Matthew 15:21-39
Key Verse - 15:32
Introduction:
In previous passages, there was an issue about what is the right way to be good. The Pharisees used the tradition of the elders to justify themselves, but Jesus measured them against the Law of Moses and revealed that the things in men’s heart (i.e. murder, sexual immorality, deceptions) are what make men unclean.
Through this, it is clear that only God’s Commandments can unveil the true nature of men’s sinfulness. Only through obedience to these commands can one start seeing the God’s truth for his life.
This has profound implications. What if one does not have God’s Commandments? Can he know the truth and be saved? Or, how can a man who has no idea about God’s commandments come to faith that God can bless him?
This question can be answered in today’s story about a Canaanite woman.
Here, in today’s word, a Gentile woman presented herself to Jesus with an urgent request, through which she displayed her faith with profound words of truth. Her faith is a stark contrast to the Pharisees’ unbelief. They had everything that was needed to have faith in Jesus, but they failed. On the other hand, this Canaanite woman did not have anything that might be needed to have faith in God and Jesus, but she still displayed her faith. Because of this, Jesus gave her the bread of life, which is only for God’s children, and commended her for her great faith. Here, we will discuss two main questions: How could she do that? What does it mean to have great faith? Or what is great faith?
In the second section of Matthew 15, Jesus healed many and fed more than four thousand people over a three day period. Here, he helped this woman out of his compassion. We will try to understand who Jesus is through this event.
Today’s passage deals with two things: faith and Jesus. Having faith cannot be separated from knowing Christ, who is the object of that faith. Let us pray that, today, we may better understand faith as well as the object of our faith, Jesus.
1. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table [Matthew 15:21-28].
“Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 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."” (Matthew 15:21-22).
So far, Jesus had worked in Galilee, which was heavily populated by Jews. Now, he left that region and went farther north and west of Galilee, to Tyre and Sidon. Here, the inhabitants were called Canaanites; they were Gentiles and had lived there for thousands of years. Their presence was noted from the time of Abraham. When Israel conquered the Promised Land, these people were already there.
Here, a Canaanite woman came to Jesus, crying out and begging for his help. Here, it is said that she was ‘crying out’ – this means that she was determined to get Jesus’ attention. She was desperately in need of his help because her daughter was suffering from demon possession, which was not an ordinary sickness. Though we do not know the exact nature of the problem, when it is said that she was caught by demon possession, her sickness was totally beyond human power.
Though the woman was crying out, Jesus did not show any compassion for her pleas.
“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."” (Matthew 15:23).
Jesus did not answer a word to her. It seems like she was crying out for a while and the disciples could not bear her demands for attention. So they came to Jesus and asked him to do something about her. We can also see that, unless she heard something from Jesus, she would not go away. She was demanding his attention, no matter what other people said. Have you ever made such an attempt to get someone’s attention? How about Jesus’ attention?
Despite all our cries for help, Jesus seems to be cool and distant.
“He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."” (Matthew 15:24).
Though Jesus was in the Gentiles’ region, he was not there for the Gentiles. He was there for a specific reason: to reach the lost sheep of Israel. In Matthew, it is not clear why he stayed away from Galilee, the Jewish area, and instead roamed about in the Gentiles’ area for a while. This journey into Gentile territory continued until he asked his disciples what their understanding of his identity was. At that time, Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. So Jesus’ sojourning continued until Matthew 16. Most likely, it was to help those few who had followed him. Jesus had a particular purpose for those who were determined to follow him. Simply speaking, he wasn’t there to open a new Gentile ministry. Even though Jesus was in Tyre, his purpose was to help the lost sheep of Israel.
But even when facing such seeming rejection from Jesus, the woman did not budge at all.
“The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.”” (Matthew 15:25).
As soon as Jesus began to teach and talk with those around him, this woman came up and knelt before him. “Lord, help me” - what can we say about this woman?
Here, her words communicate many things about her. First, she honored Jesus as the Lord. By calling him such, she prostrated herself before him, fully trusting, submitting, and depending on him.
It would be very hard to resist such a plea, particularly when it came from someone in desperate need. How can you resist such a request?
But Jesus said something odd and difficult to understand:
“He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."” (Matthew 15:26).
Here, the children are the people of Israel and the dogs are the Gentiles; this woman was a dog.
Here, Jesus was saying that a dog is not more worthy of care than children. Dogs do not deserve the bread; the bread is for the children only!
I would like to think about these two, the children and the dog, in more depth.
