Matth. 15, 21-28.
And Jesus went out from thence, and escaped into the region of Tyro and Sidon. And, behold, a Canaanite woman went out of that border, and cried after him, saying, Lord, thou Son of David, have mercy on me: my daughter is evil afflicted with the devil. And he answered her not a word. Then came his disciples unto him, and besought him, saying: Let her go from you, for she is crying out to us. But he answered and said: I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And she came and fell down before him, and said, Lord, help me. And he answered and said, It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs. And she said, Yea, Lord; but yet the dogs eat of the little bread that falleth from their masters' tables. And Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, thy faith is great: let it be done unto thee according to thy will. And her daughter was healed that very hour.
1 This is a high gospel. But it was put on this Sunday, just like others, that it also says about the exorcism of the devil; thus they wanted to indicate that one should become pious and confess. But it is a bad and right papal piety that lets itself be saved for a whole year until this time. And it is done with miserable fasting and unwilling confession, since one has no command to do so.
2 Therefore we must first know that this gospel does not speak of such child's play and puppet work; but it is a high and difficult teaching, of the right struggle and fear of death in faith before God, from which we are to learn that no thing should deter us from calling and praying to God, even if He Himself says no to it.
*) Held in the house, 1534.
speaks. As one learns in mortal distress, the devil pushes and stirs up thoughts everywhere, so that our Lord God cannot be seen in any other way than as if he did not want us. It is terrible when the black, thick clouds dim and cover the bright sun; there is trouble above all trouble.
This battle is presented to us here in the woman, since not only the person, but all other circumstances are so evil that they cannot be more evil. First of all, she is a Gentile woman, which is the first circumstantia that makes the matter difficult, that she is not a child of Abraha, nor of Abraham's seed; therefore she has no right to ask anything here, because she is a stranger. The same should have pushed her so before the head that she should have said: What shall I ask? it is lost. Cause, I am a pagan, foreigner
Female; but he is a Jew and sent to the Jews etc.
(4) If we should feel such a violent shock in our hearts, we would soon lie down and let go of prayer. For it is no joke when the conscience stands there and says: Ah, you are not one who should pray, you do not belong to Christ; let Paulum, Petrum pray, our Lord God does not hear you; you have no faith, perhaps you are not chosen, you are not worthy nor sufficient for such high work that you should stand before God and ask him for something. With such thoughts the devil can bring us to despair; for it is a very great blow.
(5) Now look here at this woman, and learn how to behave in such a case as she behaves. She goes and does not see this, but is blind in spirit, so that she forgets the play and cannot remember that she is a Gentile and he is a Jew. For her trust and heart in Christ is so great that she thinks: He will not let me go. With such faith she erases the fact that she is a Gentile. Another would not have done this without faith, but would have thought: You are of the devil, it is in vain that you pray; let his people ask, with you it will do nothing; would therefore never have asked. For he who does not believe cannot pray. But the woman does not let herself be challenged, does not dispute with herself: You do not belong in the house, you are an excluded pagan, and not worthy to be carried by the earth.
(6) Such is a hard and evil temptation, when the devil thus poureth in the heart, saying, Why long wilt thou pray, thou art mine; lift up for it, and curse God, it is just as much; thou shalt not be saved. Such devilish thoughts can prevent an untrained heart from praying at all and falling into despair.
(7) Therefore this history is written for our sake, that we may not be offended at it, if the evil enemy should reproach us, saying, Thou art not a Christian, thy prayers do nothing. No, by all means do not turn to it, but say thus: Let me be who I will, and I will ask nothing of it. For whether I
Even though I am a sinner, I know that my Lord Christ is not a sinner, but remains righteous and merciful. Therefore I will confidently call and cry out to him, and turn to nothing else; for I have no time now to dispute whether I am saved or not. But this I feel, that I need help; come therefore, and seek it in all humility etc.
(8) This is called following this example. For the woman was a heathen, and therefore she could not, indeed she must not, conclude that she was not saved; nevertheless she swallows such a hard and large morsel, and goes before the Lord Jesus, and does not let such thoughts hinder her in prayer. So do thou also, and say, Lord, I come now, and must have this and other things; where else will I take or seek, but with thee in heaven, through thy Son, my Saviour Christ Jesus? This is a battle piece and a very great miracle in the heathen damsel.
