A Pagan Woman's Desperation
Well, it’s good to see everybody here today. If you have your Bibles, please open up to Matthew 15. If I’ve never met you, my name is Chris, and I serve as one of the executive pastors here at The Well. I have been around for the last fifteen years and on staff for the last ten, and it really is a privilege and an honor to teach the Word of God with you today. I am just so grateful, having been around here for a long time, to see the commitment that this church has to the Word of God, recognizing that it is profitable for every area of our lives.
We have been in the Gospel of Matthew, plugging our way through one chapter at a time, one verse at a time. As we go through the Gospel, we have been breaking it down into these little mini-series. Right now, we are in one called Made Ready. Basically, what Jesus is doing is preparing a ragtag band of misfits for a global mission. If you’ve ever seen the HBO reality show Hard Knocks, it’s kind of like that. Jesus is Coach Jesus, and He has got these guys, training them up for the season to come.
Looking back, we see what happens as a result of all that investment Jesus makes in their lives. We know that Jesus will eventually go to Jerusalem, be arrested, sentenced, beaten, drag His cross to Golgotha, and be crucified and die. Three days later, He will rise from the dead and appear to His disciples. Right before He ascends into heaven, He gives them two assignments. He reminds them in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples of all nations, and tells them that they will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB)
‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
It is this clear call that they are going to go beyond the nation of Israel, beyond Jerusalem and its borders. And we recognize that they did just that. They went, they proclaimed the gospel, they spread Christianity, they established churches, they gave their very lives to it, and the faith grew. Even here today, we recognize the work they did and the outcome of it all.
But in this passage, we see that they are not yet ready. They need to go through some training, and Jesus is going to take them through it. Last week, we looked at Jesus’ conflict with the religious leaders who came from Jerusalem to criticize and condemn Him over purity laws. At the end of the day, Jesus said, “Look, you are concerned about external things, but God is concerned about the heart. You look at things in terms of outward actions, but what you do actually comes from within.” They were all fake and no faith, caring more about the outside than the inside. Jesus made it clear that He came to redeem the heart, because sin originates from the heart.
Now, Jesus takes the boys on a road trip. He travels to a foreign land, and they come across a pagan woman who exhibits and demonstrates a faith that astonishes Jesus and becomes a powerful example for the disciples.
The Encounter in Tyre and Sidon
Let’s look at Matthew 15:21–28.
Matthew 15:21-28 (NASB)
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.
Jesus decides in the middle of His ministry that He needs to get out of Dodge. When you look at the phrase, “He went away,” it is a strong verb indicating that He was determined and decisive about getting out of there. Jesus and the disciples were experiencing both popularity and persecution. He had fed the 5,000, and the crowds wanted to make Him king. Religious leaders showed up to confront Him. And Herod had recently executed His cousin, John the Baptist. With all of this swirling around, Jesus takes them away to Tyre and Sidon, coastal cities in modern-day Lebanon.
Think Carmel and Monterey. When I want to get out of Dodge and I’m exhausted, those are two places I love to go to enjoy the beauty and quiet. Tyre was a main seaport of the Roman province—a prosperous city with pagan temples and two harbors on either side of the island. It was a beautiful place, yet Tyre had a long history of antagonism against Israel. They were mortal enemies of the Jews.
That region was home to the evil Queen Jezebel from the Old Testament, who married Ahab, instituted pagan worship and child sacrifice, and slaughtered the prophets of God. During the Maccabean revolt in the second century BC, Tyre fought against the Jews. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the inhabitants of Tyre were their most bitter enemies. This was not a luxury vacation spot; this was hostile territory. It is not the place you would expect Jesus to take the disciples, but He has a deliberate purpose for going there.
In Mark’s account, it says that Jesus and the disciples went into a house in this region. As they arrived, a Canaanite woman came with an urgent request. The term “Canaanite” was outdated by New Testament times. It would be like going to New York today and calling it New Amsterdam. But Matthew uses it intentionally because he is writing to a Jewish audience. His readers would immediately recognize that this was hostile territory and that this woman was from an enemy nation.
Mark 7:24-26 (NASB)
Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know [of it]; yet He could not escape notice. But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
She approaches Jesus, and despite being a pagan Gentile, she addresses Him with a remarkable title: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” “Son of David” is a messianic title that Gentiles rarely used. She must have had some knowledge about this prophet from Galilee. She had likely heard the stories of His powerful teaching, His supernatural authority, how He made the lame walk and the blind see, and how demons fled at His command. Whatever her source of information, she knew there was something vital about Jesus, and she brought her desperate plea to Him.
