Crumbs Are Enough

Crumbs Are Enough

Second in Lent

Collect of the Day: Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28 (KJV)

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.

How far are you willing to go in humiliating yourself? It depends on two things: (1) how great your pride, and (2) how desperate your situation. Often the intensity of your desperation will weaken the strength of your pride so that you become willing to humble yourself.

We see this in today’s Gospel.

1. The Setting of the Story

1.1 Jesus was most recently in the northern part of Palestine called Galilee. He brought up the subject of what it means to be clean and unclean: “It is not what goes into a person that defiles him but what comes out of him.” This offended the Pharisees and confused the disciples, so Peter asked the Lord. Jesus answered, “Whatever goes into a person’s mouth is digested and expelled as waste. Whatever comes out of the mouth reveals the heart. What matters is not what goes in but what comes out. If what comes out is corrupt, then the heart is corrupt.

This marked another break with the Jews. Jesus knew (1) that the Jews’ hostility was growing, and (2) that the time appointed by his Father for him to die for our sins had not arrived, So Jesus temporarily withdrew from Jewish territory. He traveled north up the Mediterranean Coast to the region of two cities, Tyre and Sidon, both in modern day Lebanon. These two cities were often denounced by Old Testament prophets because they worshipped the pagan god, Baal. But Jesus went there planning on “laying low” for awhile.

1.2 In this area Jesus encountered a woman. Matthew calls her a Canaanite. The Canaanites were the wicked pagans who inhabited the land God had promised Abraham. When Israel went into the land, the Canaanites’ cup of iniquity was overflowing, and the day of their judgment had come. The Lord told Israel to displace and destroy them. This woman was a Gentile, not included in the Lord’s covenant of salvation with Israel. She had no claims to God’s mercy.

She had a desperate problem. Her daughter was “grievously vexed by a devil” – she was afflicted by a demon. In Jesus’ time demons manifested themselves in various ways, spiritual, psychological, and physical. Matthew does not tell us how the demon tormented the woman’s daughter. We do know that the devil is always full of hate and malice. What a tragedy for a mother to have a daughter she loved whose life was filled with affliction by a demon.

Two lives intersected near Tyre and Sidon. Jesus was seeking respite from the hostility of the Jews. A Canaanite woman was desperately seeking help for her daughter.

2. The Woman’s First Approach to Jesus

2.1 This woman knew something about Jesus. Perhaps she had heard from travelers about a prophet who went about Galilee preaching, teaching, and doing powerful works, including casting out demons. She called him Lord, which may have been just a title of respect, similar to “Sir.” But she also called him the “son of David,” a title for the Jewish Messiah. This tells us she knew something about a Messiah promised to the Jews and that there was speculation Jesus might be the Messiah.

However much or little she knew and believed about Jesus, she thought he could help her, And so she spoke the words expressing the most basic human need, words often repeated in our Prayer Book, “Have mercy on me.” The person who says, “Have mercy,” knows he is in trouble, that he is suffering, that he cannot help himself, and that he will be delivered only if someone intervenes to help. Nobody who asks for mercy feels self-sufficient or is filled with pride. Asking for mercy comes from a humble, dependent heart.

We know already why this woman asked for mercy – her daughter was grievously vexed by a demon.

2.2 How did Jesus respond? He didn’t. It appears he just kept on walking as though she had said nothing. Jesus did not say a word. But apparently that did not stop her – she was desperate. So she followed Jesus crying for mercy.

That bothered the disciples. Perhaps she irritated them. Perhaps she embarrassed them. She was making a spectacle. Jesus came to this territory to avoid attention. So they did what any good Christian would do. They said, “Make her go away for she is crying after us.”

Jesus did not respond to the woman’s cries nor to the request of his disciples. He made a declaration: “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus’ purpose is not to reach the Gentiles, but to seek, find, and bring home the lost sheep of Israel. God has a plan of salvation that God works out in history. He had promised Abraham that one day all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. But throughout the Old Testament God worked exclusively among and through the Jews. He promised a Messiah who would come from the line of King David. Salvation would come from the Jews.

Jesus was a Jew; he was sent by the Father to the Jews to call them to repentance and faith. The time to reach the Gentiles would not come till after the resurrection.

So Jesus’ statement was, “My assignment is not to reach the Gentiles. My Father sent me to seek and to save the lost sheep of Israel.”

That could have been the end of the matter. Jesus seemed to be saying, “This woman’s need is not my concern, not my assignment, not my business. This is not why the Father sent me into this world.”

3. The Woman’s Second Approach to Jesus

3.1 But the woman did not give up. She approached Jesus, bowed before him, and said, “Lord, help me.” That is even more poignant than “Have mercy.” She does not know what more she can say, so she says to him, “Help me.” She needs help. She believes Jesus can help. Nothing she has said or done so far has moved him to show mercy. She’s down to her last plea: “Lord, help me.”

Jesus’ response is not encouraging: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to dogs.” There were two forms of the word “dog” in the language of the New Testament. One form meant “wild dogs.” Jews sometimes called Gentiles “Gentile dogs.” The other form meant “pet dogs.”

Jesus uses the second word to refer to the woman. When she asks for help, Jesus says, “It is not right to take the food that is for the children and give it to the pets.” It’s another refusal.

3.2 But the woman does not let that discourage her. She sees the door of hope cracked open. She says, “That’s right, Lord, but even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She was saying, “Lord, I’m not asking much. If the Jews are God’s children sitting at his table, and I’m just a dog, the crumbs that fall from the table are enough for me.”

Hearing that, Jesus responded: “O woman, your faith is great! May you receive what you desire.” At that very moment her daughter was delivered from demonic affliction. The woman’s faith received what the woman needed. By faith she received mercy for herself and her daughter.

3.3 What is going on in this story? Jesus seems indifferent, rude, unwilling to help this woman because she was a Gentile. Let’s consider several things.

First, Jesus really is following the Father’s plan. This is the time to reach the Jewish people with whom God established his ancient covenant. Soon the Gospel and its salvation will spread to the whole world – every people, tribe, tongue, and nation.

Second, Jesus is resisting people explaining his ministry as sent to be the “Helper in Chief.” He did not come to heal as many sick as possible, to relieve as much suffering as possible. The vast majority of sick and suffering people were not helped by Jesus. Jesus’ miracles were evidence that the kingdom of God had come, that he was going to deal with sin, and eventually remove the curse and restore wholeness to man and all his creation. The miracles were subservient to his mission to die on the cross for our sins and to secure our complete and eternal salvation.

Third, Jesus drew out this woman’s faith to full expression. There was much she did not know and did not understand, but she believed what she knew about Jesus and that Jesus could help. Her faith grew and persisted till it obtained the help of Jesus.

But here is the most important thing: The crumbs that fall from Jesus’ table are better than the finest foods on any other table. Crumbs from any other table are just crumbs. Crumbs from Jesus’ table are a feast.

We pray at Communion, “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table…But that we may enjoy the best food and drink there is – by faith to eat Christ’s body and drink Christ’s blood so that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed by his most precious blood.

Just crumbs. But the crumbs that nourish us for eternal salvation.