9 Now the text says that she cries out, "Ah, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me," and complains of her distress, "My daughter is tormented by the devil. Christ hears such a cry, but he does not answer her a word. This is the other shock, that our Lord faces God just as she was. She is a pagan, who does not belong to the inheritance, nor should she enjoy the benefits. Therefore, when she runs after Christ and asks him, he remains silent as if he had nothing to do with her. From such two cartouches an iron wall should fall down. For she should ever have thought: Where is now the man, who is so praised to me by everyone, how he is merciful, hear soon and help gladly? But as I see and experience, he hears when he wants to and not when we need it. But the poor woman is not yet frightened. But what else does she encounter?
(10) Thirdly, the disciples are tired of crying out and are more pious in their mind than Christ himself. For they think he is too hard and unkind; therefore they go to him and pray for the woman: Ah, Lord, give and help her, for otherwise she will not let go. etc. This is a delicious example that one should not let up in prayer.
Taulerus writes an example in one place that one should desist. But it is wrong to preach in this way. For we find the refraining all too early among us. So this example also shows sufficiently that one should by no means desist, but should always pray, and say with the woman here: I cannot now dispute whether I am pious or wicked, worthy or unworthy, I cannot wait now; I have something else and more necessary to do. "My daughter is badly afflicted by the devil," I must have advice and help for that. You can see that such hard blows give the one who feels his need only the more earnestly to plead and beg that he be helped, regardless of how evil and unworthy of help he is. etc.
(12) Here is the third challenge, or thrust, that Christ says, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He also strikes the disciples on the head, and neither the woman nor they who pray for them will listen.
13 Then she should have thought: Surely this must be a hard man who will not listen to other people who ask of themselves and unasked. And the truth is, Christ is nowhere painted so harshly in the whole gospel as here. Nevertheless, it does not desist, but lusts for and for, has devoured three great cartouches.
14 Since her cries and other intercessions do not help, she also enters the house, as Marcus says. This may well be called half an impudent woman. She ran after him in the street with a shout; now that Christ is going into the house to get rid of her, she runs after him and falls down before him. But these things are prescribed for our learning and comfort, that we may learn how heartily Christ is pleased when a man thus leaseth and continueth.
(15) Yet the Lord is not yet to be found, as she would have him. For listen, what does he say to this woman? "It is not good to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs. If he had said such a word to me, I would have been
I would have run away in disgust, thinking, "What you are doing is in vain; there is nothing to be gained. For it is an exceeding hard word, that the Lord should thus cast her at his feet, not leaving it that she is not a child or a heathen, but calling her a dog. This is worse than if he had called her a heathen. Yes, it is just as much said as if he said: You are of the devil, as you walk and stand, just always troll yourself, you have no business here. That means highly tempted. If St. Peter or Paul said such a word to me, I would be scared to death. But what should it be now, since Christ himself says it to this woman?
(16) Therefore this is a great and excellent example, by which one sees how powerful faith is: it takes Christ by his words when he is most angry, and turns a harsh word into a comforting dialectic, as we see here. You say, she says, I am a dog: I let it happen, gladly want to be a dog, only keep me like a dog. Give your children the bread, put them at the table, I do not desire such things; only let me pick up the small pieces of bread from under the table, and allow me that, without which the children would not enjoy, but would go for nothing; I will be content with the same. So catches the Lord Christ with his own words. Yes, that is even more, with the right of the dog it wins the right of the child. For where does he want to go, dear Jesus? he has caught himself and must now leave. But if only he could, he would gladly let himself be caught like that.
(17) Now this is the right masterpiece, a peculiar and strange example, which therefore is prescribed for us, that we should learn it, and not be turned away from the man, God granting that he call us dogs or heathen. For the dogs must also have masters and food. So the Gentiles must also have a God.
