CLEAN – podcast 15, Mother & Daughter

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Introduction

• Some of those possessed were helpless children, as in this and the next podcast (and possibly the slave girls of Acts 16:16). Today we will zero in on a Canaanite mother & child.
• Keep in mind the biblical background: in the OT, the Canaanites were the immoral—even criminal—occupants of the Promised Land. Some died in the Conquest (under general Joshua). Far more were driven out of Canaan, or (probably also very common) intermarried with the Israelites. Historically, the Canaanites were trouble!
• Let’s also consider the context. Jesus has just been criticized for not respecting the purity laws of the Jews—not just the levitical laws, but the traditions of the Pharisees.
• In this account, Jesus doesn't just dismiss the unbiblical traditions of the Pharisees. He associated with an “unclean” person.

Scriptural study: Matt 15:21-28

• Tyre and Sidon (v.21) are in modern Lebanon. They were once powerful city states. Their ruins are accessible today.
• “Son of David” (v.22) – she recognizes Jesus’ kingship. Like Rahab (Joshua 2), this foreigner recognized that only Israel followed the true God.
• How did the demon oppress her? Did it dwell within her, as in the cases of all the other demoniacs we are examining? Or was it an oppression more like that suffered by King Saul, when an evil spirit tormented him?
• Whatever the case, the oppression was severe. It’s hard to see your children in pain.
  • Chronic illness
  • Psychological disorder
  • Suffering consequences of poor decisions
• This was clearly an outsider to the Jewish family of faith. She is a foreigner, a Canaanite—and a woman…
• Why does Jesus ignore her (v.23)? Maybe he just wants her to want it.
• "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v.24) fits with Jesus’ overall strategy.
  • Matt 10:23 – Jesus asked his missionaries to focus on the lost tribes of Israel. Matt 28:19-20 – Gentiles were in the larger plan, though not just yet.
  • Having a missionary focus inevitably means, when we’re doing evangelism, that we choose some and don’t choose others. This doesn’t mean an absence of love, but the presence of strategy. In every congregation, church builders must decide whom they’re targeting. Otherwise the church will soon be full of those easiest to reach—with a larger representation of transients, foreigners, persons with psychological issues, and so on.
• The woman pleads with Jesus a second time (v.25). Notice her posture: kneeling. This is common when people are desperate.
• Notice also how Jesus interacts with the woman.
  • Playfulness? ("Dogs" may be puppies, or domestic dogs.)
  • Her "great faith" reminds us of the centurions of Matt 8:5-13 and Matt 27:54.
  • Keep in mind that Jesus is outside the land of Israel during this conversation. That is, it's not as though his helping her means less help for the Israelites! (More evidence that he is testing her, not speaking cruelly or even completely literally.)
• Notice that the oppression is lifted immediately. The demon is gone.

Application:

• God is good. Even though he may not answer our first request / prayer, he hears and responds. We should trust him. (Note: This is not Prosperity Theology or Word-Faith Theology. His purpose isn’t to enrich us materially, or to give us mystical psychic powers.)
• Having an evangelistic strategy doesn’t mean there won’t be some exceptions, just as involvement in one ministry doesn't mean we never help out in other areas. (Those whose ministry is leadership may still be called upon to help with administration, or to show hospitality.)
• Let’s ask the Lord to help our children—and not just those who are suffering severely. God is truly concerned about our families, just as he cares for us.
• When Christ gets involved in our friends’ or family’s lives, radical things happen. People are set free—adults and even children. They start truly living!