If you have your Bible this morning, you can
turn to Matthew chapter 15. We'll begin at verse
21. Then Jesus went out from there. From there
is the conversation he just had with the Pharisees
over religious purity. So he leaves there and
departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And
behold, a woman of Canaan. Came from that region
and cried. And by the way, the verb is in the
imperfect. She kept crying. She's crying out
to him saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, son
of David. My daughter is severely demon possessed.
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples
came and urged him saying, send her away for
she's crying. It's again imperfect. She's crying
out after us. But he answered and said, I was
not sent except to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. Then she came and worshipped him.
She bowed down saying, Lord, help me. But he
answered and said, It is not good to take the
children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.
And she said, Yes, Lord. Yet even the little
dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's
table. Then Jesus answered and said to her, A
woman great is your faith. Let it be to you as
you desire. And her daughter was healed from
that very hour. Let's pray. Father, help us this
morning, Lord. Some hard things to understand,
Lord. Would you give me clarity of mind and clarity
of speech? Father, I pray that my words would
not be a stumbling block, but Lord God, that
you would allow me to speak the word of life
freely without hindrance, Lord. But Father, I
need your spirit, Lord, to keep back from speaking
anything that would be distracting, dishonoring,
or not profitable to your people. God put a guard
before my mouth this morning. But Lord, I pray
that you would allow me to speak boldly and with
plainness of speech, Lord, the marvelous truth
of your word. God, we need to see the glory of
Christ in this passage. Help us, Lord, this morning,
we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Through the years,
the Lord has given me many opportunities to travel
on various mission trips out of the country.
Most of those trips were to Spanish -speaking
countries, and I always loved those trips. They
were always profitable, and they were helpful
in my walk with the Lord. But as much as I enjoyed
my time, and I did, I have always loved coming
back to my own country. Always. There's a sense
of national pride that wells up within me as
that plane lands on American soil, and I see
our great flag flying, and I see the sign, Welcome
to the United States of America. If you have
traveled out of the country, then you know what
I mean. There's something about that. You're
back on American soil. But as you reenter the
country, you have to go through customs. And
a lot of times, depending on where you've traveled
from, those lines can be quite long. But there
are more lines that are reserved only for U .S.
citizens. And those lines tend to be shorter
and quicker processing as you pass through them.
Well, why do they do that? Because citizenship
comes with rights and privileges that are not
offered to non -citizens. And by the way, that
same... principle was true in ancient Israel
as well. There were certain blessings and privileges
that were reserved only for those who were citizens
of Israel because they were the covenant people
of God. Israel was the chosen nation and they
possessed certain benefits that were not given
to outsiders. If you weren't out of Israel, you
had no claim on those benefits. And that's what
we're going to see in our text today. Now we
do need to understand the background a little
bit. Today we're going to meet a foreign woman.
The Bible says she's a woman of Canaan. She's
a Canaanite. And she comes to Jesus begging for
him to heal her demon -possessed daughter. At
first, it appears as though the Lord was indifferent
to her plight. As we continue, it may even seem
that he was a little bit harsh with the woman.
But as we look at the context, we'll be able
to see what was happening. Now keep in mind who's
writing this gospel. This is Matthew. To whom
is he writing? Primarily, not exclusively, to
a Jewish people. And so in first century, the
question of how the Gentiles were to be viewed
or how they were to be received in the church
was very much disputed. The Jews looked with,
not disdain, but they were very suspicious of
Gentile inclusion. So now the context here. In
Matthew 15, the preceding verses, you have the
Lord having a conversation with the religious
leaders, scribes and Pharisees, over ritual purity.
The Pharisees were upset with Jesus because his
disciples ate without first ceremonially washing
their hands. And the Pharisees said that act
defiled them. You couldn't go into the temple.
Now the Lord used that particular occasion to
teach where true defilement came from. He said
defilement does not come from outside you, rather
from within you, from a defiled heart. That's
something the Pharisees did not grasp. Now the
backdrop then of the passage this morning was
that debate between the Pharisees and Jesus over
what was clean and unclean. The Pharisees went
so far as to believe that even Gentile people,
And Gentile places, Gentile lands were unclean.
