Humble Heart

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. 

Matthew 15:21-28 (ESV)

We are mere vessels with nothing to offer except, ideally, our readiness to receive God’s mercy and grace.  At times we may view our encounters with God in a transactional sense, like two equals negotiating an exchange where each brings something to the table the other needs or desires.  But our encounters with God are not transactional – we bring nothing to the table, God needs nothing, and we are infinitely below God in every possible way.  We do not deserve His mercy or grace, and we cannot ever earn His mercy or grace – if we could, they would have transformed from mercy and grace to obligations.

It might be possible to twist the sacrificial system presented in Leviticus into a transactional system, whereby God’s grace is viewed as earned through the presentation of animals.  But the psalmist rejects this notion writing ,

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  Psalm 51:17

Pride is our foundational sin, humility is foundational to faith, and God’s mercy and grace can never be earned.  He offers His mercy and grace in abundance freely.  Jesus says,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

The prophet Isaiah writes,

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.  Isaiah 55:1-3

Jesus offers that which satisfies freely to those who stop trying to earn His grace and simply go to Him and listen to Him.  A great deal of Scripture connects humility and faith.  Let’s consider one example – Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman recorded in Matthew 15. 

To understand the context of the account, let’s back up to Matthew 14.  Jesus learns that Herod beheaded His friend and relative John the Baptist.  When Jesus heard the news, He wanted some time alone, so He boarded a boat and set sail east, away from the crowds.  As Jesus and the disciples sailed on the Sea of Galilee, the crowd walked along the shore following them.  The boat landed, and while Jesus wanted to get away, He showed the crowd great compassion.  He fed them by miraculously converting five loaves and two fish to a feast feeding 5,000 men plus women and children.

After the feast, Jesus told the disciples to leave without Him.  They boarded the boat and set sail back across the sea.  Jesus stayed, left the crowds and went up a mountain to pray alone.  Sometime that night, after sunset, Jesus walked down the mountain, to the sea, and then He walked on the water and caught up to the boat during the fourth watch – sometime between 3 am and 6 am.  When everyone in the boat saw Him walking on water and controlling the wind, they all worshipped Him as God (see Matthew 14:33), and He received their worship.

They continued to Gennesaret, a town on the northwestern shore of the see between Capernaum and Magdala.  People from all over the region came with those who were sick, and each person who touched the fringe of His garment was healed (see Matthew 14:34-36).

In rapid succession we see three events demonstrating that the kingdom of God was in their midst and that Jesus is God.  He performed three remarkable miracles.  He suspended the laws of nature for a time and multiplied food, walked on water, controlled the wind, and healed the sick.  And He received their worship.

In John’s account of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish, walking on water, and reaching the shore, he says the next day the crowds found Him again, and He chastised them for merely wanting food, not the real gift He offered them – the gift of eternal life (see John 6:26-27).  He revealed the kingdom of God in their midst, but they were unable to see.

Chapter 15 begins with Pharisees and scribes traveling from Jerusalem to the northern shore of the Sea to meet with Jesus.  Matthew records a small piece of what was likely a prolonged conversations – no one travels that far for a one paragraph exchange.  The religious leaders asked why the disciples did not ceremonially wash before eating, violating the traditions of the elders.  Jesus responded by asking why they broke God’s commandments for the sake of their tradition and accused them of hypocrisy.  He quoted Isaiah 29:13 saying,

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:8-9

Isaiah said religious leaders of his day preferred to follow laws of their own making while rejecting God’s laws.  Jesus quoted Isaiah saying religious leaders of His day were doing the same thing.  He then turned to the crowd and described the religious leaders as “blind guides” (Matthew 15:14), warned that they were leading their followers into a pit, and taught about our need for spiritual cleansing (see Matthew 15:15-20).  Our hearts need to be washed clean.  The evil hiding in the dark nooks and crannies of our hearts needs to be exposed and washed away.  We each desperately need His spiritual transformation.  Without His holy presence within our hearts, without His holy abiding within us, we are blind and walking toward the pit.

