Matthew 15:21-28 2023/10/01 Osaka Church
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
As Jesus and his disciples went into the land of the Gentiles to avoid their opponents, a woman followed them and cried out to them to save her daughter who was suffering from a demon. But the Lord said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”
We must remember that this woman was a Canaanite woman. The Jewish people who escaped from Egypt led by Moses used violence to drive out the Gentiles, including the Canaanites, who had settled in the land of their ancestors during the Jews 400-year absence. A lot of blood was spilled. The Canaanites must have held a deep-seated grudge against the Jews. The Canaanite woman called Jesus, “Lord, son of David.” David was a great king of Judea. He was the deeply hated chief enemy of the Gentiles. It sounds very strange to call Jesus, a descendant of David, “Son of David,” and even to call him “Lord.”
There is a form of flattery here. But it is not just flattery. This is a sad and heavy flattery that comes from enduring ethnic hatred.
Next, the disciples implore to the Lord that the woman is “following us screaming, so please chase her away.” No matter where Jesus went, whether in the land of Judea or the land of the Gentiles, there must have been many curious people following him around. Imagine the woman who was being chased by the disciples with ropes and stones, and still “screaming” and following them, amidst the sneers and curious eyes of those people.
Here, there is a display of assertiveness that abandons pretense and appearance.
Moreover, the woman is pleading, “Lord, please help me,” regardless of the Lord’s harsh words, “I am being sent for the sake of the Jews.” She is desperately trying to shake the heart of Jesus, who rejects her.
Here is her desperate “crying out.”
Finally, the Lord answers, “It’s not good to give bread meant for children to dogs…” In response, the woman retorts, “As you say! But even dogs will eat the crumbs that fall from the table.” Although the words themselves were witty, the eyes that looked at the Lord must have been burning with passion.
Here is a “wisdom” that was unleashed by a simple woman who had no interest in witty conversations, but with her brain running at full speed she replied in an instant.
Seeing everything this woman was doing to move the Lord’s feelings, whether it was by begging, using her strength, crying, or using all her wits, the Lord praised her and said, “Great is your faith!” and her wish was granted.
But why did the Lord trouble this woman? Did He merely want to test her? No, it goes deeper. Without this woman’s selfless and unwavering determination, people cannot truly live. They cannot find what makes life worth living. They cannot encounter the Lord of life, Christ. They cannot know God as love. If the Lord had readily granted her request, then Jesus would have been just another remarkable miracle-worker to her. Therefore, the Lord responded initially with apparent coldness to draw out this woman’s unwavering determination and to show His disciples and us the power of such devotion.
Even this woman might not have been able to follow the Lord with such dedication if it were not for her daughter’s illness. She might not have had the wisdom to retort in the face of the Lord’s harsh words. It was all for the sake of her beloved daughter. For the ones we love, we do not falter; we cannot afford to falter. We must not be discouraged. It is this unwavering love that ultimately moved the God who is love.
