Have you ever been hungry and all that was left were crumbs? The last time you looked there was one good sized piece of your favorite cake or pie. You went back to the kitchen and all that was left were crumbs. Most of the time, crumbs are not enough. In our story, a Canaanite woman needed something from Jesus and she was willing to just have some crumbs.
Matthew 15:21-22 NKJV Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
When you need help… come to Jesus.
This Canaanite woman came to Jesus because her daughter was severely afflicted by demons.
Her daughter’s health was gone and she was suffering greatly. Her religion offered no help and she had nowhere else to go. Although her people worshipped many gods, none were able to help. Ba’al, the great god of the Canaanites was silent. She was an outsider and had no right to come to Jesus, the Messiah. The Canaanites had been Israel’s enemies throughout Bible history. Her religion stood in opposition against the worship of the Lord God Jehovah. Her god, religion and people were wrong.
She was asking something that was beyond what she could expect, but she came to Jesus.
When people get desperate for answers, they will do whatever it takes. This story is an excellent example for anyone who needs something from the Lord, and they have not received an answer.
Reports of what Jesus had done in the region around the sea of Galilee were highly reported.
Hundreds of people had been healed and delivered. Jesus had demonstrated His power over demons and the ability to heal the sick. When she heard the reports, confident faith arose in her and she believed that Jesus could heal her daughter. She was so convinced that Jesus was the answer that she stepped outside her natural borders and came to Him.
Listen to her plea. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
Matthew 15:23 NKJV But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”
Look at Jesus response. “He answered her not a word.”
Her cry for mercy seemed to fall on deaf ears. Sometimes when you cry out for help, it seems like the heavens are brass and that God is not listening. When Jesus did not answer, this woman did not give up.
She went to His disciples and continued crying out for help.
Her plea disturbed the Lord’s disciples. I can see her running from one to the other asking them to do something. Desperation and real faith will cause people to do whatever it takes. She was making a scene and causing a great disturbance, so His disciples urged Jesus to “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”
Matthew 15:24-25 NKJV But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
In the midst of her faith and desperate plea, Jesus said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
This mother had a faith that would not give up. Has your faith said, “I will not give up?” Kneeling down before the Lord, tears were running down her cheeks. She knew that she is at the feet of the only One who could help her.
Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
This woman was outside of His mission. She had no rights, but the apparent refusal did not stop her. No natural rights were going to stop her.
Then she came to Jesus and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
People worship in many different ways. Desperate people often worship with radical faith. In this verse, the word for “worship” means “to fall upon the knees and kiss the hand.” One translation says, “She flung herself at His feet.” When she approached Jesus, she flung herself down at His feet. In desperation, faith, and worship, she fell at His feet.She knew that she had no right to receive anything from His hand, but she fell down at Jesus’ feet anyway.
We can learn something from her.
She was not sure what would happen, but she fell at His feet and cried, “Lord, help me!”We need to find a place at the feet of Jesus.
Even if you never receive a thing from the Lord, you should worship Him.
Whatever your impossible situation looks like, worship Him. Praise and worship Him even if you are in the middle of a great trauma. Praise Him because He is worthy of your worship.
In her worship she cried out: “Lord, help ME!”
She came to Jesus because He was worthy and had the power to do something. “Lord, help me!” is an expression of desperation, faith and hope at Jesus’ feet. “Lord, help ME!” is something anyone say to Jesus.
Matthew 15:26-27 NKJV But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
While she is on her knees at Jesus’ feet, the Lord said: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
Many people would have gathered their stuff and crawled away. What Jesus said would be enough to distract the insincere and offend the sensitive.
Have you ever had your back against the wall?
She was up against something that she could do nothing with. There were no other answers. No one in her nation or people could help her. She came to Jesus and there was no other source of help. Nobody could help her but Jesus.
At Jesus’ feet she heard: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
She believed something we need to know. She didn’t defend her rights before the Lord, she had none. As a Gentile, she had no right or claim on His power, promise or covenant. She was coming from the outside seeking help. Confident faith said, Jesus could help her and He was the only answer for her daughter. Desperation held her at the feet of Jesus. She didn’t have a claim for a place at the Lord’s table. She didn’t want what belonged to somebody else. Give the loaf of bread to the children.
Listen to her worship at the feet of Jesus…
“Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
“Just give me the crumbs which fall from the Master’s table.”
She was willing to stay right there at the feet of Jesus until He blessed her soul and healed her daughter. She knew something about the DNA of the crumbs from the Master’s table. She believed that there was enough power in the leftovers to supply her child’s need. Her back was up against the wall and she had nothing to lose and everything to gain. If Jesus did not help, her child was going to suffer and die.
Although Jesus offered her nothing from the table, she was willing to take whatever crumbs that may fall. Lord, give the loaf of bread to your children, but just give me some crumbs from your table.
There is enough power in His crumbs.
What is left over from the blessing of the Lord on everybody else is enough to satisfy. The crumbs are more than enough. “If I can have what your children are wasting, that will be enough.”
- If I get a crumb, I will get out of this.
- If I get a crumb, I will break this stronghold.
- If I get a crumb, my child will be healed.
- If I get a crumb, the powers that hold us will have to flee.
“Oh Lord, I want the crumbs.”
Matthew 15:28 NKJV Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Whatever you need, Jesus is enough for you. If you refuse to give up… something will happen. Keep on believing… something will happen. If you keep on worshiping at the feet of the master…something is going to happen.
“And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
Mark 11:22-24 NKJV Jesus said, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
If you can believe, all things are possible.
Luke 17:5-6 NKJV And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Can you believe for a crumb?
When I considered the crumbs from the Master’s table, two of Christ’s miracles of power came to my mind. In both of these situations, Jesus fed multitudes with such a small amount of food that it was negligible. In Matthew 14:15, He fed 5,000 men not including the women and children. In Matthew 15:38, there were 4,000 men fed, plus women and children. Just after the second miracle, Jesus was in a boat with His disciples and they had not brought any bread.
Matthew 16:8-10 ESV But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?
Your lack and your need is not too hard for God. He can supply all your need with crumbs.