Jesus and the disciples left Galilee and travelled northwest to Tyre and Sidon, two cities on the Mediterranean coast about 20 miles apart in present day Lebanon.  As an interesting note, Sidon was founded by and named after Noah’s grandson, the firstborn of Canaan.  This is Canaanite, gentile territory, the region of one phase of Elijah’s ministry, and the land of Jezebel, the Baal-worshiping queen of King Ahab.  And here Jesus encounters a woman who sees Him for who He is.

He had just been with religious leaders, scholars of Scripture who were unable to see the Truth when He stood in front of them.  He had just presented the kingdom of God through a vast array of miracles to people unable to see the spiritual reality He offered while only seeking the mere physical benefits.  But here, in a foreign land, a Canaanite woman recognized Jesus as the Messiah, called Him by the proper title, knew and trusted that He could answer her prayer, and pleaded Him for His mercy and grace with absolute humility.  Matthew records the encounter as follows:

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.  Matthew 15:21-28 (ESV)

This unnamed gentile woman in a foreign land sees Jesus for who He is.  He had just fed thousands in Galilee who failed to see the kingdom in their midst.  He had just met with Jewish religious leaders, scholars of Scripture who were blind to His true identity, yet this Canaanite woman recognized Him for who He is.  And she called Him “Son of David.”

This is a term used frequently in the New Testament to refer to the Messiah.  The term is a reference to 2 Samuel 7:12-16 where God speaks to King David through Nathan, saying,

Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.  When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,  but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.  And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’  2 Samuel 7:12-16

The Canaanite woman who approached Jesus was familiar with Jewish faith and prophecy.  She knew the proper terminology, and she applied it to the right person.  She saw what religious scholars were unable to see.  They spent their lives studying God’s holy word and teaching and telling others how to apply the words, yet they were blind to the truth when it was right in front of them.  But this woman saw the truth.

She had faith and she acted on her faith.  She cried out to Jesus, identifying Him as the Messiah, calling Him Lord, begging Him for mercy, knowing and trusting that He could heal her daughter.

The disciples’ response to her is troubling, but Jesus’ response to her is even more so.  The disciples try to get rid of her. Jesus initially ignores her and then He tells her she is not worthy of His time, energy or attention.  She is a distraction from His mission.  Let’s look again at the passage, beginning at verse 22. 

And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Matthew 15:22-24

At first, Jesus would not even answer her.  Then He essentially said, “I didn’t come here for you.  You do not matter to me.  You are not worthy of my attention.”

We just saw Him distribute mercy and grace indiscriminately – He fed thousands, walked on water and healed everyone who touched His clothing in Galilee.  Now that He was in the region of Tyre and Sidon, His attitude seems entirely different.   As we read this brief account, we are filled with tension between how we expect Jesus to respond, and how He responds to the Canaanite woman. 

Why does Jesus push her away?  He pushes her away to draw her in closer.  And He does the same for us.  This is the blessing of suffering, the blessing of the wilderness.  Why does God at times seem distant?  To draw us closer, to help our faith grow, to force our roots to grow deeper, so that we will seek Him with greater intensity.

God reveals His glory through darkness, through pain, through suffering.  And the ultimate expression of darkness leading to glory is the cross.  It is through the cross and the awful reality of it that we find life.  It is through the cross that we find light and love.

Jesus is the light.  Darkness ends at Jesus.  We know this and trust this and find our hope in this, but at times God seems distant and silent and we struggle in darkness.  And this is consistent with what we see in Scripture.  Think of every person healed by Jesus.  They struggled for a long time in darkness before God revealed His glory to them and through them.  Think of the man blind from birth who Jesus made whole.  He had lived in darkness his entire life, and then one day Jesus made Him whole.  And Lazarus, Jesus’ close friend, who struggled to the point of death, and on the fourth day in the tomb, Jesus gave him new life.  Every person Jesus healed had struggled in darkness for some period.  This includes lots and lots of people. 