So that's the debate. Now look at verse 21. Jesus
immediately heads for the region of Tyre and
Sidon. By the way, that's Gentile territory.
So they're talking about clean and unclean. Jesus
leaves Galilee, heads to Gentile territory, where
he had an encounter with a Canaanite woman. And
she would prove to be more pure. than any of
the scribes and Pharisees in Israel. This Gentile
woman would serve as a rebuke to the religious
leaders in Israel. By the way, it also gives
us a little foreshadowing that Gentiles are going
to be included in the covenant of God. So let's
look at the text, verses 21 and 22. Jesus went
out from there, departed to Tyre and Sidon, and
a little woman of Canaan came from that region.
She's crying out, she's yelling. Have mercy on
me, O Lord, Son of David. My daughter is severely
demon -possessed. So Jesus has been ministering
in Galilee, right? So he leaves northern Israel.
He heads about 40 miles northwest. Now today,
that would be the area of southern Lebanon. His
notoriety has spread far and wide. Even outside
Israel, most people have now heard of Jesus.
He is very famous, if you will. But what was
the Lord doing back in Galilee? He and his disciples
were busily ministering to the people there.
So much so they couldn't even eat. They couldn't
get away. There was no time to eat. There was
no time to relax or rest. So they're just trying
to get away and rest for a little bit. Now in
the parallel passage in Mark. Mark tells us that
Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was
going. He didn't want anyone to know he had gone
to the area of Tyre and Sidon. Presumably, he
went there so that no one would follow him because
he's going to Gentile area. Mark 7, verse 24.
From there he arose, went to the region Tyre
and Sidon. He entered a house and wanted no one
to know it. Keep me incognito. Keep me hidden,
if you will. But he could not be hidden. We couldn't
be hidden because great crowds were following
him and watching him everywhere he went. Jesus
was popular because he was a miracle worker.
He could heal sick people. He could cast out
demons. On occasion, he could multiply fish and
bread and feed multitudes of hungry people. So
you always had these throngs of people around
him, following him, hoping they could get in
on some miracle. We can understand that. But
it wasn't just the Jewish people who saw him.
Today, it says a woman of Canaan came to him.
Now, the very fact that Matthew, a Jew, writing
to Jews, mentions that she is a Canaanite is
important because God had long ago marked the
Canaanites out for destruction. These people,
the Canaanites, were the ancient enemies of Israel.
Mark calls her a Greek, a Syrophoenician, which
would have been the modern terminology. Matthew,
writing to the Jews, says she's an old Canaanite.
So nevertheless, you have this Canaanite woman.
She leaves her home, and she came seeking help
from Jesus. What made her come there? She needed
a miracle, for her daughter was demon -possessed.
She was a pagan woman. No doubt she had grown
disillusioned with the pagan deities who were
impotent to heal her daughter. They were of no
help at all. And she heard about this man named
Jesus. News of what he had done had even reached
to where she lived. There's this man, he's doing
incredible things in Israel. She, no doubt, had
heard of his remarkable power, and specifically
what caught her notice was his ability to cast
out demons. She's desperate. So she comes to
Jesus just hoping, hoping against hope, that
he will show mercy upon her daughter. Notice
her words. Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.
My daughter is severely demon -possessed. Put
yourself in her shoes. You can hear the desperate
cry of a heartbroken mother. She's not asking
anything for herself. Her only request is for
her daughter. Make my daughter well. Heal her.
I believe that we can sense, you can almost imagine
the pain and emotion in this mother's voice.
She's a desperate woman. Her daughter's not just
possessed. Matthew says she is severely demon
-possessed. And this situation's dire. Her poor
daughter had been tortured. But what's even worse
is the pain and the suffering were continuing.
It had not ended. I'm sure this mother, as any
mother would, had gone everywhere and tried everything.
Nothing worked. And then she hears about a man.
And he's been able to cast out demons. And what's
even better, he's coming near where she lived.
