Jesus With The Gentiles

Well, last week, we were looking at Matthew 15, the first half, and essentially, Jesus declares all foods clean.

And so what he's doing there is he's removing these boundaries between Jew and Gentile.

And so basically, he's removing this kind of restricted access sign to Jews.

We've all seen restricted access signs.

You've seen them like this.

Keep out.

No trespassing.

Employees only.

Maybe you've been in an airport.

You're thirsty and you want to sit down and you want to go into one of those nice clubs and it says members only.

Authorized personnel only.

For the majority of us in the room, we're all Gentiles.

Which means this.

If you're of European descent or Central or South American descent or African descent or Asian descent, if you're not of Jewish descent, you're a Gentile according to the flesh.

And because you're a Gentile leading up to the time before Jesus, you would have had restricted access to God's grace, to the God of the Bible.

But that all changed with Jesus.

And we saw that last week as he declared all foods clean.

And it's like it's not about what you eat that makes you dirty.

It's what comes out of your heart that makes you dirty.

And that applies to Jews as well as Gentiles.

This morning, we're going to see how Jesus gives Gentiles unrestricted access to the saving grace of God by faith.

For Gentiles, there's no more keep out sign from the God of the Bible.

The God of the Bible has come to all people and said, come to me through Jesus.

So this morning, we're going to look at Matthew 15, verses 21 through 39.

Matthew 15:21–39

And there are three scenes in this stretch of Scripture.

And it's three scenes of Jesus interacting with Gentiles.

It's really interesting.

We're going to be spending most of our time on scene one where Jesus interacts with a Canaanite woman.

But we're going to look at the other two scenes briefly.

And what we're going to see is that God has given unrestricted access to Gentiles through Jesus.

So if you would turn in your Bibles now to Matthew 15, verses 21 through 28.

Matthew 15:21–28

I'm going to read that for you.

One of the things that we're going to see woven through these three scenes,

we're going to see the compassion of Jesus for Gentiles.

Now hang in with me on this first scene.

You're going to hear Jesus say some things that are like, did he really just call that woman a dog?

Hang in there with me.

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

And behold, a Canaanite woman from the region came out and was crying,

Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David.

My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.

But he did not answer her a word.

And his disciples came and begged him, saying,

Send her away, for she's crying out after us.

He answered,

I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

But she came up and knelt before him, saying,

Lord, help me.

And he answered,

It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

She said,

Yes, Lord.

Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.

Then Jesus answered her,

O woman, great is your faith.

Be it done for you as you desire.

And her daughter was healed instantly.

In verse 21, we read that Jesus,

that he withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

And what you need to know is that Tyre and Sidon,

they are coastline cities in the area called Phoenicia.

And Phoenicia was a Gentile region just north of Galilee.

And so basically, what this means is,

Jesus was going into the unclean zone.

Phoenicians were Canaanites.

And that should ring a bell if you're familiar with the Bible a little bit.

Because do you remember when God delivered His people out of Egypt,

and He brought them to the promised land,

the land of Canaan,

and God's people were to remove the inhabitants of the land of Canaan

in order to occupy the land of Canaan?

Well, the Canaanites became a just thorn in the side of Israel

for century after century.

And they were the ancient arch enemy of the nation of Israel.

So, when we read in Matthew,

Jesus withdraws to Tyre and Sidon,

which is up in Phoenicia,

to the Jewish mind reading this or hearing this,

they're thinking that Jesus is headed to an unclean region

of historically hostile people.

Now, Jesus is going outside the boundaries of Israel.

He's going off the reservation, so to speak.

And so the question we need to ask is,

why is He leaving?

Why is He leaving Galilee?

Why is He going up to Phoenicia?

What's going on with that?

Well, there are two reasons why.

The first one is this.

There's a pattern of Jesus that we see in Matthew 12 and Matthew 14

when there is hostility and tensions rise.

When He confronts Pharisees

or He hears about Herod being afraid of Him,

He will withdraw

so that any kind of tensions can de-escalate

so that His effectiveness of ministry isn't hindered.

So, He's seeking to withdraw

in order to fulfill the mission that His Father has called Him on.

