IN NOMINE JESU. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Transcription

1 IN NOMINE JESU GOD S MERCY IS FOR ALL WHO CALL UPON HIM IN THE FAITH Hear again the Word of God for this Reminiscere Sunday, as the Church in this place remembers the eternal mercy of the Lord: And behold, (a) woman, (a) Canaanite from those boundaries, coming out, she cried out, continually saying, You must mercy me, O Lord, Son of David: my daughter is evilly demon-possessed. 1 Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ This is the day when many people in North America and the United Kingdom celebrate a bishop of the Church of long ago whose name was Patrick. It would seem that many do so without really knowing much about him. Ask any St. Patrick s Day reveler, over their green beer, corned beef and cabbage, what he believed in, and you might get interesting answers. Few would know what some of you have learned over the years, that, in 432 A.D. Patrick was consecrated as a Bishop to replace a Bishop named Palladius. That man had died among the Picts in North Britain, less than twelve months after he had started his ministry. Patrick carried on his predecessor s mission work in Ireland. The work of the Gospel he had been born into. Patrick was the son of a Catholic deacon, and the grandson of a Catholic priest (yes, they could be married in the fourth and fifth Christian centuries). Oh, there is so much more to the tradition concerning St. Patrick. Even so, in the Church in this place, God has led us to follow an ancient calendar that holds deep historical roots. (It is not just the chasuable that we pastors wear that is our share in the tradition of St. Patrick). Through the readings of Reminiscere Sunday, God today has called us to remember something that Patrick truly believed in: God s mercy is for all who call upon Him in the Faith. With that in mind, our Gospel, Good News, text for the day begins with words like these: 1 Matthew 15:22.

2 And going out, Jesus departed into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. 2 Jesus is remembered in our text to have been walking through non-israelite regions. The peoples of this area had been at odds with the Israelites since before the time of the Exodus. All the way back to Abraham, in 2166 B.C, the people of God s promise were called to avoid interaction and family relations with the Canaanite peoples. At the time of the Exodus, 1440 B.C., God had called them to totally destroy the Canaanites. 3 The fact that the Israelites did not follow God s command had brought upon them many troubles in the next 15 centuries. Those led the Israelites into many sins. Therefore, today s Gospel reading would have presented a tough read for the Jews of the first into second century A.D. They would have struggled with the report of Jesus interaction with the Canaanite woman. That is just what our text is setting its hearers up for, as they, we are to learn that for even the most hated of the enemies of God s people, God s mercy is for all who call upon Him in the Faith. So, as our text began, we hear of Jesus Who even then knew that His appointment in Jerusalem to die in the sins of the whole world Jews and Canaanites alike was nearing. A parallel Gospel reading informs us that He had actually entered a house and did not want anyone to know that He was there. 4 The following words make it clear that Jesus was not successful in hiding out from the crowds, as our text declares: And behold, (a) woman, (a) Canaanite from those boundaries, coming out, she cried out, continually saying, You must mercy me, O Lord, Son of David: my daughter is evilly demon-possessed. 5 2 Matthew 15:21. 3 Deuteronomy 20:17. 4 Mark 7:24. 5 Matthew 15:22. 2