When God created the human race, all were the same before Him. They were all His children, but since men rejected God, things had changed. All men turned against God; no one and no nation honored Him enough to be considered His children. God chose one man and, out of him, wanted to create His firstborn child, a son.
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” (Hosea 11:1).
““Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son."” (Exodus 4:22-23).
So when God wanted to make Israel His children, He set a clear condition on what they must do in order for this to be accomplished:
“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."” (Exodus 19:5-6).
Here, when God says that the whole world is Mine, He means that the whole human race is His. Yet He decided to make Israel a treasured possession; this was the beginning of a new relationship between God and His children.
But this relationship is not without conditions.
Israel had to obey and keep God’s covenant relationship. This covenant was based on the Law of Moses. If they kept this law, they would fully enjoy the right of being God’s chosen people, i.e. children of God. If not, they could not.
So through this, we can discern three things about what it means to be children of God: they were given a covenant, in which God asked them to honor Him as their one and only Lord and be holy according to the Law of Moses. Simply speaking, God was the Lord. Israel had the law—by which they were well-sensitized to what was holy and godly living.
Contrary to this, what did it mean to be a dog? A dog is not a man, but an animal. What it means than is that a dog is different from human beings, because they do not have any moral capacity or intellectual ability to conform with their master’s will. Dogs do not have any capacity to honor God as their Creator. They do not have God’s Law, and cannot understand God’s standards of morality or spirituality.
Simply, these Gentiles did not have God as their Lord; they did not know His law and instead lived godless, immoral lives. This is what Jesus meant when he said that this Canaanite woman was like a dog. When Jesus called her a dog, he meant she was ungodly, morally corrupt, and bankrupt. In such a condition, nothing was worthy of the godly bread he offered. A Gentile, who had no idea who God the creator was, had no concept of God’s law, and no desire to be holy and righteous - what healing has any value to that person?
If Jesus had said this to a feminist, she would have raised hell to Jesus - how dare you dehumanize me, a dignified human being!
How about you? If Jesus said this to you now, how would you respond? What if I told you that you were a dog? How would you respond? Are you better than this woman?
This simply means that all human beings who live in ignorance of God are like dogs — without law and without God.
What Jesus said is of great concern for us all, as Gentiles! If Jesus only came to serve the lost sheep of Israel, then why are we here today?
Let’s see how this woman responded.
“"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."” (Matthew 15:27).
Yes, Lord: she said yes, even when she was called a dog, agreeing that he was right in what he said. In the depths of her heart, she understood what Jesus was saying was true, the truth of God.
Next, let us look at this woman’s response in more detail.
First, by calling Jesus Lord, she means that he is the ultimate authority over life and all creation. She honored Jesus as the Lord of heaven and earth. Particularly, she was claiming Jesus as her Lord and the master of her life! In this regard, she was as good as the people of Israel, recognizing God as her God and Jesus as Her Lord. As she had cried out early, she called Jesus the Son of David. In this, she expressed her firm conviction that Jesus was the coming Messiah that God had promised to Israel and that he was about to restore the kingdom.
Secondly she did not refute the idea that she was a dog! She fully accepted it. What does this mean? Does it mean that she was humble enough to accept this dehumanizing remark? Does it mean that she was willing to accept any abuse by Jesus, as long as she could earn Jesus’ favor on her daughter’s behalf? Highly unlikely!
She keenly understood what Jesus meant when he called her a dog. She was accepting that she was morally corrupt in God’s eyes and could never match up to the godliness of God’s people. Simply, she was accepting that she was a terrible sinner before God.
What does this tell us?
As a Gentile woman, she was not told of God Almighty, the God of Israel, and His Son, Jesus; however, she still honored God and Jesus as the coming Messiah. Though she did not have the Law of Moses or God’s commandments, yet she was better than the Pharisees at seeing the truth through God’s eyes – she was a terrible sinner with a morally corrupted nature.
Wasn’t she better than the Pharisees and teachers of the law who defied the Law of Moses in order to keep themselves clean?
But here, we find something even more remarkable thing from her.
Thirdly, she said that even the dogs eat crumbs from the master’s table. Here, she recognized that the dog belongs to the master’s family. The master in this scenario is Jesus, whose primary concern was for Israel, the children of his Father. This is an amazing truth that she was keenly aware of, and by communicating it, she honored the God of Israel as her Master.
Fourthly, she needed that bread from Jesus in order to sustain her life as well as that of her daughter. It was God’s bread, the bread for life. She had to have any she could get, even the crumbs.
