When Jesus Went To Sin City

I was told by another pastor that the church I pastor is full of horrible people. This other pastor was not wrong. The Church at Sunsites is a local church full of unrighteous people whose only hope is to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness and be sanctified by His Holy Spirit. Really, I pity those outwardly religious people who believe they are better and more moral than everyone else—holding others at arms length for whatever reason. In my ministry experience, I have worked with gang-bangers, alcoholics, substance abusers, and the like who have greater faith than the primmest and most pious Christian. I have seen them come to know the wonderful, sanctifying discipline of our Lord more fully than most outwardly religious people. I would rather have a church composed of wretches following hard after Christ than a building full of outwardly religious people who are unregenerate and sprinting en masse into Hell’s open mouth.

The passage we are about to read is difficult to digest, but Jesus has a great lesson for His disciples. Perk your ears, or focus your eyes.

Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 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.”

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.”

But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

The outsider (v. 21-23)

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 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.”
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.”

After his verbal transaction with the Pharisees and moment of discipleship with His disciples, Jesus and His disciples go to the district of Tyre and Sidon, a largely gentile territory (Phoenicia) condemned as an enemy of God (Cf. Isaiah 23:1-17; Ezekiel 26-28). The Canaanites here are the worst of the worst—rebellious against the almighty and, like was characteristic of Baal worship, given over to debauchery, prostitution, sensuality, drunken orgies, human sacrifice, and flagellation (Cf. Numbers 25:1-3; Jeremiah 19:5; 1 Kings 18:28). I wonder why Jesus chooses to retreat to such a place, why He would choose to be around such people as these Phoenicians.

A Canaanite woman comes from the midst of this sex-saturated culture of violence, outrage, and self-indulgence and has the audacity to ask for Christ’s mercy. Her daughter is demon possessed and she is desperate. I think this passage is going to offend our prim Christian sensibilities. Jesus does not answer her a word. Why? I think Jesus has made this journey for two reason. First, to have mercy on a Phoenician woman and her daughter. Second, to teach His disciples a valuable lesson. I believe Jesus did not answer the woman so that His disciples could respond and He could teach them. I don’t think He was being rude to the woman but creating an opportunity for His disciples to fall so He could teach in the moment. Jesus seems to do that quite often like we saw when Peter tried to walk on water.

Jesus’s disciples implored Him to send her away. This disgusting dog keeps shouting at us. We are not even sure why you brought us to this God-forsaken land. The disciples unwittingly do the very thing to the Canaanite woman that the Pharisees did to them. The Pharisees condemned them because they were breaking the religious traditional rules of the Jewish elders. Now, they are condemning a woman simply because she comes from a society super saturated in sin. Do you sense the irony? More importantly, do you see what Jesus is doing? He taught something and now is driving His point home by forcing His disciples to live it. I am always amazed at how I will read something in Scripture and God will work together my life in such a way that I am having to apply the very thing I read or heard from another preacher.

The Messiah’s ministry (v. 24-26)

But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

What do you think about Jesus’s answer, here? In another Gospel Jesus teaches, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22; Italics added for emphasis). Jesus’s statement has something to do with knowledge. The Samaritans worship what they do not know. Apparently, they do not know the Father or have the Father’s revelation available to them at this point in the Gospel narrative. The Jews do. The Apostle, Paul, will later recognize this truth when he claims that the Gospel was given to the Jew first and then the Gentile and when he tells the Athenians that for ages past God winked at the ignorance of the Gentiles but now calls all people everywhere to repent (Cf. Romans 1:16; Acts 17:30). Until Jesus, God dealt particularly with Israel, the Jewish nation. He revealed Himself to Israel. The Scriptures were produced through Israel. The Gentile nations are generally ignorant of who God is and the work God is doing. Those Gentiles who do worship God worship what they do not know at this point in the Gospel narrative. One day, to fulfill God’s own promise to Abraham (Genesis 12; 15; 22) and probably the day the Holy Spirit would come, Satan will be bound from deceiving the nations (Cf. Matthew 12:29-30; Revelation 20:1-3), and disciples will be made of the nations (Cf. Matthew 28:18-20). Here’s the kicker; Jesus will instruct His disciples to take the Gospel to the nations.

Jesus is simply teaching about the nature of His bodily ministry. He came only to the lost sheep of Israel (not to all of Israel, but the lost sheep, the elect remnant, of Israel). The Greek, εις, could mean “to” or “for.” His disciples would be sent to the nations. This “master’s table” imagery helps us to picture the master’s table—the Gospel, fellowship with Christ, is given first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles (Cf. Romans 1:16). At this juncture, the twelve disciples failed to recognize Jesus’s work according to the Old Testament and their role as the redeemed of Israel according to God’s promise to the nations through Abraham’s descendants (Cf. Genesis 12; 15; 22). Jesus’s true disciples would not be able to remain outwardly religious and prim because they were called to go to the darkest and vilest places to show the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Jesus disciples would need to stop being so Pharisaical toward the nations.