So, that's one reason why He's withdrawn.

The second reason is this.

Remember, at the beginning of Matthew 15,

the first half,

Jesus has just called the Pharisees from Jerusalem,

you hypocrites,

and then He brings down Isaiah on them.

You honor me with your lips,

but your hearts are far from me.

And so, with that tension,

Jesus withdraws up into Tyre and Sidon,

up to this region.

But that's not the only reason why He's up there.

Jesus is going to reveal God's heart for all people

while He's in this region.

He purposely heads north from Galilee.

He's got kingdom work to do

up around Tyre and Sidon.

Jesus has already had some interaction with Gentiles

in the Gospel of Matthew,

in Matthew chapter 8.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

Remember the centurion?

He heals his daughter from a distance.

And then when He casts out the demon

who occupied those two men

up in those grave sites,

that was in Gentile land,

in a Gentile region called the Decapolis.

Here in verse 22,

we have an interaction between Jesus and a woman.

But it's no ordinary woman.

She is what Matthew calls a Canaanite woman.

And so let me just read verse 22 again.

And behold, one of Matthew's favorite expressions

to draw your attention to something,

and behold, a Canaanite woman from the region

came out and was crying.

Now in the Gospel of Mark,

that's written to Gentiles,

Mark calls this woman a Syrophoenician woman.

And so Syria, Phoenicia, woman,

Mark doesn't really care about what Jews

would think about that.

Matthew does care.

And so the Gospel of Matthew,

Matthew is heightening this woman's Canaanite background

just to remind everybody reading,

there's going to be some tensions here.

And so this Canaanite woman,

she comes out,

and she's yelling.

And she's yelling for a reason,

because she's at a distance.

And so when your mind imagines this,

you've got to think about this woman

being at a distance,

and she's crying out.

She's raising her voice.

And what is she saying?

She's saying this.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.

Have mercy on me.

She's obviously in a desperate place.

She needs some kind of help.

And we're going to learn

that these cries were incessant cries for mercy.

She's pleading for grace.

Just help me.

She's not saying anything.

Look what I've done for you.

I've been so good.

Blah, blah, blah.

Help me.

Have mercy on me.

That's what she's crying out.

And did you notice

how she addresses

this Jewish foreigner?

Lord.

Lord.

O Lord, Son of David.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.

Now that word Lord

can be a simple and polite title

like greeting someone like,

hello, sir.

But when you combine that word Lord

with that title, Son of David,

you realize she is confessing him as Lord.

Do you know what the Son of David is?

It's a reference to Jesus

being descended from King David.

It is pointing to his Messiahship

that she recognizes somehow, someway,

she's heard somehow, someway

that this Jewish guy

who's come up from Galilee

is the Son of David.

O Lord, Son of David,

have mercy on me.

And then she elaborates

her need for mercy.

My daughter is severely oppressed

by a demon.

She is watching her daughter

brutally oppressed

by a demon.

She's got to be feeling helpless.

Anybody in the room

ever feel helpless before?

You know how this woman is feeling.

And maybe you've come into the building

feeling helpless yourself.

Maybe you're living with some kind

of brutal oppression.

As a Gentile,

is the Jewish Messiah

going to hear you

when you cry out to Him?

Will He have mercy on you?

Well, let's see what Jesus does.

In verse 23,

but He did not answer her a word.

She's crying out.

She's desperate.

Jesus seemingly does nothing.

He ignores her.

He remains silent.

Now, for those of us

who've been walking through

the Gospel of Matthew,

this is highly unusual

for Jesus.

Because up until this point,

we have not seen one instance

of Jesus turning someone away

who has honestly sought His help.

We haven't seen it.

And so when He is approached

by this desperate woman

and He kind of gives her

the cold shoulder

that's somehow playing hard to get,

we're kind of like,

Jesus, what are You doing?

This is so unusual.

We wouldn't expect that.

What He's actually doing

is what would have been expected

for any other Jewish rabbi

interacting with a Gentile woman.

And that would have been

to ignore her.

But this is Jesus.

