The Message of June 25, 2023 Sermon.
Matthew 15:21-28
“And Jesus went away from there and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Cannonite woman came out from that region and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, son of David! My daughter is cruelly demon-possessed!” But he did not answer her word. And his disciples came to him and kept asking him saying, “Send her away, for she is shouting out after us.” But he answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!” He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “Oh woman, your faith is great, be it done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.“
Today’s message is entitled “The Syro-Phoenician Woman”. She lived in Palestine during the time when Jesus walked the Earth. The story of this woman is an intriguing one that begins with human needs. Flesh and blood needs. But also, spiritual needs. And she was desperate for healing of every kind, for she had a daughter who was demon-possessed and was given over to fits of rage and was being harmed. And this mother was praying for a miracle… That her daughter would be made normal again.
Now, this woman was not what anyone would call a regular church-goer if you will. She didn’t even believe in the God of the scripture; she only had the hope that if there was anything at all to the power and authority of Jesus, he might help her. She was really searching. She was searching for a miraculous intervention in her life. The same as many people do today. Now, how would Jesus respond?
First, some insight into the history of the Syro-Phoenician woman:
The reason this woman was called Syro-Phoenician, was because she was from Phonenicia, located in the Roman Provence of Syria. She was from the area of the cities of Tyre and Sidon. That was a little strip of land that the descendants of the Cannonites populated. The very people who had been driven out of almost all their land by the Hebrews. So the Cannonites were Israel’s ancient enemies. And the Jews had very disparaging names for them. They were called Pagans, Heathens, and just plain dogs. These were common Jewish expressions to describe those people because that was how they felt about them. So the people from which this woman originated were called these names. Well, the Cannonites worshipped Ba’al, and in Jesus’ day, he was still their chief deity in Tyre and Sidon. And so because of this, there was also immorality among the people because they had a fertility goddess, sexual cults, and the Cannonites were idol worshippers. And that was abhorrent to every good Jew. And yet, Tyre and Sidon were the same two cities that Jesus had compared favorably to the ancient Jewish villages to which he had tried to minister.
On one occasion, when very few of the Jews believed or repented or trusted in Christ, Jesus said to them, “Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would’ve repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” Then he continues, “Nevertheless, I say to you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for you.” Can’t you hear that stinging criticism and reproach Jesus handed to his own people? Jesus was saying that those Cannonite people of Syro-Phonecia would have repented long ago, rather than these stiff-necked Jewish brothers in the villages where Jesus was trying to minister.
So here is this woman; A Ba’al worshiper. She had heard of Jesus, a Jewish Messiah. A man who had healed the sick and the blind. A man who had cast out demons. And how do we know she had heard of him? This kind of word travels fast in a small town. The people who had been healed must have told others, and the words must’ve been shared with this particular woman. This woman remembered those words “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This woman knew that she was poor in spirit and that her daughter was poor in spirit. It wasn’t just a physical ailment. And that wonderful truth is this. Because that is the first step in becoming a follower of Jesus. You first have to admit that you need a savior. Admitting that we are sinners is a great beginning. Have we all admitted that we are poor in spirit?
So here he was. Jesus had come to her land, to her people. And she was not about to give up until she found him. And when she finally found out where Jesus was, she boldly came to him with great desperation and began crying out loudly again and again, “Have mercy on me, Oh Lord! Son of David!” His disciples must have been momentarily stunned and silenced. You see, in that day, women didn’t just yell out in public at a man and do this kind of thing. But what on earth would Jesus respond to this kind of person? Well, initially, he said nothing. But he didn’t send her away either. It was as if he hadn’t heard her. He ignored her for a little while. Nowhere in the gospels do we see Jesus turning away from someone, as we do in this encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman. In no other text does Jesus express such apparent apathy and coldness. How often have some people felt ignored when they cry out to God? Maybe you’ve felt that way at some point in your life. Maybe you feel that way now.
