The world has always been shaped by highly ambitious people, and history shows that when power goes to their heads, everyone else becomes fuel for their plans. Jesus is their exact opposite: when He achieves His goal, people do not suffer, but are blessed. This thought opens the sermon about Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman and the feast that seems not to be for her (Matt. 15). Her response about the crumbs falling from the table shows that she recognized that what God is beginning in Israel cannot remain confined to Israel, and that it applies to her as well. Listen to this if you want to ask yourself into which areas of your life you have not yet invited Jesus.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Jesus tells the Canaanite woman he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel and that it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs (Matthew 15:21-28). What do you think the "bread" stands for, and why might these words unsettle us?
- Matthew calls her a Canaanite, deliberately pointing back to Israel's history. How does it change the scene that the person asking for help comes from a people seen as outsiders, even enemies?
- She answers that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. What in her reply shows she understood what Jesus was doing in the world, and why does Jesus call her faith great?
- The speaker describes Jesus as the opposite of a dictator: he does not pursue his own ambitions at others' expense but brings blessing to many. Where do you see God's kingdom at work around you today, even if it does not look the way people expected?
- The sermon warns that we can receive salvation from Jesus but look for the benefits of salvation elsewhere, for example building our identity or security on our own performance. In which area of your life is it hardest for you to trust Jesus?
- What could it look like for you this week to invite Jesus to do in you what he wants to do in the world, especially in an area that frightens you?