Now remember that Jesus

is a master teacher.

He knows the heart of people

and He knows the heart

of this woman.

He's playing hard to get

for a reason.

We're going to see that come out

as we walk through

this little passage.

What He's doing is

He's drawing out

this woman's faith.

And in just a few verses,

we're going to see her faith

bloom in spectacular fashion.

Jesus is silent,

but His disciples,

they can't take it anymore.

This Canaanite woman,

this mom,

is just,

have mercy on me!

Have mercy!

And the disciples are like,

Jesus,

will You just give her

what she wants

and send her away?

This is killing us!

The best way to visualize

all this is that

this Gentile woman

is at a distance

crying out incessantly

for mercy

from Jesus and His disciples,

but Jesus has not engaged

the woman yet.

He hasn't said anything to her.

And against the background

of her crying out for help,

the disciples now

are making their own case

to Jesus.

Would You just send her away?

Give her what she wants!

This is brutal!

In verse 24,

Jesus says to His disciples,

I was sent to the lost sheep

of the house of Israel.

So they ask Jesus

to essentially,

would You just give her

what she needs?

And Jesus responds to them,

Hey, I was sent

to the lost sheep

of the house of Israel.

The people of the nation

of Israel.

The Israelites,

the Jews,

that's the ones

to whom I was sent to.

Did this Canaanite woman

hear what Jesus said?

I'm guessing she did.

I think Jesus said this

just loud enough

so that she could have

heard Him say that

to His disciples.

And so what Jesus

is essentially saying

is like,

No, I'm not going to

give her what she wants

because my mission

is to the lost sheep

of the house of Israel.

So here is Jewish Jesus

and Gentile Phoenicia

denying mercy

to a Gentile mother

in need

because apparently

His mission

is restricted

only to

the lost sheep

of Israel.

but we know otherwise

because we've already

gone through

Matthew chapter 8.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

We have seen

how Jesus

compassionately

heals the centurion's

daughter.

We've already seen

Jesus

deliver

two men

around the Decapolis

from

demonic oppression.

We've already seen it.

Even in Matthew 10

when Jesus sends out

His twelve

to the lost sheep

of Israel,

He sends them out

and He tells them

there's going to come a day

where you're going to be

brought before the Gentiles

and you're going to need

to bear witness to them.

And you will be given

words at that time.

So we know

that there's more

going on here.

We know that Jesus

is saying these things

a little tongue in cheek.

That there's something

else happening.

He's drawn out

the woman's faith.

I would argue

that Jesus in fact

wants to show her

mercy.

He's just waiting

for the right moment.

Now,

have you ever been

praying your guts

out to Jesus

and you feel like

He's not answering you

or not hearing you?

You feel like,

okay,

I'm just pleading my case

and it doesn't seem like

He's anywhere around.

Well,

I just want to encourage you.

Don't give up.

the Lord Jesus,

the risen Christ,

He just,

He very well may be

just drawing out

your faith.

Just bringing you

to a point

where He then acts

on your behalf.

And this woman,

she doesn't give up.

Look at verse 25.

Jesus says,

hey,

I'm not going to help her

because I'm,

you know,

going to the lost

sheep of Israel.

And then she came

and knelt before Him.

So she was at a distance

and now she comes

to Jesus

and not just comes,

she doesn't get

in His face,

you're going to give me

what I want.

She drops at His feet.

She kneels down.

And when someone

kneels down

before somebody else,

it's an act of humility

and an act of reverence.

This Gentile woman

has recognized this man

to be her Lord.

The son of David

and she drops

at His feet.

This is happening

in Phoenicia.

Just a few verses ago,

Jesus was confronting

male Pharisees

who were experts

in the Bible

who were anticipating

some kind of Messiah

in the country of Israel.

And they didn't get it.

They rejected Him.

But here,

we have this woman,

Canaanite,

who has no expertise

in the Bible,

but somehow she's heard

that this guy

is the son of David.

She has no position

of authority

in that here she is,

come in Phoenicia,

drops at the feet

of Jesus,

confessing Him

as Lord,

son of David.

Isn't that a bit ironic?

