Garbage Man

 <sup>Matthew 15:21-28

21</sup> Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

²² And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

²³ But he answered her not a word. 

In verse 22 the woman cried unto Jesus.  But look in verse 23.  He answered her not a word.  He didn't even respond to her crying of "Have mercy on me."  Jesus only did the will of the Father and here he doesn't even respond to this woman looking for her daughter to be delivered from a devil.  Continue on with the rest of verse 23.  

And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

Not only did Jesus not answer her, the disciples started telling Jesus to send her away.  Who's this woman?  She's not even from Israel.  Come on Jesus send her away.  Now look what Jesus says next.    

²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

She went crying after Jesus looking for help.  The disciples even wanted Jesus to send her away and now Jesus tells her plainly, he is not sent but to Israel.  This woman was not of Israel.  Mark's account says she was Syrophenician.  Was Jesus racial profiling?  Remember, he only did the will of the Father.  Look how the woman reacted to that.  She worshipped him with these three words, "Lord, help me."  


²⁵ Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

Surley that will get his attention.  Look at verse 26.


²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

First he didn't even answer her.  Then his disciples wanted her sent away.  Then he let her know she was not the right nationality.  Now he calls her a dog.  Ever feel like this woman? 


²⁷ And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

She didn't quit.  She didn't give up.  Faith pleases God and Jesus does the will of the Father.  She got what she came for.  Her daughter was made whole from that very hour.  

In high school I played sports.  I had some success in football but I also played basketball.  Recently I was reminded of something my basketball coach said to me.  He said, "You're a garbage man."  He called me a garbage man.  What did that mean?  It meant there weren't going to be any plays specifically ran for me.  I still scored at times. My job was to get rebounds.  So any scoring I did would be off rebounds or free throws.  That was my job.  Come off the bench and get rebounds and play defense - a garbage man.  But at the end of the day I was on a pretty good team.  My senior year we only lost one game during the regular season.  Won tournaments.  District champs.  Regional champs.  We finished the year one game short of going to the State tournament with a record of 24-3.

If your after something from the Lord keep after it.  Believe the gospel; the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Even if he calls you a dog, or a garbage man, don't quit.  The gopsel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.  

God Bless,
Anthony