Zoom Sunday School Classes – 28 April 2024 at 09:00 AM EST

Meeting ID: 848-9423-0612
Pass Code: 669872
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84894230612?pwd=Zk1ESitzbGZwTlJyV21UZXY5aTVPZz09
Help For an Outsider

(Faith of a Canaanite)
Matthew 15:21-28
Devotional Reading: Psalm 61
Background Scripture: Matthew 15:21-28
(Rev Ralph Johnson Teaching)

 

Daily Bible Readings

 

Monday: God Provides for a Gentile Woman – 8-16
Tuesday: God’s Authority Over Life and Death – 1 Kings 17:17-24
Wednesday: God Blesses Whomever God Wills – Luke 4:24-30
Thursday: Hear My Cry, O God – Psalm 61
Friday: Mat God Grant Your Heart’s Desire – Psalm 20
Saturday: God Gives Grace to the Humble – James 4:1-10
Sunday: Jesus Hears a Desperate Mother’s Plea – Matthew 15:21-28

 

 

KEEP IN MIND:

“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” (Matthew 15:28)

 

LESSON AIM:

KNOW the account of the Canaanite woman and her faith,

REFLECT on a time when a desperate situation drove us to Jesus, and
START a journal of prayers and track our persistence.

 

BACKGROUND:

The term "Gentile" was originally applied to all nations, but after the Jews returned from Babylonian exile, the term became a slur.  Because of their covenant relationship with God, the Israelites considered themselves distinct and different from all other people (Exodus 19:5-6).  Their dedication to this relationship dominated their relations with all other nations.  The pagan practices of Israel's neighbors constantly tempted the Jews to violate the covenant by worshiping other gods.  Their struggles against these temptations led them to harden their attitude toward non-Jews.  Thus, the term "Gentile" became one of scorn.  It was common for the Jews of Jesus' time to refer to Gentiles as "dogs."  Dogs were generally looked upon as unclean, so to call one a "dog" was an even stronger insult than to label someone a "Gentile."

 

LESSON COMMMENTARY:

The Lady's Request (Matthew 15:21-23, NRSV)

21Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."
23But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us."

Having previously attempted to withdraw into the desert (Mt 14:13), Jesus again departed from the multitudes which thronged Him, going probably the longest distance away from Jerusalem.  Proceeding to the far northwest of the coast, where Tyre and Sidon were located, He encountered a woman of Canaan who pleaded with Him to heal her daughter who was demon possessed.  In the parallel account in Mark 7:24-30, the woman is declared to be a Greek, a Syrophoenician, meaning that she was a Gentile, using the more contemporary name for her nationality.

 

The Lord's Rejection (Matthew 15:24-26, NRSV)

24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
25But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me."
26He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

Although she addressed Jesus as “Son of David,” He did not answer her. Her repeated cries irritated the disciples, who suggested that Jesus send her away.  In an explanation of why He had not replied, Jesus told the disciples, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24).  The woman, however, was not to be easily discouraged, and bowing and worshiping before Him, she said simply, “Lord, help me” (v. 25).

Jesus, attempting to explain to the woman His commission to preach to the house of Israel, said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it to dogs” (v. 26).  The woman, in reply, pleaded that even dogs were allowed to eat crumbs which fell from the table. In response to this faith, Jesus said, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (v. 28).  Matthew comments that her daughter was healed immediately, implying that they had a later report as to what the outcome of it was.

The Lady's Response (Matthew 15:27-28, NRSV)

27She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
28Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.

According to Mark, Jesus also told the woman, “The devil is gone out of thy daughter” (Mk 7:29).  Mark also goes on to say that when the woman returned home, she found her daughter laid upon a bed and that the demon had departed (v. 30).  The story nicely illustrates the power of prevailing prayer, when coupled with implicit faith.  How much has been accomplished by prayer, and how many times children of God have not because they ask not.  This incident is the only recorded miracle on this trip of Jesus, many miles away from His familiar area of ministry.  Could it not be that, though she was a Gentile and even though dispensationally it was not the time for blessing among the Gentiles, Christ had come expressly to meet the need and faith of this woman?  The lesson of this miracle should be to encourage Christians to fulfill the command of God to pray in the name of Christ, claiming the promise, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it [to] you” (Jn 16:23).

 

DISCUSS THE MEANING:

  1. Jesus' denial of the Canaanite woman's request was based on her ethnicity, yet her faith overruled her bloodline.  What role, if any, does faith have in overcoming the evils of ethnic or racial prejudice?  
  2. Is there ethnic or racial prejudice in the body of Christ?  
  3. Should people of faith work to eliminate this prejudice?

LESSON IN OUR SOCIETY

The United States is a blessed nation.  Yet for many years, Black people and others in this country were systematically denied equal access to these national blessings.  In attempting to redress 300 years of systematic denial in employment, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 in 1961, which was the first time the phrase "affirmative action" was used.  In 1965 and 1967, President Johnson issued Executive Orders focused on job-related affirmative action requirements to benefit Blacks, other minorities, and women.  In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which forbids race and gender discrimination in employment.  These "affirmation action laws" were established to prevent discrimination in hiring, education, and other matters, and thereby include minorities in the nation's prosperity.

Recently, there has been a backlash against affirmative action, and some court decisions threaten to dismantle these laws.  Has affirmative action outlived its purpose?  Should this kind of legislation be dismantled?  Do minorities in the United States still require special protection under the law?

NEXT WEEK’S LESSON: 5 May 2024

No Need to Boast
(Justified by Faith)
Romans 3:21-30
Devotional Reading: John 3:1-8, 13-17
Background Scripture: Romans 3:21-30
(Rev Ralph Johnson Teaching)

SOURCES:

Achtemeier, Paul J. Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985.

Blomberg, Craig, L., New American Commentary: Matthew, An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, Volume 22. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.

Brown, Raymond E., S. S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S. J.; Roland E. Murphy, O Carm. The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.

Dummelow, J. R., M.A. Rev. The One Volume Bible Commentary. New York: The Macmillan Company Publishers, 1961.

Gaebelein, Frank E., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Vol.8, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishers, 1984.

Hagner, Doland J., Word Biblical Commentary, Matthew 14-28, Volume 33b. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2015.

James Orr, M.A., D.D., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Electronic Edition, Parsons Technology, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1998.

Morris, William, ed., Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981.

Schuller, Eileen, M., The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary, Volume VII: The Gospels and Narrative Literature, Jesus and the Gospels, Matthew and Mark, New York: Abingdon Press, 2015.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Hrsg.): The Pulpit Commentary: St. Matthew Vol. II. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004

Strong, James, Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, Electronic Edition STEP Files, QuickVerse, a division of Findex.com, Inc., Omaha Nebraska. 2003.

Vine, W.E. Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Edited by Merrill F. Unger and William White Jr. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996.