DATE: 16th August, 2020
THEME: GREAT FAITH REWARDS
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Genesis 45:1-15
Romans 11:1-2, 29-32
Matthew 15:10-28
Psalter: Psalm 67:1-7
INTRODUCTION
Do you have a need in your life? I suspect that everyone has a need. In fact, I would go a step farther and say that most people have one or more major needs in their lives and they do not see how that need can be met.
Some people are looking at devastating family problems. Others are looking at financial difficulty. Some are looking at their own souls and realizing that they are lost.
I could literally list all day and not exhaust the list of problems that people are facing today. In the midst of your problems, YOU NEED SOMEONE TO HELP YOU. You need someone you can turn to for your solution. You need God to work in your life.
▪You don’t need Him to lift every burden, JUST THE HEAVIEST.
▪You don’t need Him to move every mountain, JUST THE HIGHEST.
▪You don’t need God to give you the whole loaf, JUST A CRUMB.
That is the situation we are looking at in this passage today. Jesus is approached by a mother who is in a desperate situation. She needs something in her life. She comes to the Lord and as she does, she is not asking for the whole loaf, she is just asking for a crumb. She knows that a little crumb is better than nothing.
As I preach this text today, I want you to know that there is hope for your situation today. No matter what it is you think you need today, God holds the key to it. A Crumb From His Hand Is More Than Enough.
BODY
I. THIS WOMAN’S PETITION
a. The Reason She Came – This woman came to Jesus because she was concerned about her daughter. The child was demon possessed and was probably acting out in violence and anger. She needed help in a desperate way.
b. The Reason She Cried – The word “cried” speaks of one “crying out, shouting after another.” This woman was following Jesus and His disciples shouting to Him for the help she needed.
c. The Reason She Called – In recording this same event, Mark tells us in Mark 7:25 that this woman had “heard of Him”. Perhaps she had heard about how Jesus had healed all manner of diseases; about how He had opened the eyes of the blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf; about how He had driven the demons from other people. She may have heard about how Jesus had gone over into the country of the Gaderenes and had delivered the man possessed by a legion of demons. She may have said, “If He can deliver that man from a legion of demons, surely He can deliver my daughter from the grip of one devil!”
This woman came to Jesus because faith and hope had been sparked in her heart.
▪She needed something that society had not been able to provide.
▪She was looking for something that her dead religion had been powerless to give her.
▪She needed a solution that she had not been able to provide by her own self-efforts.
SHE WAS DESPERATE AND SHE SAW JESUS AS HER ONLY HOPE!
Whatever the need in your life may be today; you should take a lesson from this woman: Get that need to Jesus!
II. THIS WOMAN’S PERSISTENCE
This woman comes to Jesus for help and when she doesn’t get the response she imagines, she stays after Jesus until she gets what she wants.
A. The Obstacles Of Faith – To see that her need was met and her daughter was healed, this woman had to overcome many obstacles. It seemed that she met resistance to her request at every turn. Yet, she persisted until she achieved her goal. Let’s examine the obstacles she faced and overcame by faith.
- She had to overcome Race – Verse 21 tells us that this woman was from Tyre and Sidon. Verse 22 adds that she was a Canaanite. This tells us two things about this mother. First, she was descended from a cursed people. When Joshua led the people of Israel into Canaan, they had been commanded to totally destroy the Canaanites, Deut. 7:2. She was a member of a doomed race. Second, she was from a region known for vile religious practices. THIS WOMAN HAD TWO STRIKES AGAINST HER FROM THE VERY START.
- She had to overcome Religion – She came to Jesus and called out to Him and said, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David”. Here she was a Gentile mother crying out to the Jewish Messiah. He gave her the response she deserved: “He answered her not a word,” verse 23.
- She had to overcome Racism – When the disciples saw and heard this Gentile calling out to their Messiah, they react by telling Jesus to send her away! They wanted nothing to do with her. She was not one of their people!
