to where his oppressors would not go. Yet the Lord Jesus is not just looking for an easy sabbatical of rest. For as Luke writes in the book of Acts, he went about being good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And though he has traveled beyond the borders of the house of Israel, he still has divine appointments to keep. And his first, in Matthew 15, is with this Canaanite woman. Context is so useful. When we're reading Gospel narratives, context is key, as it is in all the Scripture. But this morning, I think, to fully understand the chapter as a whole, we need to understand the context. It will only further illustrate how striking and remarkable this passage is. Eight verses before us today. So to begin with, we need to know that Matthew's Gospel is considered the most Jewish of the Gospels. That it was intended for the Hebrew people. They were the audience Matthew had in mind. And thus, when we're reading through Matthew's Gospels, there are an inordinate amount of Old Testament citations, especially showing the Old Testament Scripture fulfilled in the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. Yet while Matthew's Gospel is written with this audience in mind, We also see scattered across the pages of Matthew a real emphasis upon events that point to the future breaking down of the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile. We regularly will see Matthew highlighting the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God. In Matthew chapter 1, we see it from the very first paragraph. It's the mention of Christ's genealogy, and in that genealogy we find two women, and not just any women, but Gentile women, Ruth and Rahab. In the first verse of Matthew chapter 2, We read now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. In the eighth chapter of Matthew, we have another remarkable story of a Roman centurion who pleads for his suffering, paralyzed servant to be made well. And Jesus summarizes that encounter with these words in verses 11 and 12. I tell you, many will come from the east and the west and will climb at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. While the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Quite a statement from the Lord Jesus, isn't it? But we go on in Matthew chapter 12. We read Jesus giving two illustrations. One regarding the people of Nineveh. And his statement is that there is one better than Jonah here. And then he follows that up with a statement about the Queen of the South, the Queen of Egypt. and closes that statement with there is one greater than Solomon here. Two more examples, the Ninevites, a Gentile people. The Queen of Egypt, a Gentile woman. And here we are, Matthew chapter 15. Not only do we have the Canaanite woman that we'll look at today, but following the Canaanite woman through the end of the chapter, 29 through 39, we see Jesus feeding 4,000 people. But he's not doing this in Israel. Then, the very closing words of this great gospel according to Matthew. The Great Commission is outlined, isn't it? Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. So you'd think a gospel written to the Hebrews would have a real Jewish focus. It does. But it also heavily and often is pointing to the universality of the Gospel and the incursion of the Gentiles. You must understand that to get the context of this encounter that we'll look at here today. This is a clear message to the Hebrew people regarding what God has in store for a Gentile population and their incursion into God's one church. So, we come to verse 21. Jesus has departed from the land of Israel. I hope you caught the statement earlier. This is the one and only time in the three years of Christ's ministry where he leaves Israel. And he heads northwest into the region of Tyre in Sidon. Tyre was about 25 miles northwest of where Jesus would have been near the Sea of Galilee. Sidon was about 50 miles northwest. And he enters into this region. His last encounter, according to the first 20 verses of this chapter, was with the Pharisees. who with evil hearts honored the traditions of men more than they honored the Word of God. I suspect it was a frustrating encounter, even so much so that Jesus spoke very hard words about these men when he says that they were not planted by God. Yet, Jesus is not simply wandering. He's not running from enemies. He is purposely heading to this very region, this area about 30 miles northwest, this area that is home to the ancient enemies of Israel. What we must see here is that it is grace and not place that makes one a child of God. I think back to the Old Testament account of Elisha and his encounter with Naaman. And if you read in 2 Kings 5, the early verses of that chapter, they point out a little servant girl that had been captured from the land of Israel that was now serving Naaman's wife in Naaman's house. And it was this little girl, a believing little girl, that thanks Naaman to a man in Israel, a prophet of God, that can heal his leprosy. So, Naaman's house, in the land of Syria, a little believing girl. But then we fast forward in the story to the house of Elisha, the man of God, the prophet in Israel. And he has someone in his house, too, by the name of Gehazi. You see a contrast here, don't you? It's not place, it's grace by which we are saved. In order to highlight the contrast, in this account, Matthew describes this woman who comes out to meet Jesus. We're not told how she heard Jesus was in town. We're not told how she found him. But it is clear that she came out from her home, leaving her daughter behind, and she is seeking and thus finds the Lord Jesus. Yet Matthew describes her as a Canaanite woman. A daughter of Canaan? You have to be kidding. If we have biblical reference points, we're going way back in time to the ninth chapter of our Bible, in the book of Genesis. And we read that Canaan was the son of Hiram whom God cursed after the flood. Yet here, our Lord encounters a desperate woman, yes, a desperate Canaanite woman, who comes to him pleading for mercy. Let's look at this dialogue together and drink deeply of its truth. I have four main points this morning as we walk through the text. The first of which is Christ appears to ignore the woman. Look with me. Verses 22 and the first part of verse 23. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and it was crying, have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. And then the unthinkable. He did not answer her a word. Just let that sink in for a moment. This woman is desperate. It's not likely that Jesus was just passing by her house and she saw him out of her window. But she has journeyed some distance, and she has sought him out, and she, full of emotion, on behalf of her daughter, cries out, with great respect, Lord, Son of David! And he answers her, not a word. To say that she cried out for you once or twice would be insufficient. The meaning in the language is that she cried out and kept crying out. And not only did she keep crying out, she cried out loudly. And isn't it cool that this Canaanite woman, though in the legion of power in Sidon, she knew something of Christ's ministry, didn't she? Not too many Canaanites would be quick to reference someone as Lord and Son of David, his Messianic title. So she had heard of this Jesus. And here she calls him both Lord and Son of David, in deep reverence. She has some idea that Jesus is able to show mercy, mercy that is great enough to deliver her daughter from demonic oppression. She's heard about the ministry of this Jesus. As respectful as she can be, she honors him with these two titles, demands nothing from him, and pleads for mercy. And yet he is silent. By all appearances, he journeys onward. Her cries are ignored. There is no acknowledgment of this Canaanite woman. Had she lacked persevering grace or humility or authenticity, she no doubt would have thought to herself, how different I thought this son of David would be. This is nothing like the reception I've heard He gives to needy ones. How can He just ignore me? Yet she will do nothing of the sort. She hears Christ's silence as further invitation to plead. While Jesus remains silent, speaking not a word, not even acknowledging Her presence, His disciples do not follow. Look at the rest of verse 23. But his disciples came and begged him, somebody else is doing some pleading too, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us. This is another sinful block upon the disciples of Jesus. As Mark has walked us through Mark's gospel, We have seen this again and again. Clearly Matthew, himself one of the twelve, likely there with Jesus, hearing this dialogue that day, thankfully he doesn't believe in idolizing this group, but paints a clear picture of their frailty, immaturity, and selfishness. Now, if the disciples mean, for she is crying out after us, that they really feel that she's crying out after them and not the Lord Jesus, this becomes all the more foolish. I'm going to give them grace and suspect that they meant that she's crying out after them, the group. But certainly, she wasn't crying out after the disciples, was she? She was crying out to the Lord, the Son of David, the one who might So let's take a quick look at how the disciples fail here on so many different fronts. It's as though the disciples say with one voice to Jesus, just do what she wants and be done with it. In a sense, this works. The disciples have seen Jesus in many of these encounters, whether it was the blind or the lame or the leper. or the one who was brought to him on a cot carried by four men. And they have seen the response of Christ. They have seen Him do and hear and deliver and cast out demons again and again. Yet here it seems, in their selfishness, in their pride, in their desire for quiet and peace, they come to Jesus and they say, just answer her request so she'll leave us alone. After all these many months of ministry alongside of the Messiah, they still do not understand the depth of His compassion and love for needy sinners. They have seen the Lord work again and again Yet apparently it has not yet moved them to express that same kind of compassion and love for needy sinners like this Canaanite woman. They're simply fed up with the noise. They're tired of her continual cries. It's only pride and selfishness, annoyance and ridicule that pours forth from these disciples. And thus we see that it is often in spite of the behavior of Christ's disciples that God is pleased to work in spite of us, brothers and sisters. Thus, it's never wise to judge Christianity by its disciples, but only by its deity, the Divine Christ. I mean, think, could you see their behavior this day, you wouldn't have been drawn to Christ at all. If it wasn't Jesus' silence that drove the woman away, surely the disciples pleading with Jesus to send her away would do it. So we need to understand it's not only the Canaanite woman that needs growth in her soul. These disciples are quite the work in progress. As a matter of fact, much of this portion of Matthew's Gospel is dedicated to Jesus teaching his disciples. And we need to read the 15th chapter here in view