Matthew 15:21-28 – She and We – Bible study

Matthew 15:21-28 She and We This event occurred, as far as we know, the only time Jesus ever left the nation of Israel. \#21\ tells us that for some reason, Jesus traveled north to the trade cities of Tyre and Sidon. They were about 100 miles north of Jerusalem, outside of Israels borders, and were definitely Gentile territory. There, Jesus met a Gentile womanor rather was met by a woman. Lets consider her this morning and while we are doing so, lets consider ourselves, she and we. I. \#22\ She and We Are A Desperate People. A. Lets look at SHE first. 1. She was desperate because her daughter is demon possessed. a. Neither Matthew nor Mark ever introduce us to the daughter. (1) It is likely that she was not present at this meeting. (2) Had she been, I believe the woman would have brought her before the Lord to stir up His compassion. (3) It is one thing to ignore and even reject someone whose problems you cannot see, but it is entirely another thing to ignore and reject someone who you can see. b. None of the Bible writers tell us what the daughters symptoms were, only that they were caused by a demon. (1) Some afflicted with demons have physical problems (i.e. could not see or speak). (2) Others were violent, even suicidal (i.e. casting themselves into the fire, cutting themselves). (3) Still others seem psychotic, mad, or crazy (one man lived in the grave yard ). c. Whatever the daughters symptoms were, they were profound enough that the mother knew she was possessed by a demon. 2. She was desperate because the situation was hopeless. a. If a child breaks an arm, you go to the doctor. b. If a child knocks out a tooth, you go to the dentist. c. Where do you go when a child is possessed by a demon? d. Hollywood and some religions would tell us you go to an exorcist. (1) However, Jesus told us that Satan does not cast out Satan. (2) Lost people have no power over demons, and even if they were to get one demon out of a person, Jesus told us that more demonsmore in number and more in wickednesswould come back. \#Matt 12:45\ e. The only one who can get a demon out is God and the only ones who represent God are born-again Christians. f. The sad truth is that there were not many worshipers of God in Israel at that time, let alone Tyre and Sidon. 3. She was desperate because her daughters condition meant she was lost. a. If the devil has you in this life, you can be sure that hell will have you in the next. b. People dont like to think of the eternal in the here and now, but once you see the devil or death close up, it becomes much more difficult to ignore. c. This mother had seen the devil close up. d. She was desperate to get her child away from him. B. Lets consider WE for a moment. 1. The Bible and religion are so much easier to listen to when it is someone other than us it is talking about. a. We dont like to think of ourselves as being desperate, or needed, or damned; but we most certainly are. b. Notice that Jesus had traveled to a Gentile city. (1) Tyre and Sidon were 100 miles north and west of Israel. (2) As far I know, this was the only time Jesus ever left Israel. (3) A Gentile is a non-Jew, not born of Abraham. (4) Even more specific, not born of Jacob. (5) As far as I know, everyone in this church today is a Gentile. c. That gives us something in common with this woman. d. We are like her. 2. We are the She. a. I promise you, we are desperate. (1) We are desperate because the devils are possessing us. (a) Laugh if you wish but in our culture today, we are exposing ourselves to demons daily. i. Satans music and movies entertain us. ii. Satans philosophies and values guide us. iii. Satans drugs and liquors have numbed us. (b) The problem with most Americans is we are so blinded to the devil, we dont recognize it anymore. (2) We are desperate because our situation is hopeless. (a) Our culture has turned from being Christian, to being apathetic, to being anti-God. (b) Christ can bring revival to this God- cursing, God-blaspheming, God bashing nation; but with each passing day, things get darker and darker. (c) As Peter said to Jesus, "Thou hast the words of life. Where will we go?" (3) We are desperate because we are lost. b. We are She. II. SHE and WE are doubting. A. Lets start with SHE. 1. There is no Bible verse for that thought, but I believe there was likely some doubt in her heart. a. I dont know the exact timeline of Jesus ministry, but I believe we are at least at the half-way mark of His work if not further. b. People had come from Tyre and Sidon and places further beyond to see Jesus because they had heard the stories about Him. c. And I know 100 miles is a long walk, and a demon- possessed daughter would be hard to travel with and hard to leave behind, and that she may have been a poor woman, and that her husband might not have allowed her to make the trip, and that there might have been a thousand other reasons why she had not come to Israel to see Jesus; but I cant help but to wonder if maybe one of the reasons she had not come was that she had a little bit of doubt. d. Would you make the trip if you were told about a healer over Massachusetts or California, only a three-day, comfortable drive for us? (1) Probably not, and me either. (2) Why? I dont think I would believe them. 2. I am not throwing stones at her. a. I understand doubt. b. It is logical, sensical, and reasonable to doubt the impossible. 3. I just want to point out that she may have had some doubt. B. And the WE 1. We Gentiles, we Americans, we are filled with doubt about Jesus. a. It wasnt always so, but it is now. b. 100 years of evolution has convinced most that something can come from nothing, that man came from an ape, and that cosmic accidents of numeric impossibilities can occur in consecutive order for an indefinite period of time. c. Our history has been rewritten. d. Our philosophy has been reshaped. e. Our conscience has been seared, and our mind has been washed. 2. We not only doubt that Jesus can help us, we doubt that Jesus is God or that God even exits. C. Yet though this woman has some doubt, she also had some faith. 1. When Jesus was close enough, she came; and as we shall she came determined. a. I am not one that believers doubt is detrimental to receiving Gods help. b. The Bible says if we have faith only the size of a grain of mustard seedwith obedienceGod can work miracles for us. c. This woman may have had doubt, but she had faith enough to come when Jesus got close to her and faith enough to stay until she knew that Jesus was a Healer or a fraud. 2. And you are here this morning. a. Perhaps your faith is small, but that is all right. b. Water whatever faith you have with obedience and watch what God can do! c. I pray WE all will this morning! III. \#23-27\ SHE and WE must be determined. A. Lets look as the SHE first. 1. I do not know how much faith this woman had, but it was enough that she would not leave until she knew for certain whether Jesus was a real or a fake. 2. Nothing was going to stop her from finding out. Which was good, for there were some obstacles. a. She had to get Jesus attention. (1) Mark gives us an additional detail. Jesus did not want anyone to know He was there. Mark 7:24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. (2) I do not know why that is the case. (a) If it was anyone but Jesus I would say the plan doomed to failure. (b) Anytime 13 orthodox Jewish men come marching down the street of a Gentile village, they are going to get noticeeven if One of them is not known as a miracle Worker. (3) \Matt 15:22\ To remedy that condition, the woman "cried unto him. (a) The word "cried" means to call out. (b) It is not a word to imply the use of a meek voice. i. \#John 11:40\ When Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb. ii. \#John 18:40\ When the people demanded Barabbas be released and Jesus be crucified. iii. \#John 19:6\ When Pilate was trying to get the people to let Jesus go but they insisted He be crucified. (c) A woman speaking to a man in this kind of voice would be pushing the rules of etiquette but especially a Gentile woman to a Jewish man. b. She had to get past the disciples. (1) Typically, the disciples were a helpful lot. They worked to get people TO Jesus not keep them away. (2) But here, their human, Jewish, sinful nature comes out. (a) Perhaps this was another of those trips that Jesus planned so the disciples could rest and it was falling apart AGAIN. (b) Perhaps their Jewish prejudice against Gentiles was showing. (c) Perhaps their national prejudice against the the Canaanites was showing. The Jews were supposed to have destroyed the Canaanites centuries ago. (3) For whatever the reason, the disciples wanted the woman gone. (4) The woman got past this obstacle by simply refusing to leave. c. She had to get past what seems like Jesus indifference and rejection. (1) \#23\ At first, Jesus ignored the woman. (2) \#24\ Then He rejected her. (3) \#26\ Then He insulted her. (4) Why would Jesus treat this woman this way? (a) In a short sentence, to see if she wanted Him more than anything else. (b) Jesus may have wanted this woman to demonstrate how badly she wanted Him. (5) Without any doubt, God wants Christians to make the gospel as accessible to every person as possible. (a) He has commanded us to tell the gospel to every creature. This is our duty. (b) However, while we are to make salvation accessible for every person, we cannot make salvation easier for any person. (c) It seems to me that many claim to know Jesus who never wanted Him very badly to begin with. i. While Christians are commanded to make the gospel accessible to every person, we cannot make salvation easier for any person. ii. The requirements for salvation are the same for everyone: faith and repentance. iii. If the "salvation" you have was discounted in anyway, it may not be salvation that you have but mere religion. (6) Jesus gave two short parables in Matthew 13 that most skip over, in part because they do not understand them. (a) I think they are both about repentance. (b) One is referred to as the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, in which a man finds a treasure buried in a field and sells all to purchase the field and the treasure. (c) The other immediately follows it. It is the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price where a merchant finds a goodly pearl and sells all to have it. (d) In both, the emphasis is that salvation is worth anything and everything we have. (e) The parable is not telling us to SELL ALL to be saved but it is telling us that if it is not our attitude to SELL ALL for Christ that we may not be saved. (7) Do you remember the rich, young man who came to Jesus asking what he had to do to receive eternal life. Jesus told him to sell all and follow Him. The man left sorrowfully because he had many possession; yet Jesus did not run after him. Why? Because the man did not want Jesus badly enough. (8) Why was Jesus so rude to this woman, treating her worse than He treated any other person? Perhaps He was allowing her to show Him how bad she wanted Him. B. And the WE 1. The church today has become a worldly, carnal, doctrinally-diluted and Biblically-twisted body. 2. It does not matter what flavor of faith you want, you can shop around until you find itexcept maybe for that old- time, Bible-believing variety. That one seems to be in short supply. 3. The church wants to be like the world and with the world to win the world as if we can make it easier for the lost to be saved. a. Well, Jesus never did. b. He ate and drank with sinners, that is sure enough; but He never became like them and He never left them like they were. 4. We cannot make it easier for someone to be saved. a. The price of faith and repentance is the same for everyone. b. Once you cut repentance out of the price, you might offer then religion but not salvation. 5. We must tell them who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and what the requirements are; but they must determine whether they want to accept it or not. Then there is one last thing about the SHE in this event, but I can not say whether it is true about the WE. In \#28\, the SHE got the deliverance she sought. I hope that is true of you today!