TREASURY OF SERMONS
Jesus and the Canaanite Woman
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
(Preached at Calvary Pandan BPC Sunset Gospel Hour, 18 Aug 1996)
JESUS HELPS THE HOPELESS,
HELPLESS AND HUMBLE
Text: Mark 7:24-30, Matthew
15:21-28
Introduction
Have you ever received kindness and help from
someone when you do not really deserve it? You have not been
particularly friendly with the person, and did not go out of your
way to help with when he was in need. But when you needed him, he
gladly helped, and you felt a great sense of gratitude and
thankfulness?
While this was somewhat the case with the
Canannite woman’s encounter with Jesus. She did not deserve to
receive Jesus’ help, and yet because she humbled herself, being
helpless, her prayer was answered and what sense of gratitude she
must have felt.
What I want to bring out tonight from this true
story of Jesus and Canannite woman is that Jesus helps those who
admit their helplessness, hopelessly and humbly seek Him for mercy
and help. There are important lessons to learn from this Canaanite
woman.
1. SHE WAS HOPELESS
The Bible described this woman in 3 ways: She
was (1) of Canaan, (2) a Greek, and (3) Syrophoenician by nation. As
a Canaanite she would be automatically considered Israel’s enemy.
Joshua was told to drive out the Canaanites from the promised land
but was not totally successful, so the Canaanites became a thorn in
Israel’s side. As a Greek, she was born Gentile and not a Jew in any
way, and being Syrophoenician in nationality, she becomes even
further removed from the privileged position enjoyed by Israelites.
These 3 descriptions of her background tell us
that she was (1) completely outside the circle of God’s special
blessing experienced only by the chosen people, and (2) paganistic
in every way—a worshipper of idols and practitioner of the occult.
You need to understand the very dark religious background of the
Canaanites. The Canaanites had a very extensive pantheon of gods
(very much like Hinduism). They worshipped chiefly Baal and Baal
takes on different forms. There are male and female versions of Baal
and many gods and goddesses of sex and war, with many smaller
deities. It is a religion that appealed to the lusts of the flesh.
Their temples are filled with priestesses who served as prostitutes.
They also offer human sacrifices.
Serving her gods has left her totally without
hope. Instead of being helped she has been devastated by her
religion. It is not surprising that such dark heathen practices has
resulted in her daughter being demon-possessed. You can be sure that
she has asked her heathenistic priests to save her daughter but
evidently none of them was able to help. She was left totally
hopeless. That is what Satan does, he seduces us to worship him, and
finally when we take the bait, we are done for—he leaves us for
dead.
There is a warning here for Christians too.
Although we can never be demon-possessed, we can be attacked by
demons if we give them the opportunity. Example: a young Christian
couple who got baptised in Life BPC recently shared how the husband
grew violent in behaviour, plagued by the fear of darkness, had
thoughts of suicide, and would not want to read the Bible or pray
when they brought home a statue given to them by a Hindu priest for
donating money to build a Hindu temple. They did not want to throw
the statue or idol away because it was decked with semi-precious
stones and looked very beautiful. It was not until it was thrown
away that the trouble left. God will not share His deity with
anyone. God chastises and when we repent, He heals us.
2. SHE WAS HELPLESS
This woman was oppressed with a very deep
sorrow. Every attempt to find help for her demonised daughter ended
with a zero. No one could help. She was at her wit’s end. Her
daughter, perhaps her only one, was very, very, very, dear to her.
Mark tenderly tells us that she was "a young daughter" or "a little
daughter"—just in primary school.
Note that at first she identifies her sorrow
with that of her daughter—"Lord, take pity on me and my daughter."
But that appeal became more and more intense when she finally
dropped all mention of her daughter and just blurted out, "Lord,
help me!" This tells us of her sense of great urgency, and utter
desperation. By saying that she herself needed help would tell us
that she herself was in a greater pain and suffering than her
daughter. This also indicates that she realises her total
helplessness in the situation—flesh cannot conquer spirit. To fight
the demons you need supernatural power that only God can give. She
realises that Jesus is her only help.
