The Syrophoenician Woman, Part 1

Driving home: Shall I in your case take the bread that belongs to them snatch it away before they are filled and give it to you who are like a little puppy under the table near to the place of privilege but not sitting at the table of…

Jesus' analogy of 'little house puppies' under the table, waiting for crumbs from the children's meal, illustrates the Gentile's position relative to the Jewish people in God's redemptive plan at that time. It shows that while Gentiles were not the primary recipients of Jesus' direct ministry, there was still a place for incidental grace.

Here the diminutive is used which can rightly be translated the little dogs the little house puppies the little pets. No decent Palestinian would have had one of those wild pack dogs in his house. He would have chewed on the legs of the kids. But here is the picture of little dogs that have access to come up and rub alongside the legs of the kids their little puppies their little house pets who when the kids gather to the table are found at the beginning of the meal off in the corner looking very proper but while you are not looking they sneak up and before you know it they are under the table...

31:28 - 32:37 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Shall I in your case take the bread that belongs to them snatch it away before they are filled and give it to you who are like a little puppy under the table near to the place of privilege but not sitting at the table of…

Martin quotes Lenski to summarize the meaning of Jesus' illustration, clarifying that the 'bread' is Jesus' ministry for the Jews, and 'pet dogs' are Gentiles who might receive incidental blessings, not a total exclusion.

He said that would be utterly improper. My mission is a mission of ministering to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They are the children at the table they are presently being fed. Shall I in your case take the bread that belongs to them snatch it away before they are filled and give it to you who are like a little puppy under the table near to the place of privilege but not sitting at the table of privilege at this point in God's own working out of the history of redemption?

32:37 - 33:12 Read in full sermon

The point: True faith begins in a context of felt need and desperation, facing spiritual reality about one's sinfulness.

The analogy of a drowning man's simple cry for 'help' illustrates the terseness and urgency of the woman's desperate plea, emphasizing that true faith in dire need doesn't require elaborate vocabulary.

of felt need that faces spiritual reality become a Christian you'll never believe unto salvation until you say I'm as bad as God says I am God says my heart is a sink of iniquity out of it proceed adultery fornication murder theft pride all these other sins God says I am by nature a child of wrath God says I am a slave of sin the world and of the devil God says that I cannot forgive myself change myself God says I must have a new heart or I'll perish my plight is desperate as desperate as the plight of that demon possessed girl God says and you see this woman's great faith all took its startin...

44:48 - 46:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain a heart disposition of felt need and desperation through the Word and Spirit, recognizing your inability to live righteously apart from God's grace.

Martin uses the metaphor of faith withering when looked at directly, but growing strong when fixed upon Christ, to explain how believers can strengthen their faith.

that the devil and the world and these things are not as gross as they're presented in the Bible my friends you and I if we have the fullest most accurate comprehension of our sinfulness do not know the one thousandth part of our sinfulness but if you and your pride like these Pharisees that we read about this morning are going to be content with external religious ritual going through form and ceremony with no hard experience of grace you'll never know the Lord Jesus speaking a word of comfort to your ear and you see it's also true of us as Christians Jesus says to his own with a heart withou...

46:16 - 47:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Press through all discouragements to attain your object from Jesus, interpreting apparent denials or difficulties as open-ended opportunities for hope.

The analogy of Jacob wrestling with the angel until daybreak is used to explain that Jesus was not 'playing games' with the woman but drawing out and strengthening her faith through the struggle.

tattle tale to Jesus and then Jesus turns around and he says look I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel my main message and mission at this time is to the lost sheep of the house of Israel but she does not see in that any rationale as to why he cannot show mercy to an occasional Gentile did he not do it in the Old Testament you remember Jesus in his hometown of Nazareth when he stood up in the synagogue underscored that very principle among all the widows in the days of the prophet God bypassed all the Jewish Israelite widows went to a Gentile widow among all the lepers in...

62:36 - 64:05 Read in full sermon