Matthew 15:21-22..Ready

Matthew 15:21-22..Ready

15:21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. (This is the only time in Jesus’ ministry that He traveled outside the boarders of Israel. Not counting His earlier escape to Egypt as a boy.-(Matt. 2:13-23) He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.-(Mark 7:24) 2 A Canaanite woman ( The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.-(Mark 7:26), “Syrian-Phoenician” was a Roman invention, a description imposed on the northern region of Phoenicia, which was close to the region of Syria) from that vicinity came to him, (Intercepts Jesus on the border between Jewish and Gentile lands. Enters a house in that region where Jesus was staying.-(Mark 7:24)  crying out, “Lord, (Because Lord is not in all Caps, it should only be taken here as a polite term of respect).  Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession. (Her delighter suffering from demon possession is not big surprise, having raised her child up in Pagan culture.) (For Complete Expository See Book)

Extended Sermon 

“Displays the great distance Jesus goes out to Save us, far more than we would ever expect or deserve.” ⇒ There are moments when we feel we’re too far gone and out of reach to be helped. Or we’re unworthy to be Saved after all the things we’ve done. Yet, God’s grace travels farther than shame ever could. Remember  you are never alone, never forgotten, and always within reach of God’s boundless grace. Let today be the day you step forward in faith, trusting that even in your struggles and failures, you are being drawn nearer to something greater—closer to healing, closer to purpose, closer to love.

“Calls for not allowing social or cultural boundaries to keep us from Jesus” ⇒ Let nothing stand between you and Jesus. Not you’re gender, not you’re history, not you’re background, not you’re upbringing, not you’re education, not you’re pride, not you’re friends. Don’t let the whispers of; You’re unworthy, you’re an outsider, you’re too far gone, you’re not good enough, you’re on the wrong side of the tracks, you’ll never measure up, keep you from seeking Jesus.  Look at this woman she had everything going against her, Her race, her nationality, her gender, her pagan beliefs, even Jesus’ own disciples-(V. 23 ) and yet she did not let it keep her from coming to Jesus. Are you going to allow your atheism keep you from Jesus, are you going to allow your denominational beliefs keep you form Jesus, are you going to allow your transgender keep you from Jesus, are you going to allow social expectations keep you from Jesus, are you going to allow politics keep you from Jesus?

“Teaches the importance of intersensory prayer in seeing our loved one’s Saved.”⇒ As parents will you take your children to the Lord who are caught in a life of sin, addiction, and destruction. Will you take them to the Lord when they’re in a moral and spiritual decline? Will you take them to the Lord when they’ve fallen into some sort of perverse and deviant behavior. Will you take them to Lord whatever it may be. Maybe they’ve fallen into sadomasochisms or cutting themselves. Maybe their narcissistic. Maybe they’re suffering from depression or suicidal thoughts. Maybe they’re acting bizarre or antisocial.

“Teaches how true love will identify with the needs and plights of others as if it were our own.-(V. 22)” ⇒  Will you make other peoples pain your pain. This is what intercessory prayer is all about. When we pray for other’s needs we pray as if they are our own needs. We mourn for those who mourn. We hurt for those who hurt. Their need is our need.

Additional Notes & Applications 

Teaches when all hope is gone and there’s nowhere else to turn, you can always turn to Jesus for help.

Calls for humility of heart in bringing our issues to Jesus, that we got a problem that we can’t solve on our own without God’s help.

 Teaches how great faith will move and act on the opportunities presented to us to be healed by Christ.

Teaches how true faith goes beyond just what God can do in our life, but what He can do in the lives of others. (Know that through your faith & prayers others can be changed!)

Being a Canaanite Gentile that worshiped Pagan gods. By coming to Jesus we can conclude that she is utterly unsatisfied with her Idols. Whatever gods she was worshipping, El, Asherah, Baal. They were not able to solve her problem. They couldn’t meet her needs. So she comes to Israel’s God, believing Jesus could meet her need and heal her daughter.

By acknowledging Jesus as the “Son of David” shows how, even though she was a Gentile living in a Pagan land, she still honored Jesus as the Messiah and King, which was a lot more than even Jesus’ own contemporaries gave Him who were living in the Holy Land of which many rejected Him as the Messiah..

The land of Canaan for centuries had been talked a lot about by the O.T. Prophets, and never in a good way  but always as wicked. The prophet Isaiah talks about Tyre as being arrogant, greedy, wealthy, and prosperous. The prophet Ezekiel condemns Tyre whose “heart has become proud in your wealth- and Sidon one of the many neighbors of Israel “who have treated them with contempt”.– (Ezek 28:1-24). Not to mention that Queen Jezebel was from Sidon, the worst queen in Israel’s history who was married to Ahab the worst King in Israel’s history. Jezebel also brought Baal worship from Sidon into Jerusalem and Israel. And remember Elijah and the prophets of Ball that was with Jezebel, bringing all those hundreds of prophets in and elevating Baal worship. Even Jesus, earlier brought up the wickedness of Tyre & Sidon. Warning how there would be severe judgement for “Chorazin and Bethsaida” for rejecting Him then for Tyre and Sidon”- (Matt. 11:21-22).

It should be noted that the Gospel of Mark identifies her by the less theologically-loaded term as a Greek born in Syrian Phoenicia.-{Mark 7:26} In Jesus’ time, Gentiles from this area were known as Syrophoenicians.  “Canaanite” is a outdated term, and had not been used for centuries. The word “Canaanite” has theological overtones. The Canaanites were those who lived in the Promised Land prior to the arrival of the Israelites. The Canaanites worshipped idols and sacrificed their children to pagan gods, and thus were a threat to God’s people, whose first commandment ordered them “You shall have no other gods.” The Canaanites were Israel’s long-standing enemies, the people who had stood between the early Israelites and their promised land.⁵ The Canaanites’ “idolatrous religion was a constant threat to the religious purity of the people of Yahweh indeed, the enemies of God. To call this woman a Canaanite is make her a total outsider, unworthy of God’s grace.

According to a body of sermon notes attributed to Saint Clement Bishop of Rome (late first century) states that the woman’s name was “Justas” and her daughters name was “Bernice”. (Scholars disagree on the reliability of it’s authenticity)