3 That Canaanite woman was from the regions northwest of the Israel of the day. She had lived in the Roman province of Syria. She therefore had no earthly religious claim on Jesus. She was not an Israelite. The text itself, in its Greek-language form, uses a word order that puts emphasis on the fact that she was a woman. Under the Israelite religious codes of the day, it would have been unseemly for a woman to approach, with any kind of request, any man unrelated to her. Further, in calling the woman a Canaanite, we are to learn that she was from a family lineage that would have been outside the Jewish faith--even to being ancient historical enemies of the Jews. (That is why we heard about the history of the Canaanites a couple of minutes ago). Ok, so we all understand that Canaanite--of Syrio-Phoenician lineage as St. Mark in his Gospel tells about her that woman had no earthly religious right to approach Jesus with any sort of request. Even so, she did so. Further, we may hear from her address to Him that she revealed that she had heard of Him, and declared Who she believed Him to be. That Gentile, non-israelite woman called out to Jesus while using the Jewish Messianic title: Lord, Son of David. Do you remember the first words of her petition to Jesus the Messiah? Literally rendered, they were: Mercy me! Goodness, she even seemed to know the words at the beginning of the New Testament services of the Word before the Bride of Christ, the Church, had ever placed them in His public services: Lord, have mercy. Further, years before the Church s New Testament orders had been established for use in Christian Church, that Canaanite woman used her repeated petitions to Christ as Lord in the same way the Church still does. She beseeched, implored, cried out to God-in-the-flesh to have mercy on someone else. Hers was an intercessory prayer. As such, it foreshadowed your intercession for those who cannot rightly pray for themselves. That prayer for God s mercy 3

4 you are free join your voices in here twice every Lord s Day, each Wednesday, and at the Lord s Festival Services. For whom did the Canaanite woman offer prayer to the Jewish Messiah that day? Our text tells us that she tells him: my daughter is evilly demon-possessed. (Have you ever thought of someone as possessed as not being wickedly, evilly, horribly or even badly handled by a malevolent spirit? Well, as all humans are conceived as creatures fallen from God s grace who need to be freed from Satan s rule through the Word, maybe there is a softer form of demonic possession, such as is evidenced in babies before they receive the Sacrament of Holy Baptism)? Perhaps St. Matthew, in saying that the Canaanite woman s daughter was, as you have heard, evilly demon-possessed, was indicating that she was not simply under the curse of Adam s fall, nor made simply deaf or mute by the demonic spirit, but that she was being greatly tormented. Whatever horror the daughter was experiencing, it moved her mother to continue to call out to Jesus in the Faith. You may have seen images of Middle Eastern women who desire something crying out in our day. In a manner like unto theirs, that Gentile woman repeated her petitions in what seems to have been a very annoying manner, as our text declares: But He answered her not (a) word. Then coming alongside the disciples of Him they asked Him saying, You must release her because she cries out after us. 6 First, we consider that Jesus is not saying anything to the woman s repeated petitions for His Messianic mercy for her tormented daughter. By His non-answer, it appeared that God s answer seemed to be, No! How cruel that must have seemed. That appears to be the way in which Jesus disciples perceived His silence toward the woman. They drew near to him, perhaps so that 6 Matthew 15:23 4

5 He could hear them over the woman s pleas, and they asked him to do something. The send her away, from our bulletin translation does not really capture the spirit of the disciples request of Jesus. Rather, the nature of their intercession for that Gentile woman, from the Greek words chosen, is that they desired that Jesus should simply give her that which she wanted, and then send her away. They had come to believe He could perform such miracles, so, their reasoning seems to have been get it over with, release her with her daughter healed. But, Jesus was having none of that at that moment, as He was driving a difficult lesson into them, too. (Such hard lessons He still drives home in His Church in various places today, that we might grow in our trust in His promises, and be conformed to His revealed will). Our text continues: But He answering, said, Not was I sent except for the lost sheep of House of Israel. Jesus still did not speak to the woman, to give the Divine answer to her intercession for her daughter. Rather, He answered His own disciples intercession to give the woman her desire with a very negative response. The first Word Jesus speaks in this section of the Gospel, in the original language we translate, Not. Then He reiterates the teaching of the Scripture, that the Messiah was sent to search out and recover the lost sheep of Israel. That Jesus answered at all reveals that He had heard those sheep s petitions on that woman s behalf. Yet, His negative response was teaching them something that the Canaanite woman apparently grasped long before they did (think about it, there were still disputes about reaching out to the Gentiles with the Gospel of Jesus the Christ in the Book of Acts a revelation of Peter s ministry to the Gentiles comes to mind)! 7 From Jesus sharp rebuke it appeared 7 Acts 10; c.f. Acts 11. 5

