Feeding Scraps to a "Dog", Part 2

No matter the age of your children, there's nothing more stressful than watching a son or daughter go through a bout with illness. Whether a toddler, teenager, or a son or daughter rearing children of their own, it's heart-wrenching to see your offspring suffer. Well, in Matthew chapter 15, the writer described a dramatic scene where Jesus was approached by a desperate mother. This woman's child was possessed by a demon. In her plea to Jesus, we find a timeless model for petitioning God's help.

Chuck title today's message, Feeding Scraps to a Doll. We have the geography here in this 21st verse of Matthew 15, and unless you take the time to look at a map to see where they were and then where they went, you can't appreciate the setting. We know where they were, and we see that in the 14th chapter and the 34th verse, they were at a place called Gennesaret, known today as Gennesar. It's in the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee, down in the Galilean region, the Jewish territory of that time, and we read that they left Galilee, verse 21, and they went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. If you looked at the map, you would see that's a distance of about 30, 35 miles, depending on the trail they had to take, maybe 40 miles.

That's a long walk. Tyre and Sidon are Gentile areas. So with that in mind, when we come to a Gentile region and we find a group of Jews in a house, it's an unusual setting, to say the least. But that's where they are, and that's where we find them when verse 22 of Matthew 15 tells us a Gentile woman. By the way, she's never named either here or in Mark 7. We don't know who she was. She's called there a Syrophoenician woman. She's a Gentile.

Rarely did Gentiles talk to Jews in the first century. Almost never would a woman alone talk to a Jew, a Gentile woman talk to a Jew alone. But she overlooks all of those cultural barriers, all the norms that she was raised to observe. The reason is she has a need that is impossible. It's at home. It's her daughter who has a demon.

Look at it. A Gentile woman who lived there, meaning in that region, came to him, came to Jesus, pleading, pleading, begging. You see, it's impossible what she's living with.

Absolutely impossible for her to bring about change. Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. She acknowledges, she acknowledges him to be Messiah. Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, for my daughter, my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely. Interesting, verse 23, the initial response, Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word.

We're not told why. I think he was simply thinking about what she was saying, pondering it, not ready to respond to her. And there may have been some reasonable reluctance since she was outside the scope of his initial calling. She's a Gentile woman and so he says nothing. So she keeps on and she keeps on. She begs for mercy, she pleads, she's relentless, she is passionate, she is determined that she is going to get him to respond. Her daughter needs to be cleansed, relieved, healed of this demonic position. Well, she goes on so long that verse 23, the disciples urged Jesus to send her away.

Tell her to go away, they said. She's bothering us with all of her begging. Remember, they too are tired. They too have been through the frenzy of ministry in Galilee.

They've longed for a little break. You've all been there. I've been there. Lord, just have her leave. Get her out. Look at verse 24. Then Jesus said to the woman, here it is, I was sent only to help God's lost sheep, the people of Israel. That doesn't turn her away. She understands what he said. But when you have a need that is this intense, this severe, some things become for you just words. And when you put yourself in this woman's sandals and you imagine what she's been living with, you can understand as she responds by bowing down, it reads, worshiped him in the New Living Translation. She bows down, she falls before him and she keeps pleading, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me, help me. That's the idea of what she's going through. And this leads to a very interesting dialogue.

I don't want you to miss the emotion of it. Jesus responded, it isn't right to take food from the children. It's a reference to Israelites, to Jews, fellow Jews, and to throw the food to the dogs. This is the word kunarion. It means a little lap dog. Like the little dog in your house. Okay. Your little pet.

To throw the food, the scraps, to little dogs. She takes him at his word. I love this. That doesn't even make her back down. She replied, but that's true, Lord. It's true.

But even little dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their master's table. And he says to her, dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted. I like the way Eugene Peterson renders that verse in the message. Jesus gave in. Oh, woman, your faith is something else. The word used by Matthew is mega.

Mega pistas. Great faith. Your faith is great.

What you have wanted, I've now granted. By the way, Mark tells us when the woman returned home, she found the girl on her bed, and the demon was gone. Can you imagine the relief? Surely you're not so preoccupied today that you can't enter into this woman's great relief. She hadn't asked Jesus for any kind of proof for a sign. In fact, Jesus was distant from the home. He didn't even go to her home. He said, I tell you now, lady, your child is relieved of the demons.

Because distance is no challenge to deity. She knew he was telling the truth, and she left confident of that. I want to give you four words as I wrap this up and bring this from the first to the 21st century. The words are persistence, humility, focus, and confidence. Which I think made her faith great.

First, she persisted. James 5 16 writes, includes these words, the earnest prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much. There are wonderful results as a result of earnestly, persistently bringing before the Lord some need. You have a need? Who doesn't? Have you stopped praying about that need?

Why? The woman is a great model of repeatedly, repeatedly coming with the same request. Paul himself prayed three times regarding the thorn in the flesh.

Three times. How about the words found in First Thessalonians 5 17? Pray without ceasing. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. I have this need. It's the same need I've been dealing with all this time.

