The Faith Required

Matthew 15:20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." 21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." 23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." 27 And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. 29 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. 32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." 33 Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" 34 Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." 35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

It is a fact Jesus came to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

That being the stated case; why this venture into the region of Tyre and Sidon? (There would be no lost sheep of the nation of Israel to be found in Phoenecia, (the modern-day nation of Lebanon,) – only lost sheep.)

On a couple of occasions, Jesus pointedly set a different course than His primary stated ministry would have Him go. He ventured into Samaria, and He also ventured into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

In each case, we have it recorded for us that Jesus met with a woman, (in this case a Canaanite woman – a gentile.) Since it was not fitting for a rabbi to have any dealings with a gentile, and especially with a gentile woman, Jesus is obviously going out of His way to make a point about how His ministry is to spread after He is gone.

Certainly, the first efforts would be to the Jews, but there would also be a greater audience, soon and very soon. This new audience for the Word of God would be THE WHOLE WORLD. (Gentiles included.)

How interesting it is to see how Jesus demonstrated the capacity for faith in this gentile woman, in the presence of His disciples – who would one day be ministering in these same fields.

-Pastor Bill