- She had to overcome Rejection – As Jesus speaks to this woman, verses 23-26, His words appear harsh to our ears. His words must have shaken her to the very core of her being. His words probably broke her heart. First, he simply ignores her. It is as if He turns an indifferent ear to her cries for help. Then, He tells her that His whole purpose in coming to this world was to reach the lost sheep of Israel. When she persists, Jesus tells her that she is a dog and does not deserve the children’s bread.
- She had to overcome Reality – The realities of this situation are harsh! Her daughter was possessed by a devil. She was a member of a doomed race. These religious men did not seem to care about her or her situation at all. It must have appeared to her that her situation was hopeless and helpless.
God’s silence is not an indication of God’s unwillingness to meet your need. God’s silences serve to test our faith and to remind us that He operates on a different schedule than we do.
What obstacles are you facing today? Persist in seeking the Lord and in His time, you will see every barrier fall! Your faith will not be defined by what you receive from God; but by what it takes to stop you from getting to God! What’s stopping you?
B. Mark 7:27 The Opportunities Of Faith – As Jesus speaks with this woman, He never slams the door of hope in her face. In Mark’s account of this encounter, he records Jesus as saying, “Let the children first be filled…” That word “first” was what this broken hearted mother needed to hear! Jesus did not say, “You cannot have what you are looking for!” He said, “I have come to the children of Israel. And, they must be filled first.” She took that to mean that “seconds” were available.
You see, these obstacles that were thrown up by the Lord Jesus were not placed there to discourage and defeat this lady.
C. The Obligations Of Faith – You know, a lot of people would have given up! Most folks would have thrown up their hands in frustration and stormed off in anger saying, “I don’t need this! I don’t want anything to do with a god or a religion like that!” That is the way many react when they do not get what they want, when they want it. But, not this woman!
She persisted in spite of everything that was thrown into her pathway. Why? She persisted because too much was at stake! Her little daughter needed to be delivered from her bondage. Her family needed to be saved. She needed help and she was determined to get it! A crumb might have been all she could get; but she knew that a crumb from the hand of Jesus would be more than enough! She wouldn’t give up until she got what she needed!
III. THIS WOMAN’S PRIZE
a. Jesus Responded To Her Faith – He was amazed by the depth of her faith! Jesus had tested her faith with hard words and her faith had risen to the challenge! Her faith exceeded that of the people he had come to save! Here was a Gentile ‘dog’ that had more faith than the Jewish scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and priests. This kind of faith excites the Lord!
b. Jesus Rewarded Her Faith – He rewarded her faith by giving her exactly what she asked for; He healed her daughter! Her faith was so strong that she didn’t ask for proof, but she took Jesus at His word and turned around and went home to her family. What a blessing! What a challenge!
APPLICATION
Take heart today, dear friends! There is hope!
- Today might be the day when the Master responds to your cries.
- Today might be the day when you see that mountain moved in your life.
- Today might be the day when you come to Him and call on Him to be saved.
- Today might be the day when God speaks to your soul and says, “It’s going to be all right! I’ve taken care of it.”
- Today might be the day when His peace replaces your pain and you get the help you need.
Bring that need to Him again today. Bring it with faith in your heart that He will hear you; that He will help you and He will fix it.
CONCLUSION
• Look, there’s Jairus. He places his daughter in the hand of Jesus and Jesus raises her from the dead.
• Look, there is Lazarus, four days in the tomb. Mary and Martha place him in the hands of Jesus and Lazarus lives.
• Look, there is a multitude that needs to be fed, but they have no food. A few loaves and fishes are placed in the hands of Jesus and suddenly everyone had more than enough.
• Look, there are the disciples, in a boat, in a storm, in the middle of the lake, in the dead of night. They are afraid they are going to die. They place themselves in the hand of Jesus and they arrive safely to the shore.
Oh friends, if He can do these things, and they are just a small sample of what He can do, then surely He can answer your prayers! Enjoy the service. Stay BLESSED.
PREPARED BY
VERY REV DR. SAMUEL YAW DUA DODD
CALVARY SOCIETY ADABRAKA
ACCRA