6 at the time, that God would not answer the intercessory prayers of His Church, nor of the Canaanite woman. Yet coming, she worshipped Him continually saying, O Lord, You must continue to help me. That woman appeared to be trusting that which you were called to remember earlier: God s mercy is for all who call upon Him in the Faith. That woman, having been rebuked indirectly, would not take God s Not for an answer. She held fast to the Faith, with trust in God s merciful nature. She falls down in the position of worship, and continues to beg for the form of mercy she desired: Help! She gave the worship that the Israelites of that day were not willing to offer. She trusted to Jesus to answer, and He did: But He answering, He said, It remains no good to take the loaf of the children and to cast (it) to the little lap dogs. You heard Jesus begin His first answer with the word we translate, Not! What do you think this response begins with? It is the same word, we also translate, Not! Jesus offers a sharp rebuke. Jesus, the Bread of Life, declares it not good to take what God intended for His family, God s sheep, the people of Israel, and give it to those who did not have the right genealogy. Again, it should help you, the Church of this day, to remember that Jesus had warned his disciples not to give the holy things to the dogs. He calls her a female dog, and that meant the same then as it does today when it is applied to a woman. That is hard, really hard. Even if Jesus was calling her a female little lap dog, as some think He was, it is still a harsh response. Yet, Jesus, as true God, knew that the Canaanite woman had faith. He knew what her responses would be before she even thought of them. Yet, Jesus speaks so harshly to teach the hearers of this narrative so that they would understand that the Faith, which this woman possessed in all its fullness, will not 6

7 quit asking God for His good gifts. Remember that, and this faith response, whenever it seems God is not answering your pleas for His mercy: Yet she said, Yes, O Lord, for also the canines continue to eat from the little crumbs (that are) continually falling from the table of their lords. That woman did that which we have learned to do. That is to speak back to God His own Word. She reminds Him of the Divine promises that are for all people, first, of course to the Israelites, and then to the Gentiles. She was willing to take her place in line. She appealed to God s grace for those who are unclean in His sight. She trusted in His mercy for sinners. Remember, the woman s plea was for mercy not for wealth, or success in the world or even in the Church to which she, by birth, had no claim. Our text concludes: Then, answering Jesus said to her, O woman great of you (is) the Faith. It must become to you as you continue to wish. And she was healed the daughter of her from the hour, that one. Jesus casts out the demon. This is the second healing at a distance in Matthew s Gospel that Jesus performs for a non-jew who holds to Him in the Faith. Jesus affirms and commends the woman s confession of the Faith, as an example to the New Testament Church. That means, for us today, that when God seems to say, No! to our intercessions for His mercy for others think of our prayer list with people whose names have stayed on it for years we are called by texts like this, to keep on praying for them. After all, God still continues to answer the prayers of His unworthy worshippers, in our petitions for His mercy for others, in His time, according to His ways. Remember this, Jesus that day included the Canaanite woman, and her daughter, in the promises He had given to bless all the nations through Abraham, and Jacob. That lesson is for us to remember whenever He seems to delay in answering our petitions for His mercy for others. 7

8 To bring all our thoughts of remembrance to completion consider this summary of today s teaching. On this day named for calling upon God to remember His mercies, you are freed in Christ to call upon God for His mercy in the Faith, and to keep doing so until He answers. That has been the response of the Faith of the Canaanite woman, of St. Patrick, and, now it is to be your response. Remember, God s mercy is for all who call upon Him in the Faith. The peace which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Lent II, Reminiscere (LSB One-year series) Introit Psalm 25:1-2a (ant. 25:6, 2b, 22); Genesis 32:22-32; I Thessalonians 4:1-7; Matthew 15:21-28 March 17, 2019 Pastor Michael A. Morehouse BBA, MDiv, DMin Soli Deo Gloria 8