As we look in detail at this passage, she displayed three distinctive characteristics of faith of God’s children in her answer. She honored God as her Lord and Master, accepted that she was a terrible sinner, and honored Jesus as the coming Messiah, the Son of David. This went beyond humbleness or humility. In this response, she was keenly aware of the relationship between God the Father, Jesus, and herself, a sinner who needed the true bread from the master’s table.
Overall, how can we characterize this woman’s faith?
I would like to list two things: 1) total dependence on the master, recognizing that Jesus is the only source of life, and 2) total submission to the master, acknowledging that she had nothing good and that Jesus was the Lord in truth, love, and goodness.
Do you honor God as the one and only God? Do you accept Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah? Are you willing to accept that you are a dog, corrupted by sin and in need of the Master’s bread of life?
We know how difficult it is to have such faith.
How did Jesus commend her?
“Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” (Matthew 15:28).
Jesus recognized that she had great faith. How could he refuse such great faith?! This was what he was looking for among his chosen people; this was the kind of faith that he wanted to create in his people. Now, this Gentile woman, despite her outward appearance of having no idea of how to be godly, expressed the faith that God was looking for, first from His people and then from the whole human race.
Jesus said she had great faith. He heard her prayer and healed her daughter from demon possession. His power had an immediate effect on her daughter. Amen!
Regardless of what we are or where we are from, when we have these three qualities of faith - that God is the Lord and Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is the source of life, and that we are sinners, totally helpless and in need of Jesus’ bread of life, we can express that faith through total dependence and submission to Christ.
What does this tell us about Jesus? Particularly about what he said earlier: ‘I was sent only to the lost children of Israel?’ (Matthew 15:24).
Was this the beginning of something? Even the Gentiles, though they had never known the God of creation, never been informed or taught about the God of Israel, or received the Law of Moses, and had lived morally bankrupt lives as a result, could have faith as they saw Jesus and his power!
It was now possible for them to know God as much as His chosen people, Israel, did! Not only that, but more specifically, Jesus was willing to be the bread of life for this woman! He was able and willing to give them more and more, as long as they had faith like this woman!
This is clearly seen in the next passages.
2. I have compassion for these people [Matthew 15:29-39]
“Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.” (Matthew 15:29).
Here, Jesus continued his journey to the Gentile region. This means that he was moving away from the Jewish area and deeper into the Gentile area again. At this time, he moved to the east side of the Sea of Galilee, which was walled in by a stiff coastal ridge. Also, this side was very sparsely populated and was actually away from any cities or villages. Let’s see what Jesus did here.
“Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.” (Matthew 15:29).
Here, Jesus healed many sick people. A total of four kinds of disabilities are specifically listed here: the blind, the crippled, and the mute, in addition to many others. Jesus’ healing was recorded in a few places before this – Matthew 8:16 [the sick], 9:33 [mute], and 12:15, 22. However, this passage provides the biggest list of sick people available in Matthew. It seems that, in this setting, Jesus healed sick people more extensively than at any other time before. Here also, no other activity is mentioned, such as teaching or driving out demons. This certainly doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t teach or drive out demons during this time. Most likely, this time of healing the sick was more extensive than at any other time during his ministry, lasting for three days. Such an extensive healing ministry was remarkable. We can see this in the people’s response:
“The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking; the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” (Matthew 15:31).
This is remarkable for a few reasons: 1) this was a remote place, away from any densely populated area, 2) this was far away from the typical Jewish area, where Jesus had healed so many, and 3) it seems more sick people came to Jesus there than ever before. Jesus was willing to serve them extensively for as long as they came. In other words, the ministry of his message was not his primary focus; healing was.
Why? If most of this crowd consisted of Jews, then why were they in this area and in this setting? Why did so many need feeding? Jesus had gone through many towns before and he sent his disciples to do the same thing he did. Jesus’ work was characterized by three things: healing, driving out demons, and preaching the kingdom of God. At that time, his command was clear: Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel [Matthew 10:6].
What if the crowd was composed of many Gentiles? This is more than likely. If this was true, then did Jesus change his mind? Not long ago, Jesus had said to a Canaanite woman, “I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel!” Let’s see what Jesus had in his mind:
“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."” (Matthew 15:32).
Jesus had compassion for these people. Let’s think about these people. Who were they and what was their situation? They were sick people, so desperate for healing that, even though Jesus was moving away from their town, they followed him into a remote desert area. This tells us some things about this crowd and their desperate needs.