of that very thing. It is the disciples that are seeing, watching, hearing, learning. Within this single chapter, the disciples see the religious Jews reject the bread of life. They see Canaanite women partaking of breadcrumbs dropped under the table, and then they see Jesus multiply, break, and give bread to 4,000 hungry ones in the Gentile land. Bread is certainly central to the theme of this chapter. Much for his disciples to learn here. Let's move on. Secondly, Christ, after appearing to ignore her appears to reject her. Next, we're going to read in the 24th verse that the Lord Jesus responds to the pleading of his disciples, and he does so in the healing of this woman. It is as though he's speaking through them to the woman. Again, all are being taught of this divine rabbi. Verse 24, He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. How true. Let that sink in. These twelve Jesus had sent out in an earlier chapter, Matthew 10, and here is what he instructed them. They are nowhere among the Gentiles. and enter into no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." In John's Gospel, the first chapter, we read this statement, he came unto his own. In the fourth chapter, as Jesus converses with the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, he says this statement, salvation is from the Jews. Peter recognizes this in his sermon on the day of Pentecost. He said that Jesus first came to you, and you have filled the Lord with glory. Jesus speaks truth here, doesn't he? I was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So here we see, and maybe some of us have, or still do, struggle with the doctrine of election, God's purposes, His decree. For three years on this earth, Christ's ministry and mission was predominantly towards the people of Israel. And this is only what God had predestined to take place from eternity. It isn't until after the ascension of Christ that the gospel then bursts forth like a hungry lion being loosed out of its cage and turns the whole world upside down. The ministry of Jesus Christ was rather narrow. And yet that doesn't sit well with so many. After His silence, This statement of Jesus serves as the second blow to the woman. She must recognize that she is not worthy of the ministry of the Messiah. Not only is she not a Jew, she is from the cursed line of Canaan and from a nation that deeply hates Israel. So what should have been gasoline thrown upon the fires of discouragement, was for this woman only fuel for her persistence. Now, she comes closer. She presses in. Look at verse 25. She came and knelt before Him. She was crying after Him, and now she comes and kneels before Him, saying, Lord, help me." What would Jill or I have done at this point? Had we been in her shoes? Anyone lacking sincerity or genuine desire would have fled from the scene, dejected and in tears. There is no hope for me. Many in our day, I think of the college campus. They'd respond with hatred or insults. Election? Only coming for Israel? God doesn't work like that. Such a God is monstrous. In pride, many might have responded, I desire your help as much as any Jew. Yet we see this Canaanite, a Jew like a woman, determined to find mercy. We see her stop the Lord Jesus in his tracks. No longer will she cry after him, but she will go before him, she will kneel before him, she will prostrate herself at his feet and hear her prayer, Lord, help me. Brief, desperate, humble, sincere, meek. Commentator Hendrickson says, she does not argue. that her needs make her an exception, that she has a right to Israel's covenanted mercies, or that the mysterious ways of divine election are unjust or unfair. She simply pleads, Lord, help me. Let's look at the third part of the dialogue. Christ, now, after appearing to ignore her, and appearing to reject her now appears to insult her. Surely, the woman before him, kneeling down, crying out, surely now Christ will lift her up from the ground and speak comfort to this distressed soul. Let's read verse 26. And he answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Several things to note about our Lord's response here. Number one, he does not use the Greek word for stray dogs, wild roaming dogs, but rather little dogs as house pets. Number two, this certainly was a veiled remark. I'm hiding the punchline until the end, that's point number four, but this certainly was a veiled remark. Gentiles would have been well aware of this derogatory term common amongst Israelites, Gentile bounds. They would have recognized it as an insult from the Jewish people. Number three, this response of Christ points back to the seventh chapter of Matthew, where Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount says, do not give to dogs what is holy. Number four, this statement only reinforces what Christ previously said in his initial verbalized response that his ministry is to his people. It is truly the children's bed. The feast of his three years of ministry was set on their table, not for the dogs. And fifthly, keep in mind, these are cold words on a page. We can hear his words and read them, but we do not see his face. Might Jesus have said these hard words with sympathy in His eyes and pity on His face? This is now the third hard response. First, He ignores her by all appearances. Second, He appears to reject her. Now, seemingly, He's going to add insult to injury with this very hard saying. What is going on here? This woman might well have thought, this man is nothing like what I had hoped for. I thought he was kind. I thought he was caring. I thought he