Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

Faith moves Mountains. Matthew 15, Day 45, Feb 14th

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The Syro-Phoenician Woman

Matthew 15

That Which Defiles

 1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
Very interestingly Jesus engages with those who are his relentless critics. He points out their own hypocrisies.
I would have expected him to shrug his shoulders and blow them off. 

 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
They have allowed their traditions (excusing people from the duty of caring for their parents if they have promised to dedicate their wealth to the temple) to supersede the word of God.

7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
   8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are merely human rules.’”
Words as relevant today as when Isaiah the Prophet spoke them. They are hypocrites because they honour God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him.

 10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
What you eat does not defile you. You are defiled by the content of your thoughts, expressed in words. 

 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
And what was the answer of the Lord Jesus to this? Essentially, let them be offended.

 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.
Wait. If God has not planted the Pharisees, they will be uprooted.
14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
 They are blind to God’s will, actions and character. They will destroy themselves, and those who follow them will similarly be destroyed.

 15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
   16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Nothing external can defile a person. It is what is in the heart,which will be expressed by the mouth which defiles a person, slander, lies and evil thoughts.

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

 21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

She is not going to take no for an answer. She has the persistence of the patriarch Jacob.

 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

The covenant blessings.

 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

She contradictions and argues with him in her desperation. In response, he essentially changes his mind, as God did in response to Abraham’s prayers. We see here the power of faith.
NIV note–Jesus was pleased with the woman’s reply. It revealed not only her wit, but also her faith and humility.

 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus delays his answer three times–he first ignores her, then seems to refuse her. He is testing her faith. She persists in her prayer with a deep, prescient faith in his identity and power. Because she persists in her prayer–despite the fact that apparently it wasn’t going to be answered–her faith is rewarded.  I

t is done for her as she desires–
and her daughter is healed. 



 Faith brings about the answering of prayers.

ESV note–Though God’s plan was to bring salvation first to Israel and then to the Gentiles, Jesus responds to all who call upon him in true faith. The Gentile woman’s attitude of humble faith allowed Jesus healing ministry to operate.

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