(18) With such hard holding and firm faith the Lord is caught, and answers, "O woman," if thou canst suffer and endure these blows in thy heart, "let it be done unto thee according as thou believest." For it is a strange judgment. He saw that the other Jews were soon
They were annoyed by one word, because he says: They must eat his flesh. But this woman always holds on to the hope that he will help and will not let go of him.
(19) Here we see why the Lord was so hard on her and refused her help, namely, that he did not show his unkindness because he did not want to help, but so that her faith would be revealed, and the Jews, who were heirs to his kingdom and children, would learn from the Gentile woman, who was neither heir nor child, how they should believe in Christ and put all their trust in him. For this is what Christ wants, and it pleases him so much that he can no longer conceal his goodness and kindness, saying, "Go, be it done to you as you wish." So he gives her the right of the dog, and not only makes the daughter well, but offers to give what she desires and wants, and sets her among Abraham's seed. Faith brings her to such grace that she is no longer called a dog or a pagan, but a beloved daughter and a truly holy woman.
20 Such an example serves to show us whether our Lord God is keeping us a long time, so that we should not let up, but firmly believe that he will finally say yes to it; and whether he is not already saying loudly and publicly that he is secretly in his heart, until the time comes that you must experience and see it, if only you do not let up with praying and stopping, nor are you lazy. As can be seen in other examples. Joseph cried out and continued to pray for thirteen years, asking God to help him. But the longer he prayed, the worse he became. The more he prayed, the worse he got. This is still the case today with Christians: when they have cried out and cried to God for a long time, they do not feel any improvement, but the longer it goes on, the worse it gets, just like Joseph. If God had redeemed Joseph sooner, Jacob, his father, would have been happy. But Joseph would have had to remain a shepherd. But since it took so long, he became a ruler over all of Egypt, and God accomplished much good through him, not only during the seven years of the rebellion, but also in other areas of world and church government.
Egypt alone, but also the surrounding countries have been improved etc.
God still wants to do this with us. If he has long denied us our request, and has always given us the no, but we hold fast to the yes, then it shall finally be yes and not no. For his word will not lie: "Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you."
But our reason is highly annoyed by such delay and would like God to hear us as soon as possible. It is necessary not to be angry. Let our Lord God say no, and hold out the request for a year, two years, three years, or even longer, and only beware that we do not let hope and faith in His promise be torn from our hearts: then in the end something will have to come of it, that He will give far more than you have asked to give. As it happens to this woman, if she had desired and wanted more, he would have given it to her.
23 Therefore our Lord God will teach us that it is not always good to hear soon. In great distresses it does; as when you fall into water or are at war, it does not take long to wait when the distress is so near and great. But if the delay and the waiting can be endured, then one should learn that he is glad to forgive, but still, as the prophet Habakkuk says (2:3): "If the promise be consumed, wait for it; it will surely come, and will not be forgiven.
(24) So he now also departs and lets the pope and the Turks rage against us. We cry out and do miserable things, but he does not hear and acts as if he does not know us, and makes us suffer as miserably as if we had no God. But it will not always remain so. Therefore let us have no doubt about it; we have the word of consent in heaven, which is certainly in the heart of the Lord Christ and God his Father, even if he builds four or five iron walls in front of it and the devil shoots a vain no to it. But he learns to say: I believe that God will be merciful to his church and save it when it cries for help. The word of yes is in his heart, according to the promise of Christ: "What you ask the Father in my
name, which he will give you." Therefore I will not dispute whether I am qualified and worthy to pray, but that the word of yes will surely be there if I only pray and hold fast.
(25) So this history is a particularly beautiful example of a right faith, that it wants to be practiced, and that it shall finally overcome and attain everything, if we follow this woman; she also does not want to let the word of the Lord Christ Himself be taken out of her heart, that He will be kind and help.
26 But we are especially comforted by this history against the common temptation to which we are exposed.
For the rest of our lives, we must not allow our faith and trust to fall away when we think of our unworthiness and sinful lives. For if Christ wanted to look more at our worthiness and merit than at his mercy and our need, he would not have helped this young lady. But he will be merciful and gladly help, if only we continue to trust and pray. May our dear Lord God help us, so that we may also come hereafter, and with firm faith rely on His word and promise with all our heart, and through Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit, become eternally blessed, amen.