I met a student from Africa who became a vegetarian. I asked him why and he said that, in his country, the average life span was about 35-38 years old. In other words, at the age of 20, many were already suffering from various sicknesses. His father had died in his thirties and his uncle had died in his early forties. This man was about 25. None of his father’s generation were still living. In his mind, there was a great shadow of sickness and death; he felt very hopeless and hapless. Can it be said that this was a bruised reed or smoldering wick? The Canaanite woman was in a similar situation but she did not continue to rely on herself. She came and pleaded with Jesus for her daughter, showing remarkable faith. In their suffering, even though they had never known God, many Gentiles could have faith and become children that God wants. So many came and Jesus healed them all! How could one not have compassion on these people, especially when Jesus saw the Canaanite woman and her remarkable display of faith, far better than that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law?
What was this like? The work of the coming Messiah is recorded in very few places in the Old Testament. In Isaiah, there are four “servant” songs. In these four songs, God revealed, in sequence, what the coming Savior would think and do. The first one described his mindset and work serving people (Isaiah 42:1-9). I would like to look at a few verses that describe the mind and work of the coming Messiah.
a. “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.” (Isaiah 42:2).
b. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” (Isaiah 42:3).
c. “I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,” (Isaiah 42:6).
d. “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:7).
I would like to note a few things here:
What can we say about these four thousand people? They were individuals, bruised reeds, and smoldering wicks. They were blind, not physically, but spiritually; they had been sitting in darkness and captivity. Jesus did not break, snuff out, or leave them in blindness, but opened their eyes to see and understand God and His Son. Through these miracles, he released them from their darkness and opened their eyes toward God.
Likewise, by healing so many, Jesus became the covenant of salvation for His people and the light for the Gentiles.
Sin and its consequences had taken a great toll on these people.
Jesus showed them a new and true light for their lives. Where did this come from?
His compassion! Jesus felt the same pain, sorrow, and anguish from whatever they were suffering, so he healed them day after day, for as long as they came to him.
How Jesus felt about them is well communicated in the next portion of this passage:
“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."” (Matthew 15:32).
Jesus could not let them go out in such hunger. He worried that they might collapse on the way!
“His disciples answered, "Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?" "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish." He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.” (Matthew 15:33-36).
There wasn’t any food, but Jesus had to feed them! If not, they might collapse!
So what did Jesus do?
The disciples found seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Jesus blessed the food and had his disciples distribute them to the people.
“They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children.” (Matthew 15:37-38).
They all ate to their satisfaction. There were 4,000 men alone. If women and children were also included, it could well be beyond four thousand. This is an excellent example of Jesus’ amazing grace, demonstrated through his power to feed the hungry.
Here, Jesus did not teach the disciples as he had in Matthew 14. Instead, he simply demonstrated his compassion for the hungry.
In this way, he revealed himself as the provider of all of men’s needs. He took care of all the sick and fed them until all were satisfied.
Who was this Jesus?
Not long before this, Jesus had fed five thousand people. Here, he fed four thousand. Feeding such large crowds is repeated twice. Many differences are evident between these two events, but they have one important message in common: Jesus had compassion on them. In his compassion, he had the strong desire to serve and feed those who followed him, no matter how big the crowd might be. If the majority of these crowds were Gentiles, then this was also an amazing display of his grace and mercy!
They had no idea about God and lived like dogs. However, when they came in faith like the Canaanite woman, Jesus healed and fed them all! This was Jesus’ compassion.
Jesus is willing to take care of all our needs—including all sickness and diseases. He is able to undo all the ill effects of men’s fall.
When Israel was roaming in the desert, God provided everything for them, including food. At that time, Moses said this to Israel:
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15).
God promised the Israelites that He would send them someone like Moses; however, they must listen to him. Jesus led this crowd like Moses led the nation of Israel through the desert. God supplied all their needs in the desert by providing them with clothing that never wore out and manna from heaven to eat. Likewise, Jesus supplied all their needs, including food!
What does this mean? Jesus is the only one who came to save! He is the Savior who rescues us from all sickness and provides for all our needs. He did this out of his compassion for the lost. He is the bread of life.
“Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35).
Jesus was the bread of life for the Canaanite woman, as well as for the immense crowds.
What does this mean for you and the rest of us? We might feel that we are far better off than the immense crowd that came to Christ for healing, the Canaanite woman, or the student from Africa. But are we really? Are we free from the shadow of sickness and death? Not at all! Though we might enjoy the life we have now for a while, but the time will come for us as well. It may even be now! What can we do?
Jesus was the true bread of life for the Canaanite woman and for all human races! Jesus is the Savior for all. Can you express your trust in him by full submission and dependence in faith? If your answer is yes, then Jesus is the true bread of life for you. In his compassion, he is ready to meet our needs for life.
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