Lord, Help Me!
Matthew 15:21-28
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs."
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Have you ever known a person whose character could be summed up in four words? Jesus said of this Gentile mother, "You have great faith." She was a Canaanite woman, who came from the country north of Palestine and she was a mother, but that is all we know about her. We don't even know her name. All we know is that in her single encounter with Jesus, He said to her, “You have great faith.”
The Canaanite woman humbrly cried out to Jesus. She called Jesus Lord and the Son of David to admit to him that she knew he was the Christ and that he had the power to save her daughter. Her cry was not for herself, but she sought out Jesus to beg him to help her.
Three times Jesus seemed to turn her away, and he remained silent after her initial plea. "Jesus did not answer a word." It wasn't that Jesus didn't hear her or wasn't moved by her. Jesus was testing her faith, and he does that with us today. She keeps following Jesus, pestering the disciples, and the disciples finally asked Jesus, not to help her, but to send her away. Then Jesus answers, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
She was a Canaanite woman, but she came, knelt before him and said, "Lord, help me!" In all humility, this woman came across generations, cultural barriers, and through a crowd to get to Jesus and then called him Lord. How long has it been since you have gotten on your knees and called him Lord? When we forget to fall on our knees before our God, we are living for our own fulfillment and in essence as our own gods. This woman is demonstrating to us that we need to humble ourselves, fall to our knees, and say, "Lord, help me."
Jesus' reply seems harsh, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs." But Jesus wanted to get to the heart of who she was and why she was there.
Her response has gone down in history because she got it - she understood. There is a reason why we are going through what we are going through, and if nothing else Jesus is preparing us for the next step. But Jesus allows us to be where we are so that we can knell before him and say, "Lord, help me!" Her pride was out the window. Jesus shows us every day the way he blesses us, but we focus on what we don't have. Her reply was, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
That will kick you in the gut if you will let it. What she is saying is, "I understand Lord, you are calling me a dog. Guilty as charged. My nation has been at war with your people. Guilty as charged. But I also understand that you are the God of the universe because I believe that all it takes is the blessing of a meager crumb to take care of the needs of my life. Many times we give Jesus a Christmas wish list of the things we want, and all this woman wanted was a crumb from the Master's table. She understood true blessing and the reality of who Jesus is. And in response, Jesus said, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted!"
From that very hour, her daughter was healed.
May we trust Jesus as Lord in our adversities and may it be said of us, "you have great faith." All it takes is a scrap from the Master's table and we are blessed.
In Him,
Pastor Boyd
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs."
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Have you ever known a person whose character could be summed up in four words? Jesus said of this Gentile mother, "You have great faith." She was a Canaanite woman, who came from the country north of Palestine and she was a mother, but that is all we know about her. We don't even know her name. All we know is that in her single encounter with Jesus, He said to her, “You have great faith.”
The Canaanite woman humbrly cried out to Jesus. She called Jesus Lord and the Son of David to admit to him that she knew he was the Christ and that he had the power to save her daughter. Her cry was not for herself, but she sought out Jesus to beg him to help her.
Three times Jesus seemed to turn her away, and he remained silent after her initial plea. "Jesus did not answer a word." It wasn't that Jesus didn't hear her or wasn't moved by her. Jesus was testing her faith, and he does that with us today. She keeps following Jesus, pestering the disciples, and the disciples finally asked Jesus, not to help her, but to send her away. Then Jesus answers, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
She was a Canaanite woman, but she came, knelt before him and said, "Lord, help me!" In all humility, this woman came across generations, cultural barriers, and through a crowd to get to Jesus and then called him Lord. How long has it been since you have gotten on your knees and called him Lord? When we forget to fall on our knees before our God, we are living for our own fulfillment and in essence as our own gods. This woman is demonstrating to us that we need to humble ourselves, fall to our knees, and say, "Lord, help me."
Jesus' reply seems harsh, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs." But Jesus wanted to get to the heart of who she was and why she was there.
Her response has gone down in history because she got it - she understood. There is a reason why we are going through what we are going through, and if nothing else Jesus is preparing us for the next step. But Jesus allows us to be where we are so that we can knell before him and say, "Lord, help me!" Her pride was out the window. Jesus shows us every day the way he blesses us, but we focus on what we don't have. Her reply was, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table."
That will kick you in the gut if you will let it. What she is saying is, "I understand Lord, you are calling me a dog. Guilty as charged. My nation has been at war with your people. Guilty as charged. But I also understand that you are the God of the universe because I believe that all it takes is the blessing of a meager crumb to take care of the needs of my life. Many times we give Jesus a Christmas wish list of the things we want, and all this woman wanted was a crumb from the Master's table. She understood true blessing and the reality of who Jesus is. And in response, Jesus said, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted!"
From that very hour, her daughter was healed.
May we trust Jesus as Lord in our adversities and may it be said of us, "you have great faith." All it takes is a scrap from the Master's table and we are blessed.
In Him,
Pastor Boyd
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