would help me. Fourth point, Christ abundantly helps her. This Canaanite woman still wasn't ready to give up. Her response here in the 27th verse is not only witty, but it is full of faith. David Hickson, the Puritan commentator, said, it is special wisdom to turn motives of discouragement into motives of believing, and to draw so much more than you to Christ as the motives of discouragement push us away from Him. That is exactly what this Canaanite woman did. She refused to be driven away. She refused to respond in pride, in frustration. She clinged to the very hands that seemingly pushed her away. Matthew 15, verse 27, she said, Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Yes, Lord. It is as though she said, Truth, Lord. This is the third time she calls Jesus Lord. And what's more, she wholly agrees with his comment. By doing, she joyfully embraces the reality of being relegated to the place of a dog. But this is not just any dog. This is a dog living in the house of the children, being cared for by the Master. It is as though she says, I will gladly be a dog under the table of the children, and I will happily receive the crumbs that fall from the children's table. You haven't given me reason for despair, but rather you have given me cause to rejoice. If I am a dog, I am your dog. She recognizes that even the crumbs falling from the table are more than sufficient to heal her daughter from demonic oppression as well as her own impoverished soul. Persevering prayer, intercession for her daughter, not giving up, not fainting, not willing to leave. Now see Christ's response. Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. What a mighty commendation! So much like his commendation of the centurion's faith. The crumbs that fell from the table proved to be as substantial as the woman's desires. One commentator says, he who at first seemed as though he had denied her the smallest thing, now opens to her the full treasure house of his grace and bids her to help herself and carry away what she will. What a turn of events. What an unexpected encounter. What an unexpected outcome. The Canaanite woman, and the Messiah. Now, there are two primary characters in this Gospel. I'm going to begin to wrap things up. There is the woman, and there is the Lord Jesus. The disciples are with them, yes, but they're on the fringe, and ultimately the point is driven home, they're watching, they're listening, they're learning. The real action is taking place between the two. And my focus in the final portion of this morning's sermon will be not upon the Canaanite woman, but upon Jesus Christ and his perfect ministry towards his people. Certainly there is much that we could say about persevering faith, and the need for it in all believers. Woe in this area for us all. But I want to focus on the chief character, Jesus Christ. If we only see a Canaanite woman exercising great faith, then we have missed entirely the depth of meaning the Holy Spirit intends to convey to us this morning. This gospel narrative tells us so much about our perfect Savior. As a matter of fact, it wonderfully represents Christ in all of His offices to us. Historically, from the Reformation onward, Christ has been described as having three offices, that of prophet, priest, and king. Let's consider him as our prophet. Jesus is pictured here in these eight verses as one sent from God on a mission to the region of Tyre and Sidon, that very same region where God's prophet of old ministered to a starving widow and her son. We read about that in 1 Kings 17. But Jesus also points to this Old Testament encounter in Luke chapter 4 where he says, But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land. And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. Sound familiar? Like a prophet sent from God, Jesus meets this Canaanite woman and teaches this Canaanite woman, strengthening her hand in God. Divine truth pours out from the prophet's lips, and it is exactly what she needed. Jesus Christ is a prophet. It's right there in the text. But preeminently, this text illustrates his priesthood. Jesus, most clearly here, pictured as priest. And in the work of the priestly ministry, he mediates grace to this Canaanite woman, and works supernatural growth in her soul. This is what a high priest, after all, ever lives to do. This very moment at the right hand of the Father, Jesus intercedes, directs, pulls out mercies, gives the Holy Spirit, comforts and sanctifies each and every one of His people. What He does now for us from a great distance, He did for this woman face to face. Our Lord understood exactly what this Canaanite woman needed. She did not understand, but we see her very willing to learn. Having great pity and infinite willingness in his heart, he cared for her like no other could. He saw clearly how to bring about growth in her soul, in her faith, and in her understanding. In perfect wisdom, he drew out of her the very responses of faith and humility he desired. With divine power, Jesus wrote eternal good in the soul of this dear sister. Yet, help didn't come easy to this Canaanite woman. The process was difficult and slow. John Traft, a Puritan commentator, says, he lays heaviest burdens on the strongest backs. from proportions or afflictions to our abilities, holding us off for the deliverance till he finds us fit for it, and giving us hearts to wait and want till his time has come. Had hope come to this woman at her first cry, she would not have been everlastingly changed as she was that day. Think of Job 5. He wounds, but he binds up. He