How fortuitous. So mothers, you know this about
a mom. A good mom is going to go to any length
for their children. Fight tooth and nail, doesn't
matter. Now what would you do if this were your
child? What would you do if this were your daughter
bound in Satan's grip? Well, desperate times
are going to call for desperate measures. And
this mother, by the way, she knows who she is.
She's not Jewish. She knows she's not an Israelite.
She is very well aware that she is a Canaanite.
Canaanites are despised by Jews. She knows all
that. She clearly knew that she did not deserve
an audience with Jesus. Yet her only hope was
in this miracle worker that he would have pity
on her. Everything else had failed her. She had
nothing to lose. Her only hope was in Jesus.
But Jesus is not alone. Because of all the immense
crowds that were following Jesus, it would not
have been easy for her to gain access to him.
I mean, Jesus always has throngs of people around
him. But she's not going to be deterred. Come
what may, she will find a way to get to him.
And verse 22, we see this. She cried out to him.
And this is where cried out looks like she lifted
her voice one time. No. The word cried out, again,
it's in the imperfect, but the word there in
Greek is kratso. And kratso means she is shouting
in a loud voice. Shrieking, yelling, screaming
are good synonyms. Okay? So here you find a desperate
mother. I believe, now we don't know this, I
believe, or I'm sure, that her voice was the
loudest, drowning out all the others who were
clamoring also for Jesus' attention. People had
sick relatives. But she was going to raise her
voice above the others. And she kept shouting,
kept it up, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of
David. What? Son of David? From a Canaanite woman?
That's a title for the Messiah. You remember
the Pharisees that he had just had an encounter
with? The Pharisees called Jesus Beelzebub. Said
he cast out demons by the power of Satan. They
said that Jesus was a glutton and a jerk. And
here you have this Canaanite woman calling him
son of David. Calling him Messiah. Do you see
the irony Matthew is showing? The irony is that
the Jewish officials were blind to Jesus. This
pagan lady clearly saw who he was. And by the
way, it is so very noteworthy, it's not just
a Gentile who recognized him as Messiah, but
rather it was a Gentile woman who did so. At
that time in history, women had very little social
respectability. They didn't have any social standing.
Women were seen as inferior to men across the
board. Remember, Jewish men would rise early
in the morning and thank God they weren't Gentiles
and they weren't women. That's where they stood.
So you have a Gentile woman understanding he's
the son of David. She is a rebuke to those so
-called erudite scribes and Pharisees back in
Israel. Here she believes Jesus has the power
to rid her daughter of this demon. By the way,
that's faith. She truly believes he can do it.
And she turns from her pagan gods and she turned
to the Lord Jesus as the only answer to her problem.
She turned from idols to God. That's repentance.
You see faith and repentance here. This lady
forsook the worthless idols of her ancestors,
and she comes to Jesus pleading, begging, urging
him to show mercy upon her. That's good news,
isn't it? So how did he respond to her plea for
mercy? Verse 23. But he answered her not a word.
Nothing. Nada. Just silence. That's it. Not one
word was spoken to her. Her plea for mercy seemed
to fall on deaf ears. Her cry had been met with
silence. That's got to be discouraging. But even
that did not stop her. She doesn't give up. True
faith will persevere despite obstacles, by the
way. So she turns her attention from Jesus and
she turns to his disciples. Look at the latter
part of verse 23. Because his disciples now come
and they urge, they're begging Jesus, send her
away for now. She's crying out. She kept crying
out after us. Same word. She was yelling at Jesus.
Now she's yelling at the disciples. This lady's
not going away. She's not going to leave quietly.
You understand? She's going nowhere. So now she's
crying out after us. Same tense. Imperfect tense.
She kept crying out. She kept yelling. She's
not stopping. And the disciples are getting annoyed.
But of course she's not going to stop. She's
not going to leave them alone until her daughter
was healed. Would you? She's not going to leave
until she got what she came for. So the disciples
are like perturbed. They want Jesus. Just get
rid of her. She's annoying us. Send her away.