A Mother’s Desperation
Her daughter was severely oppressed by a demon. In chapter 8, we looked at the demoniac who had a legion of demons in him before Jesus evicted them into a herd of pigs. Demonic oppression is a reality in Scripture that reminds us of the spiritual battle taking place.
Ephesians 6:12 (NASB)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places].
Demonic oppression robs people of their sanity, their identity, and their purpose. We don’t know the full extent of this girl’s suffering—whether she was harming herself or isolated from her community—only that she was severely and cruelly oppressed. What we do know is that a desperate mother was willing to do whatever it took to see her daughter freed.
As a parent, I connect deeply with this. When you think about your children, you want the absolute best for them. You don’t want to see them suffer or be harmed. You would spend any amount of money, give any amount of time, and go to any length to protect them.
When our third daughter, Tessa, was about a month old, I came home to my wife frantically calling me into the bedroom. Our tiny baby’s legs were turning purple, and she couldn’t breathe. As parents, we felt completely helpless. We prayed in that moment and rushed Tessa to Valley Children’s Hospital. It turned out she had RSV. Her airway was completely clogged, and they had to suction out an unimaginable amount of fluid. She spent three days in the hospital, hooked up to monitors and machines that made her look like Darth Vader. I remember the profound helplessness of sitting there, dependent entirely on the doctors and medicine, praying she would make it through.
This mother in the text is living through torment. She is a Gentile, a woman, an outsider, and a pagan. Culturally, she has no standing to approach a Jewish rabbi. Yet she comes to Jesus, casting herself entirely on His mercy, crying out, “Have mercy on me! Deliver my daughter from this suffering and bring peace to my grieving heart.”
The Test of Silence
How does Jesus respond? Verse 23 tells us: “He did not answer her a word.” Silence.
At first glance, that seems harsh and problematic. It doesn’t look like the loving Jesus we know. It feels like the silent treatment. But silence is not the same as refusal, and it is not the same as ignoring someone. Jesus is acting with deliberate purpose, taking her through a progression of faith.
The disciples, on the other hand, show no compassion. The woman keeps crying out, making a scene, and the disciples want to get rid of her. They beg Jesus, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” It echoes their reaction when thousands of hungry people surrounded them and they told Jesus to send the crowds away. Perhaps the disciples remembered the messy encounter with the demoniac in chapter 8 and thought, This is way above our pay grade. We don’t want to deal with this.
Reading this is convicting for me as a pastor. In pastoral ministry, you have to enter into brokenness, sin, and suffering constantly—marriages on the brink of divorce, affairs, addictions wrecking lives. It can make you weary. There are days when you don’t want to answer the phone or read the text, and when you see someone approaching, you look for the nearest exit. I understand the disciples’ weariness, but I am challenged by Jesus. Jesus does not brush people away; He engages them in the messiness.
Instead of sending her away, Jesus makes a theological statement:
Matthew 15:24 (NASB)
But He answered and said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’
This statement reveals Jesus’ earthly mission and God’s sovereign design. Jesus was sent specifically to the house of Israel. His earthly ministry took place within the framework of Jewish culture. He did not travel to Rome, Athens, or Alexandria; He remained focused on the assignment given to Him by the Father.
John 4:22 (NASB)
’You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Romans 1:16 (NASB)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Jesus was affirming His specific mission to the lost sheep of Israel, but He was speaking directly to the disciples—the very men He would later commission to take the gospel to all nations. He was reminding them of His immediate mission while foreshadowing their future calling.
Crumbs from the Master’s Table
Look at how the woman responds in verse 25. She comes and kneels before Him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
She has met His silence and heard His boundary, yet she comes back a third time, falling at His feet in a posture of complete humility, submission, and surrender. It is reminiscent of Princess Leia’s hologram in Star Wars: “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” This mother is saying, “Help me, Jesus. You are my only hope. I have no other options, and I am putting everything at Your feet.”
Then Jesus says something that makes modern readers cringe:
Matthew 15:26 (NASB)
And He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’
Did Jesus just compare this woman to a dog? In the ancient Jewish mindset, Gentiles were viewed as outsiders and often referred to with derogatory terms like “dogs”—scavengers and mangy mutts. Jesus intentionally uses the language of the culture to draw out what is in her heart and to teach His disciples a profound lesson.
We cannot see Jesus’ eyes in the text—whether they were filled with warmth and compassion. We cannot hear His tone—whether there was a gentle smile or an intentional test in His voice. Jesus is using a proverbial illustration to test the depth of her faith.