The Canaanite woman was not deterred by Jesus telling her she was unworthy.  She accepted that as fact, and persistently pleaded for mercy from her position of unworthiness because if something is due and owing, providing it is not mercy, it is obligation.  She knew she was not entitled to anything.  She had nothing to offer.  She did not have proper lineage, position, gender, or anything else entitling her to lay claim to what she sought.  She came with no right to ask.  But her faith led her to boldly approach the Messiah and persistently beg Him for help.  Jesus did not help her out of obligation but mercy, and the text tells us that He showed mercy because of her faith. 

The woman understood her nothingness.  The only thing she offered was herself as a vessel ready to receive Jesus’ mercy.  Her understanding of her nothingness is the point of the story, and I believe this should be our takeaway from the story.  Jesus had just met with Pharisees and scribes who truly believed they had the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  They truly believed they were God’s representatives on earth.  They thought they were good enough to have earned God’s favor.  They felt entitled, better than common folk around them.

And it is easy for us to fall into that trap.  It is easy for us to accept the worldview convincing us that we can somehow earn God’s favor.  That somehow if we attend church, study the Bible, serve other people, do all the things that “good Christians” should do, that somehow, we are earning His holy favor.  But relationship with God can never be earned.  We are lowly, sin-filled humans, and the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God.  We deserve death.  Our so-called good deeds can never change that.  Only the blood of Jesus can, and the only way to receive the benefit from His blood is to believe and receive His life changing holy grace that leads to spiritual transformation and repent and obey Him.  We each desperately need His mercy and grace, and we can to nothing to deserve it.

Good works are the result of His holy indwelling, not the cause.  But I suspect many, many people who enter sacred space each Sunday have the thought in their mind that because they made the effort to get up, to get ready, to travel to church, that somehow God will like them better because of their sacrifice for Him.  And that is simply not how it works.

Jesus showed the Canaanite woman mercy because of her humble faith revealed through bold action.  She boldly begged Him for help from a position of total, absolute humility.  It’s like the story of two men praying in the synagogue.

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Luke 18:9-14 (ESV)

The woman had faith and she was humble, and her actions were consistent with her belief, and she was undeterred by Jesus’ delay and initial response.

We are troubled by this story because we tend to expect Jesus to be at our beck and call, and we expect Jesus to respond to our request the moment we say a prayer.  We expect Jesus to be there waiting for our every whim, responding instantly.  But that is often inconsistent with reality.  In Scripture we see Jesus healing multitudes, and at times He instantly healed everyone who came to Him in need, but how many people did He walk by every day with needs that went unaddressed?

In light of the contrast between the religious leaders and the Canaanite woman – their attitude, humility, expectations, and the source of their faith – I would like us each to consider ourselves.  Where do we place our trust?  Do we trust our own ability to perform, or do we trust God to perform?  Are our acts of piety actually self-focused, because even while we are helping others, are we seeking some sort of contractual obligation from God?  Do we do acts of piety in an effort to earn God’s favor, or do we serve God because we love Him, because we desire Him, and through our love for Him, we love our neighbors?

Through the Canaanite woman’s interaction with Jesus, we see an example of how we should approach Jesus when we seek Him, and an example of how we should guide people to seek His holy healing, saving touch.  We should recognize and accept that apart from Jesus we are nothing.  Apart from Jesus we have no business approaching God.  Apart from Jesus we dirty, dark, sin-filled humans in desperate need of His mercy and grace and with absolutely nothing to offer in exchange.  We should beg Him to come, to touch us, to heal us, to transform us, to dwell within us, to have mercy on us, to grant us with His holy healing saving grace that we could never deserve, knowing that if He touches us, His touch will transform us.  His touch changes people.  His touch makes people want to follow, want to obey, want to be His disciples.  It is not a burden.  He calls us to “come to” Him and promises that His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). 

May God continually draw you closer to Him.  Amen.