shatters, but his hands heal. This is Christ's ministry to both her and to us. Painful at times, dark at times, silence at times, but always best. And thus we can say with Job, but he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold." Or we could say with the psalmist, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statute. You see, Christ only commended and celebrated. That's what we see in verse 28. O woman, brave is your faith. Christ only commended and celebrated in the Canaanite woman the daily work He cultivated in her soul. Hendrickson again says, divine love is so infinite and marvelous that it even praises a human being for exercising a gift, in this case faith, with which this very divine love has endowed her and which apart from that divine activity could not have gone into action at all. Christ only commends and celebrates in us the very growth He cultivates in us. Has this been your experience? Do you personally know Christ's priestly ministry in your life? Have you felt His hand as it moves you? Have you felt His hand when He mends you? Though Christ's methods of dealing with His people are often dark and even perplexing, This passage is like a key that unlocks to us depths of understanding. J.C. Ryle says, health is a good thing, but sickness is far better if it leads us to God. Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one if it brings us to Christ. Anything, anything is better than living in carelessness and dying in sin. Better a thousand times be afflicted like the Canaanite mother and like her crucified than live at ease like the rich fool and die at last without Christ and without hope. We must understand that Christ, as our High Priest, never delays for the sake of delaying. He is never too busy to attend to us. He never overlooks us in our need. He never, not once, blames with His people. His timing, His ministry, His grace is always perfect and always sufficient for the need. I could not help as I studied through this text remembering Joseph. Jesus Christ is the greater Joseph. How beautiful the account in the final chapters of the book of Genesis, when Joseph's brothers come to Egypt looking for food. How wisely Joseph draws out growth from the very men who sold him as a slave, while still disguised and unknown, faint with fear. how Joseph would weep in private, though he appeared in their presence with a hard face. And then remember, when Joseph came to the point in the 35th chapter where he could restrain himself no more, and he weeped, then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me. Please." And they came near. And he said, I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Jesus is the greater Joseph. Jesus is the perfect High Priest. You read that account, you're moved by it, you adore it, you love Joseph, but how much more perfectly does Jesus Christ relate to his own brothers? his own brothers who sold him as a slave. What a high priest. Thirdly, we see him as king. His kingly office. This really comes out in the final verse of this narrative, verse 28, where he says, O woman, great is your faith. Do it done for you as you desire. And then what do we read? And her daughter was healed instantly. It is only this divine king who with a mere thought can drive away demonic oppressors. Geography, proximity, that is no barrier at all to this king. The daughter wasn't present, she was at home that day, and yet his word, no, even his unspoken will in this case, must be obeyed. Demons fear and tremble and must flee according to his will. His authority is unmatched. His plans cannot be thwarted. He truly rules over everything." That day, the Canaanite woman encountered the King of Kings, who would forever provide for her, care for her, and protect her. One final thought before I close. This account highlights to us both the necessity and the value of Christ's ongoing ministry to us. I don't thank saints. I know in my own heart, but I don't think we appreciate this near enough. Even in our gratitude, we fall short. Do you desire growth in grace? Only Christ can mediate such growth to your soul. Do you long for comfort in your child? Only Christ can perfectly and tenderly care for you. Are you in the thick of battle against business sins? Only Christ can give you the victory. Have you been hurt by men, by family, by loved ones? Only Christ can minister to you with perfect understanding. Do you feel weak or weary in the running of your race? Only Christ can sustain you and quicken you. Where else can we go? All the good that you and I have done or ever will do is because Christ has worked through us. All the maturing you and I have ever experienced and will experience is because Christ works in us. How much we owe Him who redeemed us, sanctifies us, and will one day glorify us. Let us learn this morning, more and more, to rely on Him, to cry out to Him, the Canaanite woman, do not let her outdo your prayer. Prostrate yourself before Him, just as she did that day. Such persevering prayer. may be difficult, may even at times seem absurd, but we must realize Christ as our High Priest loves to be cried after. Let this account that we've looked at today only inflame our love for our High Priest. Let's pray. Holy Father, Thank you so much for the ministry of your Son. In all of his offices, what a divine Savior. Thank you for your ministry to us even now, as we've sat under the preached Word. Lord, bring these truths home to each and every one, young and old alike. Converted and unconverted, glorify yourself, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.