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St Matthew 15:21-28
God' s Hidden “Yes”
Morning Service
13th Sunday After Pentecost, 2005
Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Dear people of God,
The Gospel text appointed for today from the Gospel of St Matthew recounts the encounter between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. This is a woman with, as Jesus says, “great faith.” It is that great faith that the woman will demonstrate to us, that we hope to learn from her story. For she prayed to Jesus, and even though it looked like the Lord was answering her, “No,” she knew better, and she, by faith, clung to the hidden “Yes.”
The is woman was an outsider, from the region of Tyre and Sidon, on the edge of Israel, close enough to hear of Jesus. How she heard we don't know. Perhaps a family returned to her village with one of the twelve baskets of crumbs that were left over from the feeding of the five thousand. Perhaps one of her neighbors had seen Jesus teaching and healing. The text doesn't tell us. What we do know is that the word about Jesus had gotten to her, and the promise had mixed with faith, received with joy, the word that this Man is kind and gentle, the He has compassion of the poor and sick, the He receives all people, and heals them.
And that was all this woman needed to hear. For she new that she was poor and needy. Her daughter had a demon, and nothing she could do could help. And so she heard the word about Jesus, the good news, and she believed it. She knew that this Man could help, could heal her daughter and set her free. And so even though Jesus was trying to step out of the public spotlight for a while and withdraw, she found Him, and went to Him, and prayed to Him, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering greatly from demon-possession.” She pours out all of her trouble to Jesus, ad even we, who are often cold, can understand the woman's pain. We think of the mother who stays up through the night watching because her child has a cold, and here this woman's child is possessed by a demon. It is difficult to imagine her anguish. Surely, we think, the Lord Jesus will hear her prayer, and answer her.
But, the text says, “Jesus did not answer a word.” This is the first great blow, the first of three which her faith will endure. The Lord Jesus is completely silent and does not say a single word to her. With such a blow as this, I'm afraid my faith would have crumbled. I would have walked away saying, “The report I heard of this man was wrong. He is not kind; he is no friend.” But not this woman, her faith holds strong. She clings to the word that she had heard, that is is a good and kind Man, and she sees that what looks like a 'no' is really no 'no' at all. She clings to the hidden 'yes', the word of promise.
This is how it often is in our prayers. We pray, asking God for help and relief, and there is no answer, not a word. No help, no comfort, no aid. And we think this is God's 'no'. But faith knows better; it knows that God always keeps His promises, that He always has more gifts to give, and so faith clings to the 'yes' hidden behind the seeming 'no'.
And so she goes to the disciples, and cries after them, begging them to ask Jesus for help for her. And they do, coming to Jesus and asking Him to send her away. “Lord, give her what she wants, send her away, for she cries after us.” And again, to our astonishment, Jesus answers in what seems like a 'no'. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” This is the second blow. “It is true, what you have heard,” Jesus is saying, “I am a great and kindly man who has the power to save, but I was not sent to save you, and outsider, a Gentile was set only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
At this blow I suspect most of us would have turn around, hung our heads and heaved, “Some Savior” as we walked home, disappointed. But not this woman, great is her faith. And great faith is audacious, bold. It keeps on looking to God alone for help and comfort, even when it seems that He has said 'no'. She keeps going, thinking, “He did not send me away. He did not say 'no' yet.” Her faith is still clinging to the hidden 'yes', to the good word that she had heard about this Man.
And so she says again, “Lord, help me.” And now is delivered the third and worst blow, “It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.” First was the Lord's silence, then His telling the disciples that He came only for the children of Israel, calling her a Gentile, but now, for the first time, Jesus speaks to the woman, face to face, and calls her a dog. What would we have done? Said, “How dare He talk to her like that. Who does He think He is, calling that lady a dog?” But she is not offended. This is all she needs, one little word from the Lord. And her great faith clings to that word. She takes what looks like a 'no' and finds Jesus hidden 'yes'. “Yes, Lord,” she responds, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.” “If you will let me be a dog in Your house, then all I ask is for the scraps that the dogs get.” And in this she catches Jesus with His words.
Isn't that a great way of saying it, she catches Jesus with His words. That how Luther said it, and then Luther goes on to say, “And make no mistake, that is what the Lord most deeply desired.” The Lord Jesus desires to be caught in His words, that's why He speaks them to us, that's why He gives us His promises. He wants to keep them. Promises us life because He wants, more than anything else, to give us life. He promises us salvation because He wants, more than anything else, to give us salvation. He promises us the forgiveness of all sins because He wants, more than anything else, to give us that forgiveness.
And so Jesus, no longer able to hold back His compassion and joy, says, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Our lives are filled with things that look like God's 'no's'. The trouble, the sadness, the deaths of our loved ones and friends, our own sickness and sin. Sometimes it seems as if God doesn't hear us, as if He silent. Sometimes it seems as if He is saying 'no', but faith clings to God's hidden 'yes', and faith knows where God's hidden 'yes' is revealed.
God's 'yes' is revealed in His Word, in His promises for you, the promise of life, and salvation, and the forgiveness of all of your sins.
God's 'yes' is revealed in the waters of Holy Baptism where the Lord marks you with His name and calls you His own dear child.
God's 'yes' is revealed in the body and blood of Jesus, given and shed for you.
God's 'yes' is revealed in Jesus, in His birth and life, in His suffering and death, in His cross and tomb, in His resurrection and ascension. There is God's 'yes' revealed for you, and faith clings to that 'yes', through all the silence and all the seeming 'no's', faith clings to the 'yes' of Jesus, and will not let go. Through life and death, it will not let go.
Jesus is God's 'yes' to you. In Jesus you know that God loves you.
And so, with hearts full of the Lord's 'yes', we, together with the Syrophoenician woman, and with all the saints, cry out to Jesus, “O Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me. Amen”
And now, may the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus your Lord. Amen.
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