And it says they urged Jesus. That is, they begged
him to do something. Now I believe they're saying,
listen, she won't leave you alone. Now she won't
leave us alone. Give her what she wants so at
least she'll leave. It's not they're showing
compassion. They're like, get her out of her
hair. Let her have the miracle. Now I believe,
now I can't prove this, but if we're looking
in the text, I believe this woman was shouting
like a crazy woman by this point and causing
quite a scene. That's the word. Why? Because
she knows Jesus can help her. She truly believed
with all her heart Jesus is the answer. And that
contrast in itself is striking. If you go back
to Israel, it is full of shallow believers. And
yet this woman, Gentile, believed he was the
son of David. He was the Messiah. Oh yeah, many
in Israel loved Jesus and followed Jesus. That's
why he fed them. He was giving them what they
want. Not because they trusted in him. That's
why Jesus did not trust in them. They loved Jesus.
Why? Because they got their bellies full. They
got their sick relative healed. But this lady
was different. Now we might expect that Jesus
would immediately grant her request. She's showing
faith. She's repentance. She's persevering. He's
going to answer it, right? Nothing. Joel Beakey
says often when we pray, now think about this
when we pray, folks. We think that God should
grant us our request because we are worthy to
be heard or because we're sincere. Because if
we're sincere enough, well, God's going to answer.
We somehow think that God is obliged or obligated
to hear us. But the Lord answers by giving us
no answer. The Canaanite woman, she had to experience
that she had no right to be heard. This is not
about merit. Even her perseverance in prayer
did not give her any claim before God. There
is no reason for God to answer her. Now, we go
back to the text. The disciples, they go to Jesus.
They say, send her away. Let her be gone. Now
Jesus speaks. Verse 24. He answered them, I was
not sent except to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. So Jesus is reminding his disciples
of something. I've not been sent to foreigners.
God is a God of covenant. And Jesus had been
sent to the covenant nation, Israel. And by the
way, she's Canaanite. She's not a part of the
covenant. So those blessings, those covenant
blessings, were reserved for the covenant people
of Israel. You saw the same. This is not the
first time we saw this dynamic at play. In Matthew
chapter 10, when Jesus sends out the 12. 12 apostles
on their first preaching and healing mission.
He said the same thing. Matthew 10, verse 6.
These 12, Jesus sent out and commanded them.
Notice the command. Do not go into the way of
the Gentiles. Do not enter a city of the Samaritans,
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. That's it. You stay geographically
within Israel's borders. Period. The blessings
of the Messiah were reserved for the people of
Israel. But why only Israel? Because God had
made promise to them. Those promises of the Messiah
were specifically connected to Israel. God had
established a covenant with Abraham and his descendants.
It was to the nation Israel God gave the law,
the prophets, the promises. All those things
concerning the Messiah were given to Israel.
Why did Jesus come? to fulfill the promises given
to Israel. So this is why you see this. However,
there's something absolutely astounding. By the
time you get to the end of Matthew, that prohibition
of going into Gentile territory is now lifted.
So compare Matthew 10. Go to the lost sheep of
Israel. Compare that with Matthew 28. Same 12.
Well, Judas is now gone. Go and make disciples
of all nations. Now it's true, Israel had the
covenantal priority in the plan of salvation.
But after the death and resurrection of Jesus,
the mission would move from Israel outward to
all the nations. And Paul wrote about this in
the book of Romans. Many places, but there's
one place we want to look. Romans 15 verse 8.
Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant.
to the circumcision, that is the Jews, that's
Israel, for the truth of God, for what purpose?
To confirm the promises made to the fathers.
But, now look at verse 9. And that the Gentiles
might glorify God for his mercy, for as it is
written, for this reason I will confess to you
among the Gentiles and sing to your name. So
why did Christ come? The Lord Jesus was born
in Israel. He was born under the law. to confirm
or fulfill the promises made to them, but God
had never intended to only save Israel. God had
intended to bring salvation to the nations through
Israel, through specifically Jesus Christ, who
is the fulfillment of the covenant promises.