So,

the second time,

she drops at His feet

and she says,

Lord,

help me.

And don't you wish

you were there

just to hear,

was it a whisper?

Were there tears?

We don't know.

But what we do know,

this is the second time

she has called Him Lord.

And it should get your attention.

What is Jesus going to do?

Well,

in verse 26,

Jesus says this,

it's not right

to take the children's bread

and throw it to the dogs.

It's not right

to take the children's bread

and throw it to the dogs.

So this woman is at His feet

crying out for help

and He says,

it's not right

to take the children's bread

and throw it to the dogs.

Is this the same Jesus

that we have been watching

all throughout the Gospel of Matthew

just compassionately engage

anybody that came to Him?

It is.

Something else is going on.

God's looking to get

something done here.

And He's looking to get

something done for us.

Now at this point

in history,

dogs would have been

considered unclean to Jews

even though some Jews

would keep them

as household pets.

But at this point,

Jews would often

call Gentiles

dogs

because they're

unclean pests.

And so it was slang.

And so it's like us

calling someone

a dirty rat.

You rat!

And so when a Jew

would call a Gentile

a dog,

it was just further

separating the two

races out.

Jew from Gentile.

Clean from unclean.

And so Jesus

is using the slang

of the day

to bait this woman

to see how she's

going to respond.

And so it's a bit

tongue in cheek.

That's the way

you've got to be

listening to this.

Now,

so the dogs

is a reference

to not women

but to Gentiles.

And then the children

is a reference

to the people

of Israel.

The children

of Abraham.

And Jesus

is saying

it's not right

to take what

the kids need

and throw it

to the dogs.

It's just not right.

That's what Jesus

is saying.

Tongue in cheek.

Again,

we don't know

the tone of his face

or his voice

or the expression

on his face

but I'm convinced

that what he is saying

is not harsh

but kind.

There is some kind

of invitation

to what he is saying

because what we're

going to see next

is just

full bloom

of this Canaanite

woman's faith.

She is a spicy lady.

Feisty.

And full of faith.

Look at verse 27.

She said,

Yes, Lord.

Yet even the dogs

eat the crumbs

that fall from

their master's table.

Yes, Lord.

The best way

to take that yes

is yes it is.

And so what this woman

is saying to Jesus

is this.

He says,

it's not right

to take the bread

of the children

and throw it

to the dogs.

And she says,

oh yes it is.

Oh yes it is right.

It is right.

To take the bread

for the kids

and give them

to the dogs.

Do you see what

she's doing?

Do you see the spice

in her?

She's disagreeing

with the king.

With the Messiah.

It's right to feed the dogs.

She says,

yes Lord.

It's the third time

she's called him Lord.

So here's what she's saying.

She's saying,

I'm not asking you

to choose between

children and dogs Lord.

I'm not asking you

to just give it all

to the dogs.

She's saying,

there's enough bread

to go around.

For even the dogs

like me

is what she's saying.

For even dogs

like me

will eat the crumbs

that fall from

their master's table.

She's saying,

I'll take anything

from your kosher table

master.

Anything.

Feed the kids first.

I'll take the crumbs.

It's a striking

profession of faith.

She's saying,

Lord, Lord,

I'm not asking you

to stop to feed

your children

for the sake

of this dog.

I'll take the crumbs.

This Gentile woman

is claiming

this man

as her Jewish Lord.

It's phenomenal.

She's so desperate.

She doesn't care

what Jesus calls her.

Just give me

some of your leftovers,

Jesus.

Just give me

some crumbs.

It's like,

Jesus,

if it comes from you,

it's going to be enough.

This woman's faith

is humble

and persistent

and we have so much

to learn

from her.

It's exactly

the place

desperate people

need to be.

At the feet

of Jesus

saying,

give me anything

you've got

because I know

it's going to help.

In verse 28,

Jesus turns

his full attention

to this woman

and says directly

to her

in fullness

for the first time,

he says,

O woman,

great is your faith.

That O

of the O woman

that is

an emotionally

packed O.

It is full

of compassion.

