The Day Jesus Lost A Verbal Confrontation

Mt 15:22-28 -…."Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."  27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish."        NASU 

• It Never Happened Before Nor Will It Ever Happen Again 

The Pharisees and Sadducees thought time and time again that they were going to be able to trap Jesus in one of their verbal confrontations, but they never were able to trap Him, never. In Matt. 22:15-33 they tried to trick Him with the "paying taxes to Caesar" scenario. Jesus lays them out with "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."
 
The Sadducees tried to trap Him with the usage of an Old Test. passage (Deut. 25:5) that says, "If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother." Then they ask Jesus whose wife will she be after they all have been resurrected?  
 
You can see the looks on their faces like we have Him this time. Then Jesus tells them there will be no marriage after the resurrection for we will be like angels. Now you can see the mouths drop open and they don't know what to say.
 
Every time Jesus has an encounter with any of the Israelites he will never be bested by them. 

• Jesus Was Having A Bad Day 

If there is ever an account of Jesus having a bad day this passage of scripture (Mt.15:22-28) is it. I AM NOT SAYING JESUS is COMMITTING A SIN. I am saying that as a human being, He was having one of those days. 


The Pharisees and scribes were once again complaining about His disciples eating before they washed their hands. Jesus has been defending His disciples against the lunacy of the Pharisees and scribes.
 
Jesus was trying to get away from this group of guys and the best way for Him to do that is to separate Himself from them. He goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon which is a trip of 30-40 miles easily and let us not forget they were walking.
 
We have all been tired in our life and wanted nothing more than to get some quiet rest and that is exactly what Jesus wants, but there is a woman who wants His help. 

•  A Mother With A Sick Child Will Not Be Defeated 

In Matt. 15:22-23 - And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us."     NASU
 
First, Jesus doesn't even answer her request. He says nothing. He just keeps on walking. The disciples have had enough of this woman. They want Jesus to send her away, get rid of her. Why? She keeps shouting at the disciples because she has a sick daughter.
 
You have to use your imagination here. What were the disciples saying to her? Most likely in some polite way get out of here lady, can't you see we just want to be alone. We need some down time. We are tired and need to rest.
 
Second, Jesus goes from not even answering her to giving her an answer you really wouldn't want to hear. Jesus says, "I was sent ONLY to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." WOW!
 
What about that for an answer? You want to talk about getting a bucket of cold water thrown in your face. I wasn't sent to help you (Gentiles) I was sent to help the lost sheep of Israel. (This will change after Jesus' resurrection. The apostles are told to "go and make disciples of all nations," (Mt. 28:19).
 
But look what she does? She is not even fazed by His answer. She draws closer to Him and bows down and says, "Lord, help me!"
 
Third, Jesus' answer is shocking and, one we would not expect Jesus to give. He says to her, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
 
Ouch! Now that has really got to hurt. The "children" are the Israelites, the "bread" is the miracles that He and His disciples have been doing and the "dogs" are the Gentiles. If Jesus made that type of a comment in the USA today He would be called a racist.
 
Now some people may have stood up and said, "Fine if that is the way you want to be so be it." But not this lady, she keeps her eyes fastened on Jesus and she says, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
 
She is saying, You want to call me a dog. So be it. I have been called a lot worse because of my daughter's condition. She compares herself to a dog and then wins this verbal confrontation with "even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their master's table." In other words, "All I am asking for is one miracle for my daughter."
 
Jesus knew she was a mother who was on a mission and she was willing to be ignored, yelled at by the disciples and insulted but none of that would matter if her daughter was healed.
 
Jesus pays her the highest compliment that can be paid to anyone when He says, "O Woman your faith is great; …" 

• What Have You Had To Endure? 

Being a Christian today is not always easy. Sometimes the very things that happened to this mother happen to us.
 
The reason Christians ignore being treated harshly is the hope of hearing Jesus say, "Man or woman your faith is great enter in My faithful servant."
 
Think on This:
 
As a Christian stay on the straight and narrow you will be glad you did.

Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word