In this chapter we find Christ reprovng the Scribes and Pharisees for transgressing God’s commandment by their own traditions. He teaches how that “not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man”. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Here we have the Lord declaring plainly the total depravity of the heart of man — a doctrine which the large majority in our day do not like to believe, but our land is proving the truth of this doctrine. We should be thankful to the Lord for restraining grace and, indeed, we should be asking the Lord for saving grace, and have the prayer continually: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”.
We read further, “Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts . . .” She was a woman in great trouble. From the words of our text we would notice —
The trial of this woman’s faith
In the first place we notice that this woman had saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She acknowledges His divinity when she says, “O Lord”. She believes that He is the Eternal God. She also believes in His true, holy humanity, when she says “Thou Son of David”. With regard to His humanity, she believes that He came through the lineage of David. She sees what only saving faith can see — the glory of the Person of Christ “God and man in two distinct natures and one Person forever.” When she prays “Have mercy on me”, she wholeheartedly believes that she is praying to “God manifest in the flesh.”
We will not enter into the nature of her trouble, but just mention that she had severe trouble. The word of God tells us that her daughter was grievously vexed with a devil. She felt her trouble so very close to herself, even as her own trouble, that she prayed, “Have mercy on me”. When the people of God have deep affliction, the Lord means them to feel it. The Lord does not mean them to be stoical in trouble, and He means them to see His own hand in the trouble. When this woman prayed earnestly to the Lord, we read that “He answered her not a word”. Now, along with her special trouble, she felt something else, which was very trying — the Lord’s silence to her as she prayed. The Lord’s people know something of this — what it is to pray earnestly in trouble, and to feel the Lord’s silence in answering them not a word. Dear soul, do you know anything of this anguish of heart yourself? The people of God know it, and this is the Lord’s way of teaching them. In our trouble we should always remember, in all humility, that “With us he dealt not as we sinned, nor did requite our ill”. If the Lord were to mark our iniquity we could not stand.
Now, we see again that the Lord tried her faith in another way. Instead of answering her according to her desire, the Lord, in His sovereignty, gave her more trouble. That was, as we read: “And His disciples came and besought Him saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us”. These words from the disciples must have been sore pangs to her troubled heart. They accused her of causing much trouble, and it seems as if they were doubting her grace and sincerity. This teaches us that we should never take pride in our own discernment. We ought to be very tender towards a child of God in trouble. It is most grievous to a gracious soul in trouble to see aloofness and to feel coldness from the people of God.
This woman desired that the Lord would answer her at once — in her time. She learned by the trial of her faith that she must wait upon the Lord’s time. Where saving faith is, it will be tried. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ”.
Now the Lord spoke and said to her, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. The Lord was again trying her faith and she felt this, as the Lord meant her to feel it. There is no trial of faith without a heart-feeling of it. She knew that she was not of the commonwealth of Israel. She was a Greek, a Syrophenician woman, and what comfort would she receive from these words from the Lord? At the same time the Lord was preparing her heart for comfort. When the Lord has a special blessing in store for a child of God, He prepares the heart to receive the blessing with humility and thankfulness. Of ourselves we know not how to receive the mercies and blessings of God in that way. But the child of God will be taught, as we read, “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” This woman (however her faith might be tried) could not be sent away. The more she was tried, the more she cleaved to the Lord. What do we know ourselves of such an experience? In our trouble, it is cause of great anguish of heart to be conscious of the Lord’s silence and to be searched by the word of God. We need experimental, heart religion in order to be saved for Eternity, and that is what this woman had.
We read that “then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord help me.” She knew that only the Lord could help her. And dear child of God, in your extremity, you are brought to this by the teaching and loving-kindness of the Lord. The Lord went further to try this woman’s faith, when He said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” The trial of faith is often something prolonged and we are meant to learn patience in it. The Jews termed the Gentiles by the name “dogs”. This woman knew that she was a Gentile and she felt being numbered among the dogs. The Lord was preparing her for the blessing. He was teaching her her utter unworthiness of it. When the people of God are prepared for a special blessing they will painfully learn their own unworthiness. They are not worthy of the least of his mercies. No learning is easy, whatever trade or profession we seek. Spiritual learning is not easy, though profitable. It is often by painful experience that we learn. But this is one thing we must learn — to loath ourselves because of our sins and the sin of our heart. How precious that the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.
