Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #25 - 15:21-39)
C. 15:21-28 FAITH MAKES US ACCEPTABLE TO CHRIST
a. 15:21 And :Jesus went out from there, andwithdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.
Kai e-xelTHON eKEIthen ho IeSOUS, a-neCHOre-sen [402]eis ta MEreTUrou kai SiDOnos.
b. 15:22 THE CRYING REQUEST OF A CANAANITE WOMAN
kai, iDOU, guNE Cha-naNAIa aPO ton hoRIon [3725] eKEInon e-xelTHOUsa,
And, lo, a Canaanite woman came out from those :borders,
Ekra-zen [2908], LEgou-sa, E-LEeSON [1653] me, KUri-e, huiOS DauID;
andcried, saying, Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David;
he thuGAter mou kaKOS dai-moNIze-tai [1139].
my :daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.
c. 15:23a But he answered her not a word. ho de ouk a-peKRItheauTELOgon.
d. 15:23b THE SUGGESTION OF THE DISCIPLES
kai pro-selTHONtes hoi ma-theTAI auTOU eROtoun auTON, LEgon-tes,
And his :disciples came andasked him, saying,
A-POlu-son [630] auTEN; HOti KRAzei [2896] Opis-then heMON.
Send her away; for she cries after us.
e. 15:24 But he answered andsaid, I was not sent but unto the lost :sheep of thehouse of Israel.
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen, Ouk a-peSTALmen ei me eis ta PROba-ta ta a-po-loLOta [622]OIkou Is-raEL.
f. 15:25 But she came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me.
hede elTHOUsa pro-seKUnei [4352]auTO, LEgou-sa, KUri-e, boEthei [997]moi.
g. 15:26 JESUS RESPONDS YET MORE STRONGLY
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen, ouk EStin kaLON
And he answered andsaid, it is not good
laBEIN ton ARton ton TEKnon kai baLEIN tois ku-naRIois [2952].
to take the bread of the children and cast itto the dogs.
h. 15:27 THE FAITH RESPONSE OF THE WOMAN
ho de EIpen, Nai, KUri-e: kai gar ta kuNAria esTHIei aPO ton psiCHIon [5589]
But she said, Yes, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs
ton pipTONton aPO tes traPEzes [5732] ton kuRIon auTON.
which fall from the table of their :masters.
i. 15:28a JESUS COMMENDS HER GREAT FAITH
TOte a-po-kriTHEIS ho IeSOUS EIpen auTE, O GUnai,
Then :Jesus answered andsaid to her, O woman,
meGAle sou he PIstis: ge-neTHEto soi hos THEleis.
great isyour :faith: be it done unto you as you will.
j. 15:28b And her :daughter was healed from that :hour.
kai iAthe[2390]hethuGAter auTES aPO tes HOras eKEInes.
D. 15:29-39 COMPASSION OF JESUS IN HEALING AND FEEDING
1. 15:29-31 HEALINGS ON A MOUNTAIN NEAR GALILEE
a. 15:29 JESUS DEPARTS TO GALILEE
Kai me-taBAS eKEIthen ho IeSOUS, ELthen paRA ten THAlas-san tes Ga-liLAIas;
And :Jesus departed from there, andcame near to the sea of :Galilee;
kai a-naBAS eis to Oros, eKAthe-to eKEI.
and went up into the mountain, and sat there.
b. 15:30-31 GREAT MULTITUDES HEALED
kai proSELthon auTO OCHloi polLOI, Echon-tes meth' he-auTON choLOUS [5560],
And great crowds came to him, having with them themaimed,
kulLOUS [2948], tuphLOUS [5185], koPHOUS [2974] kai heTErous polLOUS,
lame, blind, dumb and many others,
kai Eri-psan [4496] auTOUS paRA tous POdas auTOU; kai e-theRApeu-sen [2323] auTOUS:
and they cast them down at his :feet; and he healed them:
HOste ton OCHlon thauMAsai [2296], BLEpon-tas koPHOUS laLOUNtas,
31so that the crowd wondered, seeing thedumb speaking,
kai koLOUS pe-ri-paTOUNtas, kai tuphLOUS BLEpon-tas: kai eDOxa-san [1392] ton TheON Is-raEL.
and thelame walking, and theblind seeing: and they glorified the God of Israel.