Her response is extraordinary. She does not take offense. She does not assert her rights, lash out, or storm off. Instead, she displays brilliant wit, deep humility, and bold faith:
Matthew 15:27 (NASB)
But she said, ‘Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’
She essentially says, “Yes, Lord, You are right. I am an outsider, and the children should be fed first. But even the household dogs get the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” She acknowledges Jesus’ primary mission to Israel, but she believes His mercy is vast enough to spill over to a Gentile.
Perhaps she had heard about the feeding of the 5,000, where baskets of leftover bread were gathered after everyone ate their fill. She is saying, “If You have that much bread, surely there is a crumb of grace left for me.” She admits her desperation, knows she has no merit of her own, and yet fully believes in the boundless sufficiency of Jesus’ power.
Great Is Your Faith
Jesus is deeply moved by her answer:
Matthew 15:28 (NASB)
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.
When Jesus says, “O woman,” there is genuine emotional force behind it. He is astonished by her faith. Her daughter was healed that very instant. Mark’s Gospel tells us that when she returned home, she found her child resting quietly in bed, completely free from the demon. Her sanity, identity, and life were fully restored.
Consider the irony: Jesus is training His disciples, and a pagan woman walks into the scene and demonstrates the very faith Jesus has been looking for. Earlier, when Peter began sinking in the water, Jesus said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” But to this Gentile outsider, He says, “Great is your faith.”
Jesus only uses the phrase “great is your faith” twice in the Gospels—once for a Roman centurion in Matthew 8, and here for this Canaanite woman. Both were Gentiles.
Matthew 8:10 (NASB)
Now when Jesus heard [this], He marveled and said to those who were following, ’Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
This is why Matthew includes this story, and this is why Jesus took the disciples to Tyre and Sidon. Salvation was coming through the Jewish Messiah, but God’s heart has always been for the nations.
John 3:16 (NASB)
’For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus put God’s heart for the world on display. He foreshadowed a kingdom made up of every tribe, tongue, and nation—a kingdom not bound by ethnic borders. He was preparing His disciples to understand that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, available to anyone who calls on His name.
This woman wrestled with God and prevailed. The seventeenth-century Scottish pastor Samuel Rutherford wrote, “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge loving-kindness out of all the roughest strokes of God.” Martin Luther found great comfort in this passage, and Charles Spurgeon preached ten different sermons on these eight verses.
Three Marks of Genuine Faith
This woman’s encounter gives us a clear picture of what authentic faith looks like in our own lives.
1. Admit Your Need
First, she admits that she is powerless to change her circumstances on her own. She cannot free her daughter; her life is unmanageable. In her desperation, she turns to Jesus. Three times she calls Him Lord, falling at His feet and accepting her humble position. She knows she has no claim of entitlement before Him.
That is the starting point of the gospel. Far too often, we refuse to acknowledge our brokenness. We play the victim, assert our rights, or act as if God owes us something. Admitting our spiritual bankruptcy and desperate need is the first step toward experiencing His grace.
2. Believe in His Sufficiency
Second, she believes in the character and power of Jesus. She addresses Him as the Son of David, confident that He possesses the supernatural authority to heal her child. She persists through Jesus’ initial silence, the disciples’ dismissal, and cultural barriers because she believes there is enough grace in Him for her.
Psalms 103:2-5 (NASB)
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, [So that] your youth is renewed like the eagle.
When we truly believe that God alone has the power to redeem and restore us, we stop letting our shifting emotions dictate our faith. We don’t assume His silence means absence, and we don’t treat Him like a genie meant to cater to our wishes. We believe that He is the Bread of Life, and that all who come to Him will find their needs met.
3. Trust His Word
Finally, she trusts Jesus at His word. When Jesus tells her that her request has been granted, she doesn’t demand immediate proof or stay to argue. She takes Him at His word and walks home in full confidence, finding her daughter healed.
Trusting God is the heart of the Christian walk. It means placing our past, our present, and our future into His sovereign hands. We may experience trials, hardship, and suffering, but we trust that He is working all things together for our good. We trust that He will never leave us or forsake us.
This is not just a one-time decision; it is the daily pattern of following Jesus: admitting our neediness, believing in His power, and trusting His promises. Jesus made His disciples ready through this encounter, and He is making us ready today. My prayer for us as a church is that we would be a people marked by this kind of relentless, humble faith—so that when we stand before Him one day, we will hear Him say, “Great is your faith.”
Let’s pray.
Father, we are so grateful for this passage of Scripture. We thank You for how Jesus met this woman in her desperation, revealing the depth of Your grace and extending His mercy to the outsider. Lord, we recognize our own brokenness and neediness today. We need the sufficiency of Your grace. Help us to admit our helplessness, to believe fully in Your goodness and power, and to entrust our lives to You daily. May we be a people of great faith who take You at Your word. We pray all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.