“But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (Matthew 15.26, 27.)
Introduction. The brightest jewels are often found in the darkest places. The Lord found great faith in a Canaanitish woman! Our Lord had a very quick eye for spying faith. Charmed with this fair jewel, he resolved to turn it round so that its various points might flash out with brilliance. And so he tried her faith by silence and discouraging replies in order to bring it forth as gold, then set his royal mark upon it with, “O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt.”
(1) The Mouth of Faith can never be Closed. If ever faith could have been made to shut up, it would have happened in this case. This woman was not staggered even though Jesus acted deaf and dumb to her urgent prayers. If the Lord’s apparent refusal to bless you cannot close your mouth, your faith is of a noble sort, and salvation is yours. And the disciples would have her sent away, but still she persevered. Nor even could doctrine discourage her, for the Lord said, “I am not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Some are tempted to cease from prayer for fear they may not have been predestinated unto eternal life. But reason this way, “Others are included in the election of grace who were as sinful as I have been, so why not me?” Admitting that she was as unworthy as a dog shows that the woman did not seek to win the Lord’s approval by her merit or cause, but depended on the goodness of Christ’s heart. A thousand lions are in the way when the soul attempts to come to Jesus. Just press on through!
(2) Faith never Disputes with the Lord. Faith worships, begs, and prays, but does not dispute. Faith just believes what the Lord says, no matter what. At being compared to a dog, the woman humbly says, “Truth, Lord.” She never wished Israel to be robbed for her. She does not raise a question about the Lord’s right to give out grace at his sovereign pleasure. Faith that saves the soul agrees with the mind of God. Not only did she agree to all that the Lord said, she worshiped him in it, content to act as the dog she was compared to, and goes after fallen crumbs.
(3) Faith Argues Mightily. She does not dispute with the Lord by saying, “I am no dog.” She just argues by agreeing with him, “Yet the dogs eat the crumbs.” And by that she overcomes the Lord, just as Jacob overcame the angel. She knew her position was hopeful, for there were healings going on. She encouraged herself by calling Jesus Master, even though she was not of Israel. She associated herself with the Lord’s children by putting herself “under the table” with them. As little doggies are sometimes fed a morsel by one of the master’s children, the woman argues that the disciples are willing enough that she would have mercy. Crumbs falling by accident reveals that his was no poor man’s table. It overflowed with love and mercy. Just a little crumb is what she asked for, showing that she valued a little mercy beyond all price.
(4) Faith Wins her Suit. Faith won her the Lord’s praise; by the faith in her saying she won the healing she sought for her daughter; and the blessing was instant, “The devil is gone out of thy daughter.” This foreign woman knew almost nothing about Jesus, but her faith shames us all!
Selection from Conclusion. “Have you been praying, and have you not succeeded?…Yet trust in him whose blood has not lost its efficacy, whose promise has not lost its truth, and whose arm has not lost its power to save. Cling to the cross, sinner…There is thy hope. Thou canst not perish there.”
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