The grafting in (v. 27-28)

But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

Even though Jesus’s disciples acted pharisaically, Jesus still blessed the woman by His grace and mercy because of her faith (Cf. 9:22). We remember this encouragement: When we fail to properly care for, show mercy to, and share grace with outsiders and sinners, God’s work is still being done. His work is being done in the midst of the vilest people even when we, in our selfish pride and religious arrogance, fail to be missionaries of our God. Further, Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they were so concerned about religious rules and yet acknowledges the greatness of this woman’s faith even though she is in the midst of an immoral people. Jesus cares more about the condition of our hearts than about our ability to look pious.

The Pharisees did not get it; This Canaanite woman does. She did not try to make herself appear clean or worthy of even the master’s table scraps. The Pharisees felt people needed to wash themselves according to their traditions—to become worthy before eating. This outsider, Canaanite woman is accepted while the Pharisees, Jews and highly religious, were rejected. It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person but what comes out (v. 11, 17). In this case, it is the confession of Christ as the master and self as depraved and wretched that comes out of the mouth and makes one clean in Christ. What do you think it means for one to confess Christ as Lord?

…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

According to Paul in Romans 10, those who confess Jesus as Lord will be saved because the confession results in salvation. What comes out of the mouth either defiles a person or makes him or her clean. What does it mean to confess? Confess and proclaim are two different words. Not everyone who proclaims Christ as Lord will be saved (Cf. 7:21). Everyone who confesses that Christ is Lord will be saved. What is the difference? Many people read Romans 10:9-10 and assume that if they pray a prayer and proclaim that Jesus is Lord, they will be saved. To merely say, “I admit I am a sinner. I believe. I will now follow Christ,” produces false converts because people are not confessing; They are only proclaiming in order to try to achieve a certain outcome they think they desire. To confess (con=with  profess=testify) is to testify with. In this case, it means to testify with Christ about Christ’s lordship. To confess is not to make Christ lord; It is to recognize His sovereignty, bow before Him, and testify about Him to the whole world. Too many “Christians” use their mere proclamation to exalt themselves by human religion like the Pharisees did. To confess is to come to the master’s table desperate for the scraps—not worried about outward religiosity but simply wanting Jesus. May He have mercy on us. May we tell the whole world about His sovereign grace. After all, He is the one working together our very faith.

What is our response to such a shocking passage? Many of us are gentiles and not Jews, but the application is the same. We live in the midst of a people rebellious against the almighty and given over to debauchery, prostitution, sensuality, drunken orgies, human sacrifice (abortion—child sacrifices to the gods of convenience, emotion, fear, and self-image), and flagellation (penance, behavior modification, making up for lost time or wrongs done, and paying restitution for the sins of previous generations). Many outwardly religious people today, like the Pharisees and disciples, hold wretches at arms length because:

1. people in a modern society are much like those in ancient Phoenicia,
2. those darn kids keep “messing things up,”
3. those people are not like us,
4. they dare to affiliate with a different political party or religious denomination,
5. they do things we don’t like,
6. they do things culture or church tradition has defined as sin,
7. they like different kinds of music,
8. they dress differently, or
9. any other reason.

Christ has called His disciples not to hold wretches at arms length but, instead, to go to them and show them His sovereign grace and mercy. May we never neglect this great commission. After all, we were also wretches (Cf. Colossians 3:7) and are still if we have not been fully sanctified (Cf. John 3:6). So, we go with great mercy, having compassion on the ungodly, and inviting unrighteous people to be covered by the righteous God and be part of His church.

Jesus’s Identity According to Matthew 14-17:

Who Jesus is:	Who Jesus is not:
The expected Messiah (Isaiah 35:4-5; 61:1-2): The one who would heal His people, take their infirmities, raise the dead, and restore justice to the earth.	John the Baptist; the new Elijah (Cf. Malachi 4:5-6): Not merely a prophet, teacher, or good person.
Compassionate provider; Israel’s Messiah (Cf. Exodus 3:6-9; 34:6; Psalm 78:38-39; 2 Kings 13:23; Isaiah 14:1; 49:13; Lamentations 3:32; Zechariah 10:6).	Not merely  an inspirational figure or brilliant strategist. Not limited by human means.
The Son of God; the king who perpetually sits on the Messiah’s throne prepared through King David (2 Samuel 7:14-17; see also Proverbs 30:4; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Daniel 3:25; Micah 5:1-3 concerning the “Son of God” motif in the Old Testament). Israel’s deliverer.	Not a wish-granter or halfway savior.
The one who upholds God’s Law and justifies the Father’s people from the inside out (Cf. Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 29:13-14; Jeremiah 23:5).	Not the one who abolishes God’s Law according to people’s preferences, traditions, or philosophies (Cf. Matthew 5:17).
The one who engages and uproots false teachers, churches, and religions in His own perfect timing.	Not the one who instructs his people to attract the world into the church no matter the cost or hunt down false teachers and their ministries.
The one who came to the lost sheep of Israel and through whom the nations of the world are blessed (Genesis 12; 15; 22).	Not the one who condemns people based on religious ritual, standards, or traditions (outward acts).