O woman,

Jesus has been

waiting for this

moment for her

to say this,

for her to reach

this point

and say,

I'll take

anything.

And he's going

to give her

everything.

O woman,

great is your

faith.

The only people

in the Gospel

of Matthew

commended for

their faith

are Gentiles.

This woman

here,

and the centurion

whose faith

was like

nobody else's

in Israel.

this Canaanite

woman knew

she was in

the presence

of the son

of David.

This was her

Lord,

and he alone

was able to

show her

the mercy

she needed.

Very unlike

the Pharisees

we just saw.

They didn't

care.

They thought

he was a

kook.

But not

this woman.

She sees him

for who he is.

He's the son

of David.

The Messiah.

He goes on

to say,

be it done

for you

as you desire.

And at that

moment,

her daughter

was instantly

healed.

But did you

notice?

The focus

isn't on the

healing.

The focus

is on the

faith of

this woman.

Her persistent,

humble faith.

Jesus is

saying,

O woman,

you are

right.

I am

the son

of David.

And I

am your

Lord,

and you

are welcome

to my

table.

Receive

my

mercy.

And he

heals

her daughter.

What we're

seeing here

is this.

Access

to the

kingdom

is no

longer

a matter

of

ethnicity.

It's a

matter

of faith.

what you

believe

about this

man,

Jesus

of

Nazareth.

And when

we compare

and contrast

it to the

way of

the Pharisees,

this woman's

response

is striking.

So if I

were to

summarize

what is

the point

of this,

it would

be this.

Gentiles

now have

unrestricted

access to

the saving

grace of

God by

faith in

Jesus.

Jesus is

doing a

game changer

up in

Tyre and

Sidon.

He's

healing

Gentiles.

He's

welcoming

their

engagement

of him.

Now,

a couple

walkaways

from this.

Here's

how I

want you

to be

thinking

about this.

remember

that you

have

Gentile

roots.

Remember

that.

Remember

that.

Remember

you are

a Gentile

according to

the flesh.

By and

large,

the majority

of us

in this

room

are

Gentiles

according

to the

flesh.

And

remember

there was

a time

when we

were

outside,

we had

restricted

access

to the

God of

the

Bible.

Remember

that.

Jesus

said to

the woman

at the

well,

salvation

is from

the

Jews.

And

we had

restricted

access,

but no

more.

Jesus

has

opened

the

way.

And

so

remember

your

Gentile

roots,

but

rejoice

in your

Jewish

Messiah.

Because

He has

opened

the way

for you

as a

Gentile

to come

into

a

saving

relationship

with the

God of

the

Bible.

You

remember

in Matthew

27

when Jesus

died on

the cross

and

immediately

afterwards

the

curtain

was torn

in two

from top

to bottom.

It's a

picture of

God

opening

up a

way.

That's

not just

good news

for Jews.

That's

great news

for Gentiles.

God

has

opened

the way

for all

people

through

Jesus

to come

into

His

holy

presence.

And it

was

through

the

shedding

of

Jesus

blood

that

He

secured

our

access

to

the

holy

living

God

forever.

Remember,

rejoice,

cry out

for help.

If you're

in a

hard

place,

take your

cues from

this

Canaanite

woman.

Help

me

Lord.

Lord,

help

me.

Lord,

help

me.

In this

passage,

four times,

the word

Lord shows

up.

When she

first

acknowledges

Jesus,

when she

comes and

falls at

His feet

and says,

Lord,

help

me.

Help me.

In

verse

26,

excuse me,

verse 27,

she says,

yes,

Lord,

that's the

third time.

For even

the dogs

eat the

crumbs that

fall from

their

master's

table.

That

word

master

is another

way of

translating

the Greek

word

Lord.

From

their

Lord's

table.

Four

times in

this brief

passage,

we see a

Gentile woman

referring to

Jesus

as her

Lord.

Cry out

to her.

Cry out

to your

Lord,

brothers and

sisters.

He may

be Jewish,

but He

is your

Lord.

And He

has a

compassionate

heart to

you.

When He

says,

O woman,

could it

be that

He is

saying the

same to

you?

