Crumb Snatcher

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Matt 15:21-28

Recently, we have been looking at some unnamed women who had life changing encounters with Jesus. These were not people of renown or prestige but really the rejects of their society. One of them did not go looking for Jesus but was dragged to him under accusation of adultery with a suggested death sentence hanging over her head. As I stated then, if they had taken her outside the city and stoned her to death, they would have been within their rights according to Jewish law. However, when they brought her to Jesus, that encounter changed her life. Jesus showed her mercy and shamed her accusers. Then there was the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years who tried to sneak upon her a blessing. But Jesus wouldn’t allow her to sneak a blessing without giving a testimony. When he called her out, the bible says that she told all the truth. Some time ago we talked about the unnamed woman at the Samaritan well who had a problem establishing lasting relationships or marriage. But after one encounter with Jesus, she evangelized a whole city in Samaria. She was changed from a social failure into a successful missionary. All of these unnamed women had their lives redirected and changed after one encounter with Jesus. These were not people that followed Jesus but they just had a single encounter with him that turned out to be for them life changing.

In this passage of scripture that is before us today from Matthew’s account of the gospel, Jesus has entered into some coastal towns along the Mediterranean Sea. This is an area that was never settled by the Jews. This is distinctly Gentile territory but there are some Jews living in the region. Jesus has withdrawn from the area around the Sea of Galilee apparently for some rest. He entered into a house for some privacy but Mark records in his gospel account that he could not be hid for his reputation had preceded him and the citizens there knew of his arrival. It must be quite demanding to grow weary in ministry and not be able to back off for some down time. The encounter that takes place is best understood when Matthew’s account of it is studied in conjunction with Mark’s account. Mark lets us know that it took place in a house and Jesus was trying to have some down time since he did not want anyone to know he was there. As this Gentile woman cried unto Jesus for mercy, he did not respond to her at all. The text says that he answered her not a word. He didn’t even say hold on a minute and let me take a break or come back later today or tomorrow. He did not answer her a single word. Jesus’ disciples appear to have become irritated with this woman and requested that he not ignore her but instead send her away from them. It was at the disciples’ request that Jesus responded. His response was that his ministry did not involve or include her. His ministry was to the Jews. Now that she had Jesus’ attention, she came and fell down at his feet and worshiped him and again made her request for help known to him. Jesus now responded to her with a metaphor. Metaphorically speaking, he said it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. Now when you compare a person to a dog, you are likely to start a fight. Jesus is suggesting that when something is purposely prepared for children that you should not overlook their needs and throw their blessing away where it can be devoured by the dogs. This woman did not come up with her own metaphor. But this woman was willing to work within the bounds of Jesus’ metaphor. So she says to Jesus you are right in what you said but even the dogs under the table are allowed the privilege of eating the crumbs that fall off the table onto the floor. If the children are not careful and appreciative of the blessings they receive, then what they waste will be gladly received by those who are underprivileged. Where children that are blessed with bread become unappreciative and allow some of it to crumble to the floor, then there are crumb snatchers waiting to receive the blessing that they don’t appreciate. This woman’s response settled the whole matter with Jesus. She did not see herself as a dog but she understood the analogy. She did not challenge Jesus’ right to focus only on the Jews but she did understand that many of them didn’t really know the blessing they were being offered. She didn’t ask to take away the Jews’ blessing. What she requested quite clearly was the blessing that they let slip from their hands and crumble to the floor. She accepted Jesus’ stated ministry target as being the Jews and she did not request to take their place. She wanted the blessing that they despised and didn’t appreciate.

As I close today, I want to warn you to watch out for crumb snatchers. When God blesses you with opportunity, if you don’t receive it and take action, there are crumb snatchers that will gladly have your blessing. When God blesses you with a job, receive it as a blessing from God and give him the glory by being the best employee you can be or the crumb snatchers will gladly accept that job. When God blesses you with finances, be obedient to his directions for there are crumb snatchers willing to accept those finances and do whatever God requires of them. Crumb snatchers don’t covet your blessings but instead they desire the blessings that you don’t appreciate. If you have a good wife or a good husband….there are crumb snatchers that know how to be good spouses. If you have a good church, or community, or friends, or homes or any other thing that God has blessed you with, the crumb snatchers are waiting for the crumbs to hit the floor. Can I remind you that Jesus is a mighty good Savior? He died just so that you can have the privilege of eternal life with God in heaven. But if you act like knowing Jesus doesn’t matter in your life, then there are crumb snatchers that would love to take your place. They want to sing in the choir. They want to stand on the usher’s post. They want to lead the church in prayer and devotion. They want to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. They want to be missionaries and visit the sick and shut-ins and witness to the unsaved. They don’t mind filling out a report so that those who follow them will know that they did their part. Jesus died and rose again and has promised that he’s coming back for the church. There are crumb snatchers willing to take your place.

Robert C. Hudson
August 23, 2009