I bring it before you. For faith to be great, you must persist in it. Persist in the request.

Ask it over and over and don't back down. The Lord loves the persistence of this woman. Oh, woman, your faith is great. Here's the second humility. There is no spirit of entitlement in this lady.

Remember, she bowed before him. I'm just a little, just a little gentile woman and my need is huge. Please, just a few scraps from your powerful table.

That's all I need. Someday when you have a little extra time, ponder the 51st Psalm. When you get to the 16th and 17th verses, linger a little longer. For you read words you will not reject.

Oh, God. A broken and contrite heart. I was dealing with a difficult man this past week. As we were talking about an issue that had been going on for some time, he was in the wrong. He very reluctantly got to the edge of that thought and didn't go much further. I realized I was talking to a man who was neither broken nor contrite. He was, in fact, still pretty proud, though he had done wrong.

And I thought as I sat there, what a difference it would be if he were broken and contrite. If you're broken and contrite, you have no expectations. You make no demands. You expect no favors. You bear no grudges.

You have no blame. You're broken and you're repentant. You're contrite.

It's like the old hymn, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to your cross I cling. Great time for me to ask you if you are broken and contrite. You still nurse your pride. You still have that awful spirit of entitlement, which is the curse of the millennials in this age. You think you have it coming to you.

No one has anything coming to them. When you see yourself before God as you truly are, you come bowing, waiting for Him, knowing you don't deserve even His attention. That's this woman. Listen to 1 Peter 5, 5 and 6. God opposes the proud but favors the humble. So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God at the right time. He will lift you up in honor. Humble yourself.

What a great exercise. Lord God, I come before you and I come with empty hands. And I trust you to do what I cannot do. And you're able to do that. And I am not able to do it for myself.

I come broken and I come willing. The third word is focus. The mother was focused on one thing. Her daughter.

That need. No amount of irritation by the disciples turned her away. She didn't budge. Not even Jesus' reluctance to speak before He began to talk to her. She had a cruelly demonized daughter and that was what was on her heart. It was her single focus.

It was like a laser. That's what drove her to Jesus and that's what gave her the boldest to say what she did to Him. Matthew 7, 7 and 8. Keep on asking and you'll receive. Keep on seeking, you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be open. For the one who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds. The one who knocks, doors open. Confidence is the fourth and the woman needs nothing other than his words. Your request is granted. The woman exited, went home, walked in.

There was her daughter relieved. James writes in chapter 1, when you ask God, be sure that your faith is in Him alone. Do not waver for a person who wavers is as unsettled as a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. All right, there you have it.

Persistence, humility, focus, confidence. It's time that we bring that need before the Lord with those four words in mind. Bow with me, will you? Unless I miss my guest, some of you have things on your heart that are so heavy, so serious, so deep.

You can hardly put them into words. Maybe very few people know that you're living with that. The Lord does. If He was willing to listen to this Gentile woman, He's willing to listen to you. Persist.

Bow in humility before Him. Remember broken, contrite, focus, be confident. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. That need may be thousands of miles away, or it may be as close as your own partner in life. Someone in your family, some situation at work, some physical malady, some emotional, continued emotional unrest, some breakdown in a relationship. How about your need for Christ?

Never trusted in Him? No wonder the struggle is so intense. Focus your attention on nothing other than your need for what He offers, and that is eternal life through His Son, and take it now.

The gift is yours for the taking. We would like so much to help you in the process of beginning to grow in a life that you've never known before. We've been doing that all through these years of our ministry, and today is no exception. We're still moved over the needs of those who come to us, especially you who are without Christ. If we can help you in your process of coming to know Him and walking with Him, please allow us to come in.

We'll be there for you. Our Father, we have walked through this story, admittedly sitting in a very comfortable place, removed by centuries from the setting, never seen the woman, never heard the words. We've not even met the Master physically.

We've never seen Him. But we believe everything we have heard, everything we have read. Help us, I pray, Father, not to give up so quickly, but to persist. Guard us from the slimy ooze of indefiniteness. Enable us to focus on the need and to keep it before you. May we do so with humility and with confidence. May we not waver so that we might be known as those with great faith as we walk with you on this planet, in this time of eroding values, strained relationships. We bring it to you, Father, to provide the healing, the hope, the recovery, the relief, the answer. We leave it with you, especially those who've never come to you and your Son by faith. May they find nothing but restlessness till they turn their hearts over to you. In the name of Christ, we pray. Everyone said, Amen. Amen. Chuck Swindoll gave a memorable title to the message today, feeding scraps to a dog.

The imagery comes from an encounter with Jesus found in Matthew chapter 15. This is Insight for Living, and to see what resources we have available for today's topic, please visit us online at insightworld.org. As someone who's grown to appreciate the Bible teaching you here on Insight for Living, did you realize you have a number of different options for hearing this daily program? In addition to listening online, you can hear this program on your radio station or catch up with any program you may have missed subscribing to the daily podcast from your favorite provider.

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