O

Michael,

O dear

one,

O you

of great

little faith,

come to

me.

Well,

scene one

is we

see Jesus

interacting with

this Canaanite

woman.

And what

we see

happening here

is God

through Christ

has made

a way for

Gentiles to

have unrestricted

access to

God's grace.

The next

scene takes

place,

we see that

happening,

starting in

verse 29

through 31.

Jesus leaves

Tyre and

Sidon,

and He

goes south

and He

ends up

on a hill

by the

Sea of

Galilee

and He

sits down

and it's

the posture

of teaching

and then all

these crowds

start bringing

people in

various kinds

of physical

need to

Jesus and

He starts

healing them

one after

another.

And so

it's striking.

So in

verse 30,

and great

crowds came

to Him

bringing with

them the

lame,

the blind,

the crippled,

the mute,

and many

others,

and they

put Him

at His

feet,

literally

threw Him

down at

His feet.

They're like,

only you can

do something

about this.

And look

what He

does.

And He

healed them.

Do you

know why

He healed

them?

Because He

had compassion

on them.

And so the

compassion with

which He

spoke to

the Canaanite

woman is

the compassion

in action

we're seeing

right here

as He

heals

people.

But you

know what's

interesting?

It's who

the crowds

are.

At the

end of

Matthew 14,

Jesus,

after walking

in the

water,

they go

to this

place called

Gennesaret.

And when

Jesus shows

up,

all these

people flock

to Him

and everyone,

as many

touched Him

were made

well.

All these

were Jews.

What's

happening here?

These crowds?

These aren't

Jews.

These are

Gentiles.

Thousands

of Gentiles

coming to

Jesus,

bringing people

to be healed.

And here's

how I know

that.

In Mark

Mark 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7,

Mark makes

it clear that

Jesus is in

Decapolis,

which is a

Gentile

region.

But in

this text,

if you look

at the end

of verse

31,

we see,

so that the

crowd wondered.

He's healing

them.

They're amazed

at what's

happening.

They saw

the mute

speaking,

the crippled

healthy,

the lame

walking,

and the

blind seeing.

And they

glorified the

God of

Israel.

There's no

reason to

include the

God of

Israel if

this were

Jewish people

giving praise

to God.

These are not

Jewish people.

These are

Gentile people.

And so what

we see happening

in this scene

is that

Jesus is

providing

unrestricted

access to

hundreds if

not thousands

of people.

He heals

one after

another.

One after

another.

Now if you

were on that

hill with

Jesus watching

this happen,

I think you

would be glad

to just stay

with Jesus as

long as you

could.

And that's

what we see

happening in

the final scene.

Scene 3,

starting in

verse 32.

this is where

Jesus feeds

the 4,000.

Jesus heals

all these people

in need because

of His

compassion.

He's welcoming

the Gentiles.

And in

scene 3,

we see in

verse 32,

Jesus calls

His disciples

to Him and

says,

I have

compassion on

the crowds

because they

have been with

Me now three

days and I'm

nothing to eat

and I'm

unwilling to send

them away

hungry lest

they faint

on the way.

These are the

same crowds.

These are the

people He's

been healing.

These are

Gentile crowds.

And so what

we see going

on here is

this.

These Gentiles

who came out

to see Jesus

weren't planning

on spending

three days with

Him.

They've run

out of food.

Jesus knows

this.

He has

compassion on

them.

And so He

tells His

disciples,

hey, I've

got compassion

on them.

Let's do

something about

it.

And I can

just see Peter

saying to

Andrew, oh

no, Master's

having one of

His compassion

moments.

What does

this mean for

us now?

The disciples

say to Him,

where are we

going to get

enough bread

in such a

desolate place

to feed

4,000 dudes?

Probably

8,000 to

10,000 people

altogether.

Jesus says,

how many

loaves do you

have?

They say,

seven loaves

and two fish

probably dried

fish for

transport.

Carry around

with Him.

I want you to

see something

really sweet.

So here we

have 8,000 to

10,000 Gentile

dogs around

Jesus.

and His

12 disciples,

these

children of

Abraham.

What is

Jesus going

to do?

