Matthew 15:21-28

Just Crumbs

1.

            There’s a reason we call it the cold shoulder. When people stop talking to you, everything you perceive becomes cold. People that don’t want you around. People that only tolerate your presence. People who wish you would catch a hint and disappear. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if they just came out and said it to my face instead of making me figure it out through their silence. Because when people go silent, you often have no idea why. Was it me? Was it them? Was it something else entirely? Yes, we’re all too accustomed to the silent treatment. We just never thought we would receive it from God.

            The Canaanite woman probably thought that she was asking just like everyone else had. Up to this point, Jesus has always answered these simple requests. She wasn’t making it up either. She had no reason to lie. She truly needed help, help which only Jesus could give. As we heard, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. But [Jesus] did not answer her a word,” Matthew 15:22-23a. So, what do you do when even God is silent? Have you had such an experience where it feels like even God isn’t talking to you? The silence becomes deafening the longer you’re stuck in it. It’s in those times that you wish God would say anything just to let you know that he was there listening. 

2.

            All she could do was beg, plead, pray. Pray that Jesus would finally answer her. It’s all any of us can do. Just keep praying. We pray and expect a kind answer from a good God. That’s what we know him as, right? He’s good. He’s nice. He’s kind in a way that no human can be. And yet, when Jesus finally answered this Canaanite woman, this is what he said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” Matthew 15:26. Yes, he called her a dog. He called you and me, dogs. Not the cute and cuddly kinds either. I can only imagine that many people would have walked away after that. To be told that you’re a dog who doesn’t belong at the table. That you’re no better than a mangy mut. It’s not really a statement aimed at bolstering our self-worth.

            But being called a dog is only half the issue. For dogs don’t belong at the kitchen table. They’re not fed like humans are, even children. They’re so often tossed outside where they belong and told to fend for themselves. For this is what comes across in Jesus’ words. You don’t belong. You’re not supposed to be here. You’re meant to be outside with all the other dogs. Only children are allowed at the table, not dogs. Thus, God’s gifts, God’s table isn’t for you. It’s truly a hard pill to swallow.

3.

            Unlike others though, this woman doesn’t walk away. She doesn’t shrink from the insult. She’s not even offended by Jesus. Rather, she does the unthinkable to most, she agrees with him! She confesses Jesus’ words right back into his ears. Just as we heard, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,” Matthew 15:27. I am a dog! I am a sinner. I know I don’t belong. I know I have no standing to ask you for this. But I’m asking anyway. I’m asking you, Jesus, because I know that even a crumb would be enough for me! Just a crumb from your table would satisfy all my needs! For God’s children are taken care of first, as God intended. But this woman knows who God is. She knows that even after taking care of his people, there will still be more left over even if it’s only the crumbs that fall from the children’s hands. For dogs are happy to clean up the leftovers. Dogs are happy for even the scraps that fall from the table, as is bound to happen with children. Dogs are happy with even the minimum because it’s still far better than anything else.

            Such is the Christian faith. We must confess our sins before God, acknowledging our own faults and failures. We must acknowledge that as sinners, we have no right to stand before God and ask for anything. We don’t belong in God’s kingdom as sinners. Yet, for the sake of Christ, in view of God’s mercy, we can still come before him. We can pray and plead before God and receive an answer. For yes, Jesus came from Israel. Jesus was a Jew by birth. He came to redeem his people… but also that his grace and mercy would overflow to all nations! This is the God we believe in. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God of Israel who came to die for the sins of the whole world. For so, we have learned:

GOD’S GRACE OVERFLOWS TO ALL PEOPLE IN CHRIST!

4.

            And that’s not even the best part! After everything Jesus has said to this Canaanite woman, Jesus finally responds with grace. “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly,” Matthew 15:28. Jesus marvels at this woman’s faith… and he does exactly as she asked. He heals her daughter. He doesn’t leave her with just crumbs. He lavishes his grace upon her. For this is something we have to learn from this woman. God delights in being trapped in his own words. He delights in being reminded of his promises. He wants us to cling to them as closely as we cling to life itself. Thus, when we pray, when we plead before God, we’re to massage God’s ears with his own promises. God, you said you would forgive us our sins. God, you said you would raise us from the dead. God, you said you would grant us eternal life! For the sake of Christ then, fulfill your promises to me! And he does! He gives us grace that overflows to us and beyond.

5.

            For dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we come not as dogs beneath our Lord’s table, but as beloved children. And we’re not given crumbs or scraps from the table, but our Lord feeds us with his own body and blood. At his gracious invitation, he welcomes us as heirs of his grace and mercy to sit at the table as his honored guests. For no longer is there Jew or Gentile, but all are one in the very body of Christ. God gives his grace and mercy to all people, all who call upon the name of the Lord.

            So, should the Lord ever appear to be silent, should his answer be delayed, may we learn to continually pray to him. May we heap up his promises, confessing our sins before him, knowing that God is faithful to forgive us and grant us grace for the sake of Christ. And then, may we come to his table, to eat of this precious meal, as beloved children of God! In Jesus’ name! Amen!