Now that will get a little clearer later on,
I hope. So we go back to the text, and we see
that Jesus, was not going to answer that woman,
but he did answer his disciples. She, he just
simply turned a deaf ear to. Silence. Now that
silence might have seemed cruel, but now I think
as we hear his words, they seem even more cruel.
I wasn't sent, or I was only sent to Israel,
basically is what he's saying. Now that mother
heard him. What a dagger this must have been
to her heart. She heard what he was saying. He's
reminding his disciples, I'm not sent to outsiders.
She's an outsider. Now at this point, I think
we would all expect for her to leave hopeless,
dejected. What use was there of going any farther,
of even trying further? Jesus basically said
no. But she's a mother who's desperate. She knew
that Jesus was the only one who could help her
and heal her daughter. If he doesn't heal her
daughter, her daughter will never be healed.
She could not give up. She would not give up.
But you don't find bitterness. You don't find
her getting angry and arguing or debating with
the Lord. Just continued petitions for mercy.
Look at verse 25. Then she came and worshipped
him saying, Lord, help me. Worship, it's a Greek
word, proskuneo. We talk about worship, but it
literally means to bow down or to kneel. It literally
is to prostrate yourself in reverence. You would
do this before a king, by the way. So now the
woman is no longer shouting. She's on her knees.
She's on her knees before Christ, begging for
help. Listen to her words. Lord, help me. Lord,
help me. Please do not send me back empty -handed.
Have pity upon me, Lord. My daughter is grievously
tormented, and I know that you can help her.
I think we can all imagine the tears that were
streaming down her face, the broken voice. Lord,
help me. Not a word about her deserving anything.
She simply cast herself upon the mercy of God.
And in her we see a picture of persistent faith.
See, true faith recognizes we deserve nothing
before God. There's no word of merit. True faith
begs and calls upon God for his mercy. Verse
26, now he's going to speak. But he answered
and said, it's not good, it's not proper to take
the children's bread and throw it to the little
dogs. Finally, he speaks to the woman, but these
are not comforting words. Now, Jesus, let me
just say this. Some people who want to criticize
the Christian faith will say, well, Jesus was
kind of like a bigot. He called this woman a
dog. He did not call her a dog. He is using an
analogy. And in the analogy, now Gentiles were
referred to as dogs, wild animals. This is a
word for like puppy, a household domesticated
pet. But in the analogy, it's still an analogy,
Israel. are the children. The bread were the
blessings reserved for Israel, and the Gentiles
were the dogs, household pets. This is not about
ethnicity here. It is about priority, though.
Children get fed before pets do, or they ought
to. I think all of us say, if there's food, we're
going to feed our children before we feed our
dog. You would never take food that was good
for your child, take it and let your child eat,
and then feed the dog. The Apostle Paul in Romans
said that salvation is to the Jew first. Jesus
had been sent to Israel. This woman is not a
child. She's not part of that covenant. So there
is no expectation whatsoever that he should answer
her and heal her daughter because those blessings
of healing and casting out demons were reserved
for Israel. So there's no right. She's not a
Jew. Do you remember what Paul said in Ephesians
2? When we think about our position as Gentiles,
it was absolutely heartbreaking. In Ephesians
2, verse 12, Paul said the Gentiles were without
Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope, and without God in the world. That was
this lady. Strangers from the covenants of promise.
The covenantal blessings were reserved for the
covenantal people. It is very plain. You and
I were in the same boat as this woman though.
We are Gentiles. We too were separated from God.
Without hope in this world. Dead in trespass
and sin. Our only hope lay in the mercy of God.
Had God not moved on our behalf in his grace,
you and I would have perished and we would have
remained eternally separated from him. That's
what we deserved. So we needed what this mother
needs, the mercy of God. Now, I think if I'm
in this lady's shoes, certainly you expect her
to give up now, right? She heard it from the
horse's mouth, if you will. You would almost
think she's going to be insulted. Let's just
leave. Saving faith does not give up. It perseveres.
It pursues Jesus. Look at verse 27. Just what
a wise reply. She said, yes, Lord. You're right.
Yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs of shawl
from their master's table. No argument. No debating.
She didn't even take umbrage that he had referred
to her as a dog. She's agreeing with him. Yes,
Lord. I am an outsider. I am unworthy of your
time. I am unworthy of your attention. What you
say is true. I am not a Jew. I am not part of
this covenant. I am not a child of Israel. I
am a little dog sitting under that table. But
she continued to believe in the goodness of Christ.
But even those little dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. Now, if you have
a dog, where does that dog like to eat? Under
the table. Why? Why do dogs like to do that?
Because they know that there's always going to
be some food lying on the floor when that meal
is done. My parents have a dog. If my kids are
eating there, listen, Paco's in heaven because
there's more food on the floor than there is
on the table. It's just how it is. So she's like,
yeah, they're going to eat. Feed the children
first. I'm not asking for the children's food.
I'll be content if you just give me the crumbs
that fall from the table. I have no right to
sit at that table and eat as if I were a child.
In essence, this woman is asking for a dog's
portion. Just give me crumbs. I'll be happy.
Friends, this is true humility here. And this
is what I want us to see. True faith, saving
faith, persevere. There were three answers given
to her. All three of them were very difficult.
First, there was silence. He met her with silence.
Second, he's talking to his disciples, reminding
them that she's an outsider. She's not part of
the covenant. Thirdly, he speaks to her and he
says, by the way, it's not proper for me to feed
you. It's not proper that I take from the kids
food and give it to you. Why is he doing that?
Because those answers were designed to strip
away any false pretense she may have had of her
own worthiness. He's breaking her down. Yet in
spite of these obstacles, she still believed
that Jesus could heal her daughter, that he was
merciful, so she keeps pleading for mercy. And
verse 28 is the capstone, if you will. Then Jesus
answered and said to her, O woman, great is your
faith. Let it be done to you as you desire. Your
petition has been granted. And her daughter was
healed from that very hour. What a gracious God.
He graciously answered her. He healed her daughter.
And he marvels at her great faith. And what's
interesting, Matthew is a Jew writing to Jews.
The very first instance of anyone ever having
great faith was back in Matthew chapter 8, and
it was found by a Roman centurion, a Gentile
man. The second instance of anyone having great
faith is in chapter 15, and it's about this Canaanite
woman, a Gentile woman. Another Gentile. So what
you're starting to see, do you see what Matthew's
doing here? He's painting a picture. So what
made this mother's faith great was not the quantity,
as though she had a lot of faith, but rather
it was the quality. She continued to trust in
spite of all the obstacles that were put before
her. She doesn't give up. I quoted Joel Beeky
earlier. Let me do so once again. Through this
process, she learned to hang, plead. and depend
solely on Christ's mercy. To persevere in prayer.
If he had given her his answer immediately, she
may have left thinking she was worthy, or that
her prayers were worthy, or that God was bound
to grant her request. But by now, she receives
an answer through which she rejoices completely
in the free grace of God in Jesus Christ. Now
what? That's the text as we close, or begin to
close. I need you to understand this passage
is not primarily about a Gentile woman's great
faith. It's not just a moral example so that
we can learn from her. Matthew, again, I've said
this too many times today, he's a Jew, writing
to Jews, but he's showing that Gentiles are going
to be received into the kingdom of God. And that's
true. The Jews had advantages that the Gentiles
never had. The Jews had the temple. They had
the worship. They had the word of God. They had
the covenantal promises. All these are advantages
that Paul mentions in Romans 9, by the way. But
all those promises, every single one of them,
were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But Israel rejects
Christ. And those same promised blessings now
go to the Gentiles. You see that in Acts 13 with
Paul and Barnabas preaching to Jews. They grew
bold and said, it was necessary, it's fitting,
it's proper, that the word of God should be spoken
to you first, Jews. But since you reject it,
you're rejecting the gospel, and you judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn
to the Gentiles. Gentile inclusion, now get this,
because this is something that today our culture
is totally wrong on. Gentile inclusion in God's
kingdom and plan was never a plan B. Even from
the beginning. When God made that wonderful promise
to Abraham in Genesis 12 that all the nations
of the earth would be blessed, the nations were
included. Genesis 12 .3, God speaking to Abraham.