He's going

to take

the bread

of the

children

and He's

going to

share it

with the

dogs.

And so

the feeding

of the

4,000

shows

Jesus

doing the

very thing

that He

spoke of

with a

Canaanite

woman.

It was

tongue-in-cheek

then,

but here

it's on

glorious

display.

His

compassion

in action.

He

takes this

bread,

He gives

thanks for

it,

He breaks

it,

and then

He gives

it to

His

disciples

who then

distribute it

to the

crowds.

Now what's

amazing about

this is

some of the

language here

at the risk

of making

you yawn.

When Jesus

gives thanks

for this,

it's a

one-time

event.

Pop,

give thanks,

done.

When He

breaks the

bread,

pop,

one-time

event,

done.

But the

language of

when He

gives the

disciples,

it's

ongoing

language.

He gives

and gives

and gives.

He keeps

giving them

bread.

He keeps

multiplying

it out.

So I

don't know

if you

have imagined

this miracle

as the

miracle actually

taking place

in between

people passing

the bread

from one

to the

other.

What we're

reading here

is the

miracle was

taking place

at the

ground zero

of Jesus.

He was

multiplying

the bread.

He kept

handing it

out,

giving it

out,

and the

disciples

would give

it out.

The

satisfier,

the multiplier,

is the

one doing

it.

The miracle

is happening

at Jesus.

He kept

giving and

giving and

giving,

and He

eventually

gave so

that all

8,000 to

10,000

people,

men,

women,

and children,

ate to

their fill.

Not just

crumbs.

He satisfied

them.

And there

were seven

baskets left

over.

He takes

the bread

of the

children of

Abraham,

and He

distributes

it to the

Gentile

dogs,

because He

had compassion

on them.

What we see

happening here

is that Jesus

is giving

unrestricted

access to

these Gentiles,

to God's

grace,

by faith.

In verse

38,

Matthew

just

reiterates

the numbers.

Verse 39,

Jesus,

after satisfying

them,

sends them

away.

He gets

in the

boat and

heads back

to Magadan,

which is

back in

Jewish

country.

These

three scenes

are Jesus

interacting

with

Gentiles.

And in

each of

these scenes,

we see

Jesus'

compassion,

O woman.

He heals

every Gentile

laid before

Him out

of His

compassion.

And here,

the feeding

of the

4,000,

from His

lips,

He says,

I have

compassion

on the

crowds.

All three

scenes work

together to

show that

Gentiles now

have unrestricted

access to

God's mercy

grace and

grace through

Jesus,

their

Jewish

Messiah.

And that's

really good

news for

us.

So this

morning,

I want to

remind you

of this.

The

kingdom of

heaven is

a multi-ethnic

kingdom.

It's a

diverse

kingdom.

The citizens

of the

kingdom come

from varying

ethnic

backgrounds,

ones.

But they're

united with

one faith

in the

one Jewish

Messiah,

the compassionate

King,

Jesus.

So this

morning,

remember your

Gentile roots.

Remember that

you were once

outside of

the covenant

and now,

because of what

Jesus has done

on the cross,

He now brings

you into

the covenant.

A new

covenant.

A new

covenant

covenant that

He has

established

in His

blood.

There's more

that we can

say,

but let me

just close

with this.

If what

we're reading

here is

true,

if the

Jewish

Messiah is

the Lord

of both

Jews and

Gentiles,

that's really

good news

for Jews

and Gentiles.

That's really

good news

for us.

That's really

good news

for the city

of Kenosha.

A primarily

Gentile

city.

God has

made a way

to give

unrestricted

access to

every person

living in

this city

to God's

saving,

transforming

grace.

Let's pray

together.

God in

heaven,

we thank you

so much

for this

passage in

the Bible.

Lord Jesus,

our Lord

Jesus,

we give you

the praise,

do your

name.

God,

we ask

that you

would draw

to yourself

many,

many Gentiles

and that you

would show

your compassion

to them,

especially the

greatest work

of compassion

you did by

giving yourself

on the cross.

We give you

praise and

glory.

It's in the

name of Jesus

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.