Encounter with Jesus: An Outsider Comes to Faith in Jesus (Matthew 15:21-28)
Sermon Summary
Pastor David Yan
26 December 2021
Jesus went to the desolate place of Tyre. Why? It was to retire for a while from enthusiastic crowds. But Jesus could not be hid. Today Jesus seeks not retreat. He is available to all who seek him.
In Tyre a Canaanite woman, an outsider, cries out to him. She is in a crisis. Her daughter is demon-possessed. In her cry she addresses Jesus as Son of David indicating she had some dealings with the Jews and their promise of a coming Messiah.
Today there are people who, like this woman, are outside the believing community but have had some dealings with Christians. Just as this woman, an outsider, came to Jesus so outsiders today are urged to come to Christ. Do not wait for a crisis before you come. Today is the time to come.
Jesus did not answer the woman. His silence is explained.
Jesus worked to a plan. This plan was to go to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Jesus would not deviate from this plan which is why he did not immediately respond to the Gentile woman's request.
The woman persisted so much that the disciples grew tired of her. They asked Jesus to turn her away.
Our Lord then used the illustration of dogs feeding off the crumbs that dropped from a table. To the Jews dogs were unclean. This Canaanite woman was unclean. But she showed her humility and brokenness by saying that even the dogs may eat of the crumbs that fall from the table.
Jesus commends her for her faith and her daughter is immediately delivered from demons.
We observe two lessons.
First, grace was available to sinners before the atoning death of Jesus. This event happened before Jesus was crucified for sinners. The woman is one of the most beautiful women in the New Testament and reminds one of Ruth in the Old Testament. If grace was shown to an outsider before the atoning death of Jesus how much more is grace available today to people today who seek Jesus.
Secondly, this incident was a lesson for the disciples that the love God through Jesus was meant for the whole world. The disciples would gradually understand this and here in the incident with the Canaanite woman they were given a lesson from the Lord himself. Gentiles are not dogs but people, like the Jews, created in the image of God.
The overall lesson is that an outsider at a time of crisis came to Jesus and was commended for her faith. We by nature are outsiders because of the sin in our hearts. Come to Jesus now. Today is the day of salvation offered to you. Jesus is not hidden. He is here by the Holy Spirit who testifies of him from the Bible.