2. 15:32-39 FASTING BECAUSE OF JESUS' MINISTRY: THEN FEEDING!
a. 15:32 JESUS' COMPASSIONATE CONCERN FOR THE HUNGRY CROWD
Ho de IeSOUS pro-ska-leSAme-nos [1341] tous ma-theTAS auTOU, EIpen,
And :Jesus called unto himhis :disciples, andsaid,
SplagchNIzo-mai [4697] ePI ton OCHlon, HOti Ede heMErai treis prosMEnouSIN [4357]
I have compassion on the crowd, because they continue with me
moi kai ouk Echou-sin ti PHAgo-sin: kai a-poLUsai
already three days and have nothing to eat: and I would not
auTOUS NEsteis [3523] ou THElo, ME po-te e-kluTHOsin [1590] en te hoDO.
send them away fasting, lest haply they faint on the way.
b. 15:33 THE CONCERN OF THE DISCIPLES
kai LEgou-sin auTO hoi ma-theTAI, POthen heMIN
And the disciples say to him, From where shouldwe have
en e-reMIa [2047] ARtoi toSOUtoi HOste chorTAsai [5526] OCHlon toSOUton?
so many loaves in a desert as to fill so great a crowd?
c. 15:34a And :Jesus says to them, How many loaves do you have?
kai LEgei auTOIS ho IeSOUS, POsous ARtous Eche-tes?
d. 15:34b And they said, Seven, and a few small fishes.
hoi de EIpon, HepTA, kai oLIga ichTHUdi-a [2485].
e. 15:35-36 JESUS MIRACULOUSLY FEEDS THE MULTITUDE
kai pa-ragGEIlas [3853] to OCHlo a-na-peSEIN [377] ePI ten gen;
And he commanded the crowd to sit on the ground;
Ela-ben tous hepTA ARtous kai tous ichTHUas; kai eu-cha-riSTEsas [2168] Ekla-sen,
36andtook the seven loaves and the fishes; and gave thanks andbroke,
kai eDIdou tois ma-theTAIS, hoi de ma-theTAI tois OCHlois.
and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.
f. 15:37 THE LEFT-OVERS
kai Epha-gon PANtes, kai e-chorTASthe-san [5526]: kai to pe-risSEUon [4053]
And all ate, and were filled: and they took up
ton klasMAton[2802] Eran, hepTA sphuRIdas [4711] PLEreis.
what remained over of the broken pieces, seven hampers full.
g. 15:38 And who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
hoi de esTHIon-tes Esan te-tra-kisCHIli-oi ANdres, choRIS gu-naiKON kai paiDIon.
h. 15:39 And he sent away the crowds, andentered into the boat, and came into the borders of Magadan.
kai a-poLUsas tous OCHlous, eNEbe eis to PLOIon, kai ELthen eis ta HOri-a Ma-gaDAN.
NOTE: The Canaanite woman teaches us that perseveranceis a key element of faith. She did not give up. She wouldnot give up. Each difficult response from Jesus - but caused her to creatively find a suitable answer! So we all could wellemulate her persistence of faith.
But Jesus' disciples had not yet reached an understanding of their Master's heart. He was but testing the faith of the woman, and when she came through with flying colors, the disciples had no further word to say. After Pentecost, the Spirit of Jesus within them, enabled the disciples to be like their Master, and even perform the “Greater Works” which He had promised.
And always, the very compassion of God Himself motivated Jesus the Son of man, when confronted by the needs of a hungry crowd.
See also the care Jesus had with left-overs. This could encourage us to do likewise. What a waste of food we have in our Western world. Even in our homes we often fail to teach our children not to take more food than they will eat. And what restaurants throw out because of left-overs! And all along many poor people literally have insufficient to meet their needs. And if this is true in our country - what of many of the Third World nations?
Surely then from Jesus' example here, we can learn that God Himself thinks of waste and left-overs, and must hope and expect that we will follow in His train. J.A.W.