A Mother's Faith

A Mother's Faith
Matthew 15:21-28

On this Mother's Day we turn to a passage renown for its example of faith and prevailing prayer.
It is, however, rarely seen as a passage on motherhood.
Let us read our text with special consideration to this loving mother's approach to Christ, the great indignity she was willing to suffer, the great faith she exhibited and the great reward she received.

READ TEXT

Matthew 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
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.

PRAY

The first thing we notice in the passage we have just read is this mother's approach to Jesus.

As we examine her approach it is her race that is first apparent.
It is important to note that this was no Jewish lady approaching the renown rabbi Jesus, but a Gentile woman.
By virtue of her race, she could expect rejection by the normally bigoted Jewish majority.
Similar to the woman at the well, whose surprise that Jesus would even speak to her, she could expect Jesus to send her away.
Jesus' own disciples showed this prevailing attitude as they thought Jesus should indeed send this woman away. (Verse 23)

The next thing we see about this mother's approach to Jesus is that she came asking for mercy.
It was not that this mother thought Jesus owed her this favor.
She must have recognized that the miracle she requested was one she did not deserve.
So any approach to Christ must be with the recognition that we deserve judgment for our sin and need mercy.
By definition, mercy is underserved.
The Bible teaches is that we deserve death for the sin we have committed.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We must come to Him with a cry for mercy.

The third thing we see from this mother's approach to Jesus is her recognition of Christ's identity.
She recognized Jesus as Lord and Messiah.
She, like we, must come to Jesus on our knees recognizing He is not just another spiritual light, He is The Light of the World.
He is not just another messenger from God, He is God Incarnate.
He is not just another leader He is The Lord of Heaven and Earth.
By referencing Jesus as the Son of David, this precious Gentile mother was recognizing Jesus as the promised Messiah, He who would free the sin-bound.
So must we approach Jesus recognizing Him as Lord and Messiah.

Now we have seen this mother's approach to Christ, let us look at the obstacles she faced and the indignities she suffered in her coming to Jesus.
Upon first blush with no understanding of Jesus or the New Testament, it may seem that Jesus was mean to the Gentile Mother whose desire was to save her daughter.
However, nothing could be further from the truth.
When Jesus' disciples insisted on sending this woman away, Jesus struck a conversation with her.
(VERSE 24) In this conversation Jesus pointed out His priority to the Jewish people, an aspect of His ministry that was predicted by the prophets of the Old Testament.
(VERSE 25) The humble mother didn't argue with Jesus' way of doing things.
She didn't get offended that Jesus had first gone to the Jews before reaching out to the Gentiles.
She simply fell on her face and worshipped Him and begged for His help.

It takes some humiliation to recognize we are sinners in need of a Saviour, but this is how we come to Him, with no pretext, no pride, James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. We come to Him just as we are and recognize we need Him just as He is.

Jesus' next response to this mother's cry for help further highlights her faith, which we will see in a moment.
It was common for the Jewish elite to refer to themselves as the Children of God and those Gentiles as dogs.
Jesus uses this common language to make a powerful point to his watching disciples.
Knowing the humble answer of the Syrophenician mother before He even speaks Jesus intimates that it would be unfit for Him to take what could only belong to the children and give it to the dogs.
This was probably a sentiment with which His disciples agreed completely.
The woman's humble response must have cut them to the heart as she said she would be satisfied with the crumbs that fell from the table.

This leads right into the great faith that this mother exhibited.
She did not need Jesus to meet her on her terms.
She did not need to be the center of attention.
She only wanted Jesus to grant her just enough to heal her daughter.
From this we can see that this Gentile mother was a true child of God.
This was not by natural birth but by spiritual birth.
She had believed that Jesus was her Messiah and in Verse 27 accepts Him as her master.
Now she is determined to receive what Jesus has promised to all those who are born into His family, the loving care of a Heavenly Father.
Jesus recognizes the mother's great faith in Verse 28.

What a great example of faith is this!
She was a woman of no means whose great faith won her Daughter's freedom from Spiritual bondage.

How great is your faith mother?
Have you stopped praying for your daughter or your son because it is embarrassing?
Have you given up because your answer didn't come as soon as you had hoped?
I can assure you that Jesus loves your daughter more than you ever could and your son is more precious to Him than His own life.
Don't stop praying mother, don't get up from your knees before God.
He will answer your prayer.

Finally we see the great reward of faith.
Because this woman was so insistent in her request and because she exhibited so much faith Jesus healed Her daughter from the spiritual bondage she was in.

Her daughter finally had rest from that very moment.

Let me challenge you mother, if you have a child you love whose life is not in conformance with God's Word, don't stop praying for God to change that child.
If you are yourself no child of God, Know this, Jesus wants you as a part of His family.
He can make you a child of His, but you must come to Him in complete selfless humility, begging for the salvation that He wants to give you.