After all, was there any really good reason for this cold shoulder treatment? Was it to test her or test his disciples? Was he just trying to teach her patience or perseverance? And was his mission only to the lost sheep of Israel, of which she didn’t belong? If so, then what was he doing in Tyre and Sidon, if not to spread the word?
Something is different here. Something else is going on here. This woman first addressed Jesus using a very Messianic title. She was addressing him as Lord King and Savior of the Jews. Their Messiah by which they were to be redeemed. Jesus wanted something more than just to heal her daughter physically. He wanted a spiritual transformation to occur in her life. In this brief encounter, a conversion had to occur for him to react. He required some kind of faith even before or after the event. As a faithful church of Jesus Christ, our mission is not simply to feed or clothe others. It is to see people come into Christ’s Kingdom… and feed and clothe them.
So in her mind, she was simply coming to the prophet of another nation, not the Lord of her own people. Jesus was not her personal Lord, nor the Lord over all. But simply the Lord of the Jews, David’s son. This woman’s religion basically taught that there was a Pantheon of Gods. So in her mind, Jesus may have been merely the God of the Jews. Perhaps a national God. Not the God of her people or her God. So Jesus was considered, perhaps, a local deity. Certainly not a universal one or the only one.
In her desperation, she was probably praying to every God she knew. Jesus just happened to be one of them. So in this story, we can also discover why God might be silent to the prayer of any people who claim him only as a Lord among other Lords. Not as the Lord of all. Even many religious people are desperate, and they come therefore to the God of the bible because they’re desperate. Not because they really trust him or believe in him. And so, desperately, they come and ask the God of the Bible for help. But they don’t really make him a true Lord over their own lives. They don’t develop a daily personal relationship with him. And so, they may ask for help from Him without ever allowing Him to be their one true God over their lives.
Do we ever sense that we are pleading with the God of miracles of ancient times but not a personal God for whom nothing is impossible today? Do we seek an answer from a God that we don’t really follow or obey? Who’s Lord do we seek? Is Christ just a local deity? An American Christ or the Christ, merely of Christians?
It’s not surprising, then, that Jesus would ignore her. She is not even addressing him in total. Just partially. Perhaps part of the reason for God’s seeming delay and refusal to answer some modern people is partially due to their own unwillingness to accept him both as their Lord and Lord of their lives and Lord of all their problems and cares and desires… to make him their personal saving God. To accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And also to acknowledge him as Lord Overall. Lord of All People. Lord of the Universe. We must never accept or belong to a church that doesn’t teach Jesus Christ as Lord of All. That is outside the bound of Christianity. It’s outside the Christian faith. And God may well ignore that kind of faith or religion and the prayers stemming from such pathetic beliefs.
Now, the disciples were irritated by this woman, and perhaps rightfully so, she may have been irritating. And they ask Jesus, “Why don’t you send her away? She’s shouting after us.” Well, it’s fascinating to me that although Jesus didn’t answer her right away, he didn’t send her away either. This Ba’al worshipper was getting on everyone’s nerves. And still, Jesus did not send her away. And so we see that Jesus’ heart had not rejected her. He must’ve been waiting for something. Waiting for something more important to happen in her faith. A conversion of her faith. And so he answered her, “ I have been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Now, why did he say that? Because that is exactly what she believed. That he was only the Jewish Lord, so, he just repeated her faith. Jesus was trying to help her see that if she really only believed that he was a Jewish savior, then he shouldn’t help her. Or wouldn’t want to help her. And if his ministry was only for his own people, who were lost, then why bother this man?
At that moment, she realized that he wouldn’t help her if he were only the savior of the Jews. That she was lost and she needed a universal savior. One that would cross all barriers, all lines, all divisions. Because immediately, she fell on her hands and knees and cried out, “Lord, help me!” No longer merely a polite title, “Lord, Son of David.” But in those moments, she had appropriated the great meaning of the ministry for herself. Perhaps she had suddenly awakened to the fact that Jesus could be her Lord, too. And that he works miracles, not only for his own people but for all people. All nations. Maybe her mind flashed with the memory of the news that Jesus had already healed some of her own people. She was now very spiritually close to the Kingdom of Heaven.
And yet there was another spiritual lesson that she had to accept. She said to herself, “Yes, I am a sinner. Undeserving of God’s grace,” She had to admit that she had been an idol worshipper. That she was outside of God’s divine kingdom. That is why I am not so offended by Jesus’ words when he said to her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The children need their bread to live.
Those words merely conveyed the identical meaning that Christ had taught in the sermon on the mount. For he had said as much, “Do not give what is holy to dogs” Why? “Do not throw your pearls before a swine.” Why? “Lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.” Sometimes when you give great things to people, they’re not grateful, and they turn against you.
She needed to know she was a dog, spiritually. She was a grievous sinner. Most people might have argued with Jesus that they were no dog or sinner. But this kind of stiff-necked resistance implies exactly what Jesus was referring to when he condemned the Pharisees for their pride and arrogance. They shut off the kingdom of heaven for people, for they do not enter in themselves, nor do they allow others who are entering to go in.
How does the Phoenician woman respond? She confesses, “Yes, Lord.” Incredibly, she said, “Yes, Lord.” No argument. She realized in her life, she had not lived up to the glory of the one true God. Her daughter’s woes may have resulted from the evidence of the sins and evils in her life as well. But then she adds another statement, a grand statement of faith. She makes a statement proving that she now considers Jesus as her Lord and master. She says to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed from the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” So essentially, she did accept that she was not worthy of her master’s attention. And yet she still belonged to her master. And she reasoned even a dog gets a few crumbs that fall from its master’s table. Jesus Christ had become her Lord, and from that small beginning, she realized that even though she was poor in spirit, she could be satisfied with his divine crumbs if they came from him.
And then suddenly, Jesus responded to her needs. Once she exhibited faith, he did exactly as she requested. He told her, “Oh woman, your faith is great, be it done to you as you wish.” Her daughter was healed at once.
When we are more concerned with our pride, our ego, and being offended than we are with serving the Lord and confessing to him and admitting that we’re sinners, we miss out on his divine blessing and his healing in our lives. When as many people say today that they are offended by Jesus or are offended by the Christian faith and the things that Christians say. They’ve missed out on the greatest blessings of all. The salvation and their healing. Amazingly, this Syro-Phoenician woman must have also preached about Jesus and shared her faith among others in her community because 30 years later, Paul stayed in that same city for a week. His companion wrote, “And when are days there were ended, we departed and started on our journey, while they all with wives and children the people of Trye escorted us until we were out of the city.” Many people must have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of all and had become Christians even prior to Paul’s arrival. This Syro-Phoenician woman ended up doing wonderful work for Christ and his kingdom.
Who is Jesus Christ to you? Is he just another God among a Pantheon of Gods? Don’t expect to get his attention. Is he the Messiah of only the Jews or Lord only of the Christians? Don’t expect a response. Is a prophet to only one people and not to you? Then, crickets, folks. Or is he the living Christ and the Lord of your life and mine? Do you declare that he is the Lord of all people, for it makes all the difference in your relationships and prayers to God what you believe about Jesus and the faith you place in Him. And what do you and I consider about ourselves? Are we worthy people? Good people? Or are we unworthy? Do we consider ourselves righteous? Are we grievous sinners?
Would his comparison of our lives to a dog just be offensive to us? Or might we understand who we really are in God’s sight? Would we denounce the Lord as cruel and unfair in his judgment and just walk away in a huff? Or would we be glad, even for the crumbs which fall from his table? Our master’s table. Yes, Lord. To God be all the praise and glory. Amen.
Dr. Earl A. Bland
Sermon transcribed from Charleston Presbyterian Church’s YouTube page.