Application: Not only must a person who wants to
be saved consider himself totally hopeless, he must also see himself
totally helpless. If you think that you can somehow save yourself,
or that you have some strength but not enough, you need God to top
up whatever strength you think you have, you will not receive God’s
help. God wants us to be 100% dependent on Him for our spiritual
salvation. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us." Spurgeon said, "If my garment
of salvation requires only one stitch from me, I am lost."
But being hopeless and helpless is enough—for
there are those who feel like that but instead of humbling
themselves befire the Lord, their pride causes them to take their
life into their own hands—they commit suicide. There are those whose
sins have left them hopeless and helpless, and so they end their
life—PRIDE!
Testimony: A young man in BP Church—just
reaching 30—but had a hole in the heart. And his heart condition was
seriously aggravated when he began to crave after the things of this
world—bought a new car, bought a condo, wanted to earn big money
fast. So he worked and worked without rest, and on top of his work
he pursued his MBA, and this took its toll when his heart gave way.
Went through 4-5 operations but condition did not improve because as
soon as he is out of hospital he is back into his old ways. When I
visited him in the hospital to encourage him through the Scriptures
and to pray for him—I could see that he was not interested at all in
reading the Bible and praying. Totally indifferent. Deep resentment
and anger against God. I feel extremely sorry for him because though
he was hopeless and helpless, he did not respond correctly. So one
night, all the anger and pride exploded and he forcefully tore away
his oxygen mask and all the tubes he was fitted with and died soon
after. If only he had humbled himself like the Syrophoenician woman.
3. SHE WAS HUMBLE
The woman’s humility was displayed in the
following ways: (1) she took time to learn who Jesus really was.
Look at her confession, "O Lord,, thou Son of David." For this to
come out of a Canaanite woman was quite amazing. If she had just
called Jesus "Lord" that would not be so surprising, but she added,
"Thou Son of David!" In other words, she acknowledged that Jesus was
the Messiah, the King whom God promised David would come from his
line. She was not an Israelites, did not have the OT, but she came
to know who Jesus really was. She must have done a lot of homework
and study. And through deep study, finally understood and realised
that Jesus is the Messiah, God Himself who has come to save her from
her sins.
(2) She fell at His feet. She humbled herself to
the ground. She did not see it fit to speak to Jesus at his face,
but at his feet. And (3) she was willing to be called a dog. Jesus
said, "…it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it
unto the dogs." The "dogs" Jesus referred to were pet dogs. In those
days, the good bread was set on the table, but the spoilt bread
would be set aside and used as cloth to wipe away dirt and this
bread is then thrown to the ground for the pet dogs to eat. The
Canaanite woman humbled herself to that level—"Lord, I understand
that I am not among the chosen ones of Israel; I am willing to be
like a pet dog in the house of the Jews, please at least feed me
with these crumbs."
Why did Jesus do all these? Not helping her
immediately, and saying all those things to her? For 2 reasons: (1)
to test her faith, and (2) to teach His disciples that those outside
of Israel have greater faith than those of Israel.
Look at Jesus very loving and tender words to
her, "O woman, great is thy faith." And one word from Jesus, the
demon was out of her daughter.
Application: How much should be humble ourselves
before God. 50%? 80% 99.9%? 100%! If you are an unbeliever and you
want God to save you. You must humble yourself to the dust just like
this woman if you want to be saved. If there is just 1% pride in
you, you are lost. If you are a Christian, and if we want the Lord
to help us in our daily lives and answer our prayers, we must be
totally dependent on Him to do His will and obey His Word. Sunday is
the Lord’s day, but instead of devoting that day to the Lord, you go
out and work; how can the Lord bless you? Until you say, "Lord, my
life is in your hands, and I trust in you to provide for me, and my
family; I am not going to dishonour you by working on Sundays," the
Lord will not pour out his blessing on you.
Conclusion
If we want Jesus to help us, we must come before
him totally hopeless, helpless, and humble!
Top|Back
Click here for
Sermons by Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow
Click here for Audio Sermons
|