I will bless those who bless you, Abraham. I
will curse him who curses you. And in you, Abraham,
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Not in Israel, not in the nation. Abraham, it's
in you. It gets more specific. Chapter 22. In
your seed, not many seeds. Paul will say just
one. There's coming one descendant, Abraham,
of yours, that all the nations of the earth will
be blessed. From the beginning, God's purpose
was not merely to redeem Israel, but rather that
through Israel, he would bring forth a savior
who would redeem the nations. The Lord Jesus
Christ. is the fulfillment of the promise that
God made to Abraham. He is that seed, and in
him, everyone who believes anywhere in the world
is blessed. Paul wrote about this so much in
Galatians 3, and we're closing, and I could spend
forever on this because I love this. But look
at Galatians 3. We're going to close, so don't
get nervous. And the scripture foreseeing that
God would justify the Gentiles by faith. preached
the gospel, that good news, was preached to Abraham
beforehand saying, and he quotes Genesis 12,
in you all the nations shall be blessed. Paul
explains, verse 9, so then those who are of faith
are blessed. You're in on that covenant with
believing Abraham. And in Matthew 15, we see
just a little bit of glimpse of that promise
beginning to unfold. The Canaanite woman is not
part of Israel. She has no ancestral claim at
all. She did not keep the law. She didn't even
have the law. There was nothing she could bring
to God that would make him accept her. So what
does she do? She comes to Jesus empty -handed,
crying out, Lord, have mercy on me. And through
persistent faith, this Gentile woman received
the blessing that was promised to Abraham. And
by the way, that's true of us as well. Galatians
3 .14, that the blessing of Abraham, might come
upon the Gentiles, that's us, in Christ Jesus,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith. Verse 29. Get this, because we
want to come to the table. And if you are Christ,
how are you Christ by faith? If you are Christ,
you are also Abraham's seed. You're part of that
Genesis 12. You're Abraham's seed, and you're
heirs according to that promise. You're not a
second -class citizen. It's not like the Jews
are better. No. There is no Jew and Gentile in
Christ. We are brought in as equal heirs. And
today, friends, we come to the table of the Lord.
This is good news. And that table of the Lord
right here has been opened to all the nations.
The glorious banquet of the body and blood of
Jesus Christ is open to every tribe, every tongue,
every people in every nation, to all those who
call upon Jesus in faith. And the wonderful truth
is that Jesus Christ still welcomes every sinner,
regardless of ethnicity, who will come to him
in faith. So my only admonition is to whoever
is sitting here this morning, like this Canaanite
woman, you come to Jesus with empty hands, but
believing hearts, and the gracious King will
receive you in this kingdom. That's good news.
Friends, this is what this passage teaches us.
We are included in the covenant promises, glorious
promises, and an inheritance with Christ. Let's
pray and prepare our hearts to come and feast
with Christ at this glorious sacrament that he's
given. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for,
Lord, this word. And I thank you for the word
of God. It is so very good. Lord, it's rich and
Lord, it's able to instruct us and feed us, Lord,
because it shows us Christ who's the true bread
come down from heaven. Lord, he's the bread.
And we come today and we're reminded of his broken
body and his shed blood. Lord, this is the avenue
through which eternal life comes. Empty hands,
believing hearts. Hands that will receive the
broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ
by faith. trusting, Lord, that what Jesus did
was sufficient for us. Lord, we trust that, Lord.
That's the glorious promise we trust in. And,
Father, I pray that, Lord, you would work in
people's hearts to allow them to understand more
deeply this truth, that there no doubt would
be some in here today. And, Lord, they've never
in their heart bowed before you, Lord. Would
you awaken them, give them life, grant them repentance
so that they see Jesus clearly. I pray this in
his name. Amen. Deacons, if you would come and
prepare the table of the Lord.