Secondly — her perseverance in her trial of faith
When she was convinced of her unworthiness, she whole-heartedly acknowledged it and answered, “Truth Lord” It is all true that I am unworthy, but yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. I think the implication is — “if Thou wilt give me the blessing; if Thou wilt help me — a poor, unworthy sinner — this will not deprive Thy people of any good. I, with them, will be blest.” It was the same faith by which she saw her own unworthiness, as that by which she saw the glory of the Lord. Only those, who see by faith the glory of the Person of Christ, as their Lord and Saviour, see their own sinful hearts. It is that “faith that worketh by love” and “purifieth the heart” that gives one to see the wretchedness and vileness of their own hearts. The child of God is taught that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” — sinners, wretched rebels. We notice her gospel attitude towards the disciples. When she was despised by them, she still believed that they were the true followers of Christ — that Christ loved them and that they loved Christ. She still loved them and respected them as the servants of the Lord. It is grace, and much grace, that will enable one to be exercised in such a spirit in similar circumstances but grace can enable one.
When the Lord tried her faith by telling her: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, instead of hopelessly turning her back on the Saviour, she came and worshipped Him, praying, “Lord, help me”. That is the nature of faith — seeking the glory of God in worship and prayer. We cannot worship in spirit and in truth without spiritual, heart prayer. We cannot pray in a true sense, without adoring the Lord. This was the exercise of the Syrophoenician woman, in her trial of faith. The formalist knows nothing of heart pain and comfort in the trial of faith. He has no saving faith, and, therefore, no trial of faith. It is a great comfort to the child of God, when the afflicting hand of the Lord is upon him, to know that it is written: “whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” There is no exception here. All of them are chastised and scourged. This woman learned much that was to the glory of God and for her own good, in her trial.
Sin has brought groans, sighs and tears into this world. The people of God know this experimentally but “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes”. They shall have their troubles in the wilderness but the promise is — “So to the haven He them brings, which they desired to see.” When the Lord gives them moments of His sweet Presence, He gives them a foretaste of the sweetness they will have to Eternity.
Thirdly: The Lord answering and comforting her.
Jesus addressed her, in the presence of His disciples. “O, woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” There she had the special blessing which she requested, and for which the Lord prepared her heart. Along with the blessing, she received the joy of full assurance of faith, and rejoiced in the comforting Presence of the Lord. Child of God, you know something of this yourself, and how sweet this has been to your soul. The Lord gave you (as he gave the Syrophenician woman) the blessing most suitable in your time of need — a measure of assurance, which caused you to humble yourself before the Lord, while you were conscious of the love of God, shed abroad in your heart. Then you realised the promise (although not in this exact portion, yet in the essence of it) — “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee”. We mentioned that the Lord gave her this comfort in the presence of the disciples. Now they realised that she was a believer in Christ: that she loved the Lord and that she was a humble petitioner in His presence. She and they were in the spirit of the gospel towards one another. That is what all the people of God need — “Let each esteem other better than themselves”. She was now in a haven of rest. By way of illustration, I might tell you of one morning’s crossing from Lochmaddy to Tarbert. It was very stormy, and the waves were mountainous. Although I was used to the sea, I was afraid at times the the “Lochmór” would capsize. I was alone in the lounge. The captain came in and kindly spoke to me, comforting me by saying, “She will soon run out of this; we will soon be in the shelter of the land”. Oh, child of God, you may at present be in the storm, but the Captain of our Salvation, even Jesus, in eternal love, by His Spirit and word, whispers in your ear and comforts you that you will soon be out of the storm, and in the shelter of Emmanuel’s land. Moreover, you will soon be with Himself in glory. At times here the people of God can sing, “The storm is changed into a calm at His command and will; so that the waves, which raged before, now quiet are and still”. By faith they look forward to the rest that remaineth to the people of God.
As we were reading in our magazine recently —
O happy harbour of the saints, O sweet and pleasant soil,
In thee no sorrow may be found — no grief, no care, no toil.
The Syrophenician woman, her trial of faith over, is now in Glory with the Lord, rejoicing in a way that we cannot yet understand, except in the measure that we experimentally know the Presence of the Lord here. Along with her, you child of God, will know to all eternity, the glorious meaning of the truth that says: “And so shall we ever be with the Lord”.