Matthew 15:21-28 – She Wouldn’t Leave – Bible study

Matt 15:21-28 She Wouldnt Leave This is a unique account in the life of Christ. 1. Jesus is outside of Israel. a. \#15:21\ tells us Jesus is in Tyre and Sidon. b. This is the farthest He will travel from Israel. 2. Jesus is harder with this foreign woman than with any other person except perhaps the scribes and Pharisees. 3. Notice: a. \#15:22\ She has a demon-possessed daughter. b. \#15:23\ Jesus ignores her pleadings for help. c. Jesus allowed the disciples to speak against her. d. \#15:24\ Jesus refuses her request. e. \#15:25-26\ Jesus insults her (refers to her as a dog) even while she is worshipping Him. Have you ever felt that God was treating you this way? Ignoring you, allowing others to do you wrong, even while you are trying to worship Him? Well note \#28\. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. I would say that Jesus always wanted her. He just wanted to make sure that she really wanted Him. Yet, despite all that Jesus allowed this woman to go through, she could be driven away; and, ultimately, Jesus answered her petition. Would you notice three things about this woman? I. Little was her pride. A. Most people, if treated in the fashion that the text describes, would have left. 1. These nationalities were not the best of friends. 2. It would appear to me that Jesus was very rude to her, almost as if He were trying to drive her away. 3. She wouldnt leave. 4. She swallowed her pride and continued to seek the Lords help. B. What is pride? 1. The simplest definition of pride is thinking of yourself higherwith more regardthan you ought. a. The Bible does not condemn us for thinking of ourselves as we ought. b. However, in Gods presence, it is impossible to think highly of ourselves. 2. Pride is one of mankinds greatest scourges. a. Pride was the first sin: Is 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Eze 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: b. Pride is listed first the list of seven deadly sins Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, c. Because man is an ego driven creature, pride has become one of his Achilles Heels. C. The definition doesnt sound so bad but the ways pride can manifest itself are. 1. Pride can make you leave when you ought to stay. a. This story \#Matt 15:21-28\ b. This woman was being tested. If she could be driven away, she would not receive. 2. Pride can make you stay when you ought to leave. a. \#Acts 19:14-16\ Seven sons of a Jewish priest saw Paul cast out demons and decided to try it. b. Their problem was that Paul had Jesus and they had nothing. c. You might think seven against one is pretty good odds, but I will tell you that the weakest demon is far stronger than the seven of strongest men. d. The demon-possessed man jumped on them and beat the stuffing out of them. 3. Pride can make you keep what you ought to give. a. \#Acts 5:1-11\ b. Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 4. Pride can make us give what we ought to keep. Too many times I have given people a piece of my mind only to discover that I could not afford it. 5. If you dont want pride to rob you of blessings that are yours and give you troubles that arent, humble yourself. D. This woman either had learned to control her pride or she knew to leave it at the door when dealing with God. She had little pride. II. Great was her faith. A. Despite the fact that this woman was Greek and not Jewish, was firmly anchored in the fact that Jesus could help her daughter. 1. That can not be questioned. 2. What can be questioned is her motive. Why was she so anchored? B. There are only two reasons I can think of why a person would be so trusting of Jesus. 1. True faith – She believed with all of her heart Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that He was good and would help her daughter. 2. True hopelessness – People clinging to their last hope often cling tightly. C. While both faith and hopelessness may cause us to cling to Christ, one is good for you and the other is bad. Most can Not tell the difference. 1. Different motives a. Faith clings it believes. b. Hopeless clings because it has no other choice. 2. Different rationales a. Faith clings because it sees what God can do. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him are clearly seen." Hebrews 11:1 Now faiththe evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:27 By faith (Moses)endured, as seeing him who is invisible. b. Hopelessness clings because it has no other choice. (1) This kind of hopelessness produces a blind faith. (2) It is really no faith at all just an unreasonable hope that the impossible will happen. (3) Some confuse this with faith. 3. Different goals a. Faith clings to bring glory to God. b. Hope clings because it selfishly wants something. D. So was this woman filled with hopelessness or faith? 1. She answered that question for us. 28 O woman, great is thy faith." 2. Where did she get it? a. I dont know, perhaps from her parents. b. However, someone had taught her about the true God. 22 O Lord, thou Son of David. (1) She knew the Jews were to receive the Messiah. (2) She knew that the Messiah would be born through the line of David. (3) And she believed and with an unshakable faith. III. Strong was the womans character. A. Character is the boundary of your behavior, typically the lower boundary. B. There is a lot I do not know about trials, but I do know 1. I do know that testing always comes when you least expect it and least want to go through it. a. When you are the weakest b. When you are the busiest c. When you are the most vulnerable d. Perhaps it comes at other times but because we are stronger, calmer, better prepared, we do not realize it. e. But in hard times, testing comes. 2. Trials test your character. C. This woman was facing a trial. 1. She faced an insulting situation: a. She needed humility. Humility is putting all others ahead of yourself. b. She needed patience. The ability to wait with anxiety or frustration. c. She needed perseverance. Perseverance is not quitting. d. She needed calmness. Calmness is a spirit of quietness. 2. Where did she learn these characteristics? a. The Bible does not say. b. Most likely, her parents instilled at least some of them into her. c. However, I think whatever her parents put in was intensified for her daughters sake \#22\. d. Her love for her daughter built character into her life. e. Might I suggest that love for the Savior will do the same thing for us. f. That is why Paul said, Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me. 3. The problem is that we dont know what trials we are going to face today so we dont know what character we need to take with us. a. If you face a moral temptation, (1) You will need purity, moral sinlessness. (2) You will need loyalty. Loyalty is faithful to a person or cause. (3) You will need discernment. Spiritual awareness and understanding. (4) You will need self control. Self control is you telling your body and emotions what to do instead of them telling you. b. If you face a financial temptation, (1) You will need honesty. Honesty is saying and doing that which is true and correct. (2) You will need generosity, sharing what you have with others. (3) You will need discipline. Discipline is controlling yourself in tempting situations. 4. And there are many other situations that you will face which will require even other traits. a. Heres the CATCH – You will never know what kind of situation you face next. b. SOLUTION – You must be strong in all character traits. D. I dont know that this woman was strong in all of her character, but she was certainly up to standard on what she needed for this test. These three facts about this woman meant one thing, she would not leave Jesus. She believed in Jesus and she loved her daughter. These two things gave her faith to endure even what she did not like or understand. What about you? Will you follow Jesusno matter what? Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.