“Tough Jesus” (Matt 7:21-23; Lk 14:25-33; Matt. 15:21-28) | 2/23/20
Matt 7:21-23; Lk 14:25-33; Matt. 15:21-28 | 2/23/20 | Will DuVal
*We all love a “gentle giant”, don’t we? The character in the story who seems really tough on the outside, but he’s really just a big SOFTY on the inside. I think of HAGRID, in Harry Potter. The Incredible Hulk, who cuddles kittens and bunnies. The late, great Kobe Bryant, who was known for being CUT-THROAT on the basketball court, but off-court, was beloved for his kind, caring demeanor.
But what about the OPPOSITE? The person we believe to be just a big ole’ teddy bear, but who ACTUALLY has an unexpected edge to him? For many unbelievers and immature Christians, that’s Jesus of Nazareth. Do a quick FB poll and ask your friends: “What adjectives best describe Jesus?”, and you’ll turn up many of the lyrics to Charles Wesley’s famous hymn - “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild”. Kind. Loving. Gracious. To be sure, Jesus WAS all those things… when the situation called for it. He was the compassionate, merciful Lamb of God. But he was ALSO the LION of Judah. Well did C.S. Lewis depict him in the Chronicles of Narnia as Aslan, the lion who isn’t AT ALL “safe”, but he’s good. So our Christology, our “view of Jesus”, has to make room for the really TOUGH things that Jesus said and did.
The Jesus who called people “hypocrites”, “vipers”, and “children of the DEVIL”, and pronounced curses and woes on them.
The Jesus who came NOT to bring peace, but a sword, and who called people to sell all their possessions, and gouge out their eyes.
The Jesus who talked about Hell more than anyone else in the entire Bible.
And this morning, in week 8 of our “Tough Texts” series, we’re going to focus in on arguably the 3 toughest things Jesus says in all of Scripture. And in each of these passages, the recurring adjective that comes to mind for ME is DEMANDING. Jesus is DEMANDING. Specifically, we’ll unpack the 3 things he demands of us in these 3 passages. And I’ll offer you some practical application points to accompany each, and then because “demanding” sounds like such a NEGATIVE character trait, we’ll close by considering why it’s such a good thing that Jesus is demanding.
But first, let’s ask the Lord to guide our study together; would you pray with me...
PASSAGE #1: Matthew 15:21-28
“And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.”
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Demand #1: Jesus demands our HUMILITY.
What makes this passage tough? Well, if you didn’t know better, you’d think Jesus was a “racist”. One last quick plug for our “Race in the Church” discussion tonight. 7:00-8:30, right here in the sanctuary. You won’t want to miss it. But this passage is evidence that race has ALWAYS been an issue in the church. ESPECIALLY in the pre-church, Jewish understanding of what it meant to be God’s people. It was to be OTHER. Separate. Different. God called His chosen people - Israel - to be DISTINCT from the other nations. So Israel often slipped into an “us VS. them”, “we’re BETTER than you” mentality, but what they missed, Genesis 12, was that they were called to be holy, in order to be a BLESSING to ALL nations! Psalm 67:2-3 “Let your way be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!””
That’s why God commands us today to “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19-20)
Yes, salvation will START with the Jews:
-in John 4:22, Jesus declares “salvation is from the Jews.”
-in Rom 1:16, Paul explains: “The gospel… is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
-And Jesus declares here in v24: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” That was his primary mission field.
And yet, by Matthew 15, Jesus has already healed the centurion’s servant in ch.8; he has already preached to the Samaritan woman in John ch.4. So we KNOW there’s more going on here with this Canaanite woman. What’s Jesus doing? Why does he IGNORE her in v23? DISMISS her in v24? And flat-out INSULT her in v26 - he calls her a “DOG”!
Jesus is TESTING her. He had compassion on her the whole time; Jesus didn’t have to be convinced to care for this woman. He is TESTING her, and in so doing, he is TEACHING his disciples. I imagine Jesus looking at THEM when he replies in v26: “It’s not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs”. ‘That’s what Y’ALL think she is, right?’ A DOG? That was a common Jewish slang used for Gentiles. But interestingly, Jesus doesn’t use the typical Greek word for dog - “kuon” - that referred to mangy, street mutts, but rather kunarion - the term for a household pet. He INVITES her into the metaphor; how will she respond?
“Dog?! Who are YOU calling a DOG?! I’ll SHOW you a dog…!”
No - look at her response, not just in v27, but at EVERY TURN in this passage: it is a response of HUMILITY:
-v22: Her cry “Have mercy!” implies humility: “Mercy” is by definition undeserved. John MacArthur notes: “She did not ask for Jesus’ help on the basis of her own goodness but on the basis of His” (469).
*Still in v22: She addresses Jesus as “LORD…” - the Greek is kurios, MASTER. Owner. It’s a term borrowed from slavery. It implies total humility, reverence, submission.
*v23: Jesus ignores her, yet she CONTINUES to cry out. Now she’s going beyond humility, to humiliation. She is willing to be publicly shamed and embarrassed, out of love for her daughter, and in her belief in Jesus’ power to heal.
*v25: after Jesus dismisses her in v24; she comes and KNEELS before him - proskuneo = she literally “prostrates” herself; probably not “kneeling”, but face-down in the dirt, in utter humility. And she BEGS him, “Lord, HELP me!”
*Yet STILL, v26, Jesus refuses, and calls her a “dog”: The final test of her humility. And v27: she replies... “Yes.” Yes, you’re right, Jesus, to call me a dog. I am as undeserving of your time, your attention, your power, your healing, your mercy, your salvation as a DOG is undeserving of the family dinner. You’re right. AND YET, even a dog’s gotta eat.
And her response proves not ONLY her humility, but her FAITH as well. She essentially responds: “Jesus, this is NOTHING for you. Healing my daughter? That’s TABLE SCRAPS to you. Mere CRUMBS. All you’d have to do is snap your fingers, just say the word, and it’s DONE. So in v28, he DOES, and it IS done. “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.”
Friends: Jesus promises to save those, ONLY those, who come to Him in humility:
-Mark 2:17 “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
He illustrated this most powerfully in his parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18 (vv9-14): “He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.””
So I ask you this morning: which one are you? Do you acknowledge how undeserving you are? Do you realize that God doesn’t OWE you anything? We live in an entitlement society. It’s great that people don’t starve to death in our country anymore. That if you got in a car accident on the way home today, you’d be rushed to the nearest hospital and treated, no questions asked. But the COST of that is, we’ve become spoiled rotten. We feel entitled. Like we’re owed something… owed EVERYTHING. There are no more “privileges” today; EVERYTHING is a “right” - food, housing, education, healthcare. The world says: you DESERVE it.
Jesus says, “I don’t think so!” I don’t owe you JACK. I didn’t owe you the life I gave you FREELY, I don’t owe you the breath in your lungs that you take for granted every second of the day, I don’t owe you your job, your loved ones, your health, the clothes on your back, every single thing you have, friends, is an UNDESERVED gift from God.
So 3 quick application points:
1) Will you CRY OUT? This Canaanite woman is RELENTLESS. She’s like the woman in the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18; we won’t read the whole thing, but the summary is: even an unjust judge can be ANNOYED into doing the right thing, if you refuse to give up. How much more so with GOD - “Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?” Thad preached about “unanswered prayer” a few weeks back; I wonder how many times we mistake for a “No” what is REALLY God’s “Not YET”. And if we’d just keep BEGGING, we would realize that God wants to give us a YES, but he wants us to CRY OUT for it. Matt 7:9-11 “Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!””
BUT Jeremiah 29:13 - “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Why does he make us BEG for it? Because God’s ultimate aim isn’t our temporary satisfaction in the things of this world, but our eternal satisfaction in HIM. And when we cry out to Him, in HUMILITY, we remind ourselves how utterly dependent we are ON Him for everything.
2) Will you KNEEL? Man, I’d love to see more folks on the floor, during our time of confession. Ps 130:3 “If you should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”. I know some of y’all would have a tough time getting back up, so I guess we’ll give you a pass. But brothers and sisters: Confession cannot be a weekly, Sunday thing for us. We are FAR more sinful and needy than that. It can’t just be confessing what I’ve DONE. You’re not a sinner because you sin; you SIN because you’re a sinner. Psalm 51:5 says we were BORN sinners. Romans 3:12 says we’re sinful to our very CORE. Confession isn’t just a list of my bad deeds I can remember; it’s a state of BEING. It’s a humble recognition before the Lord that I don’t even deserve to come into His PRESENCE. So James 4:10, we “Humble [y]ourselves before the Lord, and [WHAT] he will exalt you.” How? How I am able to now BOLDLY approach his throne of grace with confidence, Hebrews 4:16? It is SOLELY because of the One to whom EVERY knee will one day bow.
3) Will you BELIEVE? If God STILL doesn’t give you what you’re asking, BEGGING, will you respond like the Canaanite woman in the first half of v27 - “You’re right, Lord; I don’t deserve it.” And like she does in the SECOND half of v27 as well: “Yet, I still believe”. I still trust you. I trust your promises, Romans 8:28 - to work all things together for my good; Ps 84:11 - “No good thing does God withhold from those who walk uprightly.” So if you’re withholding it, God, I trust that it must not be good for me right now. My faith is not tied to the good things you give me, but to the good God I know you to be. Come what may.
PASSAGE #2: Matt 7:21-23 -- “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
DEMAND #2 - Jesus demands our OBEDIENCE.
Why is this passage tough? Because apparently there are going to be people who can predict the future, perform exorcisms, and work miracles - that’s what they claim, and Jesus DOESN’T reply “No you didn’t! You LIARS!” - They did “mighty works IN JESUS’ NAME”, and they confess him as LORD to boot - their theology is ORTHODOX - who will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
Now, that should cause everyone in this room, who has NOT performed an exorcism or a miracle lately, to SERIOUSLY pause. And ask with Jesus’ disciples: “Who then can be saved?” (Matt 19:25) By the way, the context there in Matthew ch.19 is yet ANOTHER of Jesus’ tough sayings; it was a runner-up: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” But you and I can find GREAT comfort today in Jesus’ reply, of who can be saved: “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt 19:26)
See, that’s the problem, with these orthodox miracle-workers. They are presumably standing before the judgment seat of Christ, as we all will one day, 2 Cor 5:10; and he has presumably just asked them the question he will ask every ONE of us on that day, the most important question you will ever be asked in all of ETERNITY, friends, because it will DETERMINE your eternity, and that is: “Why should I let you into Heaven?” And look what they point to: my prophecies. My exorcisms. My miracles.
My volunteering. My tithing. My baptism.
Friends, if your answer to THAT question, starts with the word “My”, you are in serious TROUBLE. Because nothing of YOURS will measure up to God’s standard of perfection required for admittance into heaven. Matthew 5:20 “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” v48: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
You say, wait a minute, I thought you just told me Jesus demanded my OBEDIENCE. And sure enough, that is Jesus’ beef with these orthodox miracle-workers: he calls them “workers of lawlessness”, v23. They have NOT done the will of his Father, v21. So what IS the law? What IS God’s will?
John 6:28-29 “Then they asked Jesus, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” He answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom God has sent.