Sermon Text: Matthew 15:21-28

Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
WHAT IS GREAT FAITH? How does one measure this against other faith?
Surely in the 21st century we probably could name some people with whom we consider to have great faith. Possibly some of you might put Billy Graham on your list, or perhaps a relative like a grandmother or aunt. In the scriptures we think of Job or Abraham as men of great faith from the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, Jesus only has two people of whom he says had great faith.

The first person Jesus said had great faith, was the Roman Centurion in Matthew 8. He was exhorted by Christ as having a faith greater than all those in Israel because he believed that if Christ gave his word, it was good enough to heal his servant, who was back at the Centurion’s home.

The second person of whom Jesus said also had great faith is woman from our Gospel text, the Canaanite woman. Why is this Canaanite woman greater in faith than the disciples are? She is not a Jew, or an Israelite so how could she have possibly a greater faith than God’s chosen people? Jesus and his disciples had traveled to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. They were no longer traveling in Israel, but primarily in Gentile territory, when almost immediately upon arriving met, this most unwelcome woman. She had two strikes against her before she even approached Jesus. In verse 21, we read the word “Behold” to announce the presence of the woman who has come to Christ with her plea. “Behold” is a word, which is meant to grab our attention to something very important. It is no different here because it does indeed grab our attention. In the early parts of Matthew, it was used to announce the presence of an Angel, but here it is more like, “Ewwww Look!”

a. The sight of this Canaanite woman most likely caused red flags to go up in the disciple’s eyes. To the disciples the presence of this foreign woman was rather repulsive . Canaanites were considered unclean. They practiced pagan rituals; they were dogs. You would think the disciples would have known there might be a chance of meeting up with some of these Canaanites when they entered this region? You can’t go into a foreign land without expecting to see some of the locals, can you?

1. Upon seeing Jesus, this woman cries out, “Have mercy on me, Son of David, my daughter is being tormented by a demon. The term “Son of David” is a reference to Jesus Messiahship. Not even the disciples have confessed this about him yet and here is this “WOMAN” referring to him in this manner. Their eyes are most likely on their master at this moment to see his response to this woman’s crying out to him. However, they don’t see him retreating to get away from her at all. In fact, he is standing there silent just looking at This woman.

ii. This woman of Canaan continues crying out for mercy despite the silent treatment she receives from Jesus. Our text says the disciples went to him and asked him to send her away because she was crying after them now. The disciples are certainly not like Jesus who stood silent; they went to him hoping he had some solution to this problematic woman.

iii. How often have you or I been this way with others? Most children learn what this woman employed, at a young age. “How far can we push our parents until they either discipline us or give in to our demands?” It is a tactic usually reserved for grocery store checkout lines where all the goodies are usually kept.

iv. What Christ tells them though is not what they want to hear. His response to his disciples puzzle us because it seems cold and indifferent. We like to think of Jesus as being more compassionate and understanding of this woman’s need; of our need for mercy.

v. Yet, Jesus says to them, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” To us, it might seem like Jesus has picked an odd time to be exclusive to his own people. But is that what he is really doing, or is he testing this woman’s faith? When she first arrived, she called him “Son of David”. He certainly didn’t come into town announcing his kingship. In fact, according to gospel, chapter 7 verse 24, He and his disciples tried to hide from the crowd in a house, but to no avail.

vi. We see in this woman a desire to have her daughter freed from this torment by a demon. She is not approaching Jesus for her own personal needs, but for her daughter. She overhears Jesus words to his disciples about being sent only to those in Israel and in exasperation says, ‘Lord, Help me.’


vii. Jesus finally responds to the woman and her plea directly, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and feed it to the dogs.” With these words, Jesus puts this woman’s faith to the test. He was calling her a dog as many of the house of Israel had done. She had two options, give up and go home to her tormented daughter, or do what our text says she did. She responded to his insult with these words, “Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs of the bread which falls from the table of the Master.” She admits that she is no more than a “dog”; that she is not deserving of the same blessings, as those of the house of Israel, but she can at the very least wait for the crumbs, which fall from the table of the Master.

II. “THIS”, Jesus said is Great Faith. The first sign of great faith is humility. The realization that I am not worthy of being in the presence of the Lord, let alone ask him for anything.

III. Bo Giertz, the Late Bishop in the Gothenburg diocese in the Church of Sweden said this about great faith. One thing that marks a great faith. “Say only one word.” More than anything else, it is faith in the word of Christ. Faith needs this word and it takes a firm grip on his word and holds it tightly. By itself, faith has nothing but mistakes and failures. It is often prone to doubt that there is any faith at all. But faith is sure that the saying is “worthy of full acceptance,” that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of which I am Chief. A great faith, therefore, can reside in a person who feels nothing but weakness in himself. The great faith can say, “I believe, help my unbelief!”

a. Faith, which is great in God’s eyes, is a faith that persists in prayer regardless of one’s own unworthiness. It does not seek feelings, wait for victories or seek successes to validate it. One who has great faith recognizes their inability to do anything other than wait for Christ’s next words even if they seem harsh and cruel. We must wait patiently for the word he will give us which may also exalt us.

IV. We, like this woman, are unworthy by ourselves to come to Jesus. We have troubles in our lives much like she does. We are perhaps struggling with our children’s problems, or perhaps we are struggling with problems regarding our elderly parents, such as going into a long-term care facility. Maybe you’re struggling in your relationship with your spouse or maybe you are single and wanting God to bring that significant person into your life. Whatever your problem is, know that you can bring it to the Lord and ask for mercy. Because we often feel unworthy to bring our requests to him, we may think that our Lord doesn’t hear us or is ignoring us, but we must keep on trying. The Lord may choose to test in our faith in some way, which may cause us to doubt our faith, but because of what He did for you and me on the Cross at Calvary and three days later leaving the tomb alive again, we are given the assurance he hears our prayers and does answer them. We have to also be prepared to hear the word “No.” and know that his mercy is still there for us.

V. The bottom line in all this is that Jesus died for you, for me, for this Canaanite woman for the Roman Centurion, for his disciples and for all mankind. His death was a victory for us over sin, and the devil. His resurrection was the victory over death and the grave. He has taken away our unworthiness and replaced it with his worthiness. When God looks at us, he sees His Son in us. We may be tested in our faith from time to time, but know that his tests only seek to strengthen your faith in what you know to be true. That Jesus Christ is Lord of All. Amen!