Second Sunday in Lent (2025)
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Matthew 15:21-28
Matthew 15:21-28
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our lesson today speaks of prayer, and the fervent pleading that we have all endured, but the story present in our lesson this morning is one that is particularly heart wrenching. A woman has approached Jesus seeking his help, and his aid for her daughter who is severely oppressed by a demon, and we find that Jesus is not the warm, caring and compassionate soul that the world portrays, but meets her with a firm and surprising rebuke. What are we to learn from this and understand from this passage? Is this how God deals with us?
A Caananite Woman
Jesus is in Gentile lands.
The Bible tells us that he is in the northern part of Israel, but he is along the coast for Tyre and Sidon are both coastal cities on the mediterranean, and so this is far from Jerusalem, he is not by the sea of galilee, and is away from the areas where the Jewish people were concentrated. To complicate matters
God had ordered the Canaanites destruction.
In the days of Moses, when they were to enter into the promised land, God had given strict command that they were to wipe the people out, because if they did not, they would be a snare to them, it was not only their practices that would infect israel, but also the worship of other gods, and
Israel didn’t obey.
It brought them great hardship for years to come, not only in the days of Joshua, but the period the judges, during the days of the kings, until finally israel fell because as God had warned, they had become ensnared with false gods. So here is this canaanite woman, God had ordered her people’s destruction long ago and now she is
Standing Before God
This woman pleads for mercy.
She calls out to Jesus based upon who he is, calling him not just Lord or master, but the Son of David. She may be a foreigner, but she knows who Jesus is and what has been sent to do, as the promised son, and heir of the greatest King Israel had. How does Jesus respond?
Jesus said nothing.
He walked on by her, ignored her and left her in her distress. He went to kept moving past her, and this is surprising to us, who have a picture of Christ always ready and willing to help any, going over and beyond, and when she persists in her cries,
The Disciples want to send her away.
They don’t say help, but send her away, because she is crying after us, how cold and heartless is this picture not only of Christ but also his followers towards this woman who pleads not just for herself, but for her child who is possessed. This passage is beneficial because it helps us understand what prayer is like.
What is Prayer?
Prayer can be a struggle.
Prayer is not like rubbing a lamp and getting whatever you want. We are approaching the God of all creation who is also the judge of all creation, and by his Law we all stand condemned like this woman. For we are all sinners in thought, word, and deed.
God owes us nothing.
Many make this mistake when they go to the Lord in prayer, and they demands of God based upon their life, their sacrifices, their devotion, etc. thinking that these things then mean that God is in their debt. That’s who things are with work, and labor in this world, but not when it comes to our creator. For who gave us our mind, our reason, our strength and all our senses and still takes care of them? They were given to us and it was commanded that we use them right lest we lose them. So how on earth do we approach God in prayer?
Prayer relies on the word.
The promises that God has given, for God is faithful to His Word, and so we come to the Lord and ask Him for the things that He has promised to provide, not because we deserve them, or have earned them, but relying upon God’s grace and His mercy, and His goodness. This is why
Prayer flows from faith.
For how can you pray for God to keep his promises, if you don’t believe in them? Then what are you doing? This is why you can’t pray yourself into being a Christian, rather prayer flows from the faith that the Spirit of God has given to us through the Word, that we might call upon Him who has called us His own children to trust His Word, and as we do that,
Faith is Tested
What could this gentile hope for?
If she pleaded based upon the merit, or what she deserved, then she would have nothing to cling to, and so Christ’s word tested that, and tested it harshly. To say that it is not right to give the children’s bread to the dogs is a firm rebuke, and if she were coming based upon her worthiness, or being deserving, then she would throw her hands up and talk about how God had failed her, and she deserved more as many do. But
What had Jesus come to do?
What had God promised to do through His the Son of David? To set people free from sin, death, and the power of the devil, and that is what Christ was going throughout the region doing. So her is her champion, the one who fights for mankind against Satan, holding that field forever that we might be saved.
She trusts the promise.
She believed that even though she was unworthy, undeserving, that God is faithful to His Word. That is all she had to cling to, and that’s what faith is. It holds to God’s promises. That is an important part to realize with prayer, it can be a struggle, but faith holds on like Jacob did as he wrestled with the Lord. This shows to us what Simeon had rejoiced to see at the temple
The Light of the Gentiles
Jesus is the Savior of all.
Not just of the children of Israel, but God had sent him to save the children of Adam. Even though all mankind had fallen into sin, and God had chosen to send the Savior through the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the people of Israel, salvation wasn’t meant only for them. So we can too approach the Lord in prayer not because we are worthy, but because Jesus took your sins upon Himself at Calvary and has pleaded for you.
We learn to confess our sins.
Don’t think of ourselves too highly as though there is something in us that makes us worthy or deserving of salvation, for that is to steal the glory that belongs to your Savior, Jesus Christ. Rather confess them no matter how vile they might be knowing that Jesus has died to cover all of them for you.
If we deny our sins, we perish.
If this woman had rejected Christ’s rebuke, and asserted in pride that she deserved to be talked to better than that, or deserved more respect, or that He should have spoken in a better way, she would show a heart that was full of pride.
So my brothers and sisters in Christ, prayer is a wonderful blessing that God has given to His children, that they might approach him in all confidence as dear children approach their fathers. So we can come before the Lord in prayer, relying on His promises, don’t be surprised when our faith is tested, if God rebukes us according to His Word, we acknowledge that we are lower than dogs, we are sinners, but we are not relying upon our merits or worth, but upon the faithfulness of God who gives us His Word. For God looked down from heaven, and the day that you were baptized He called you His own dear child, so come before Him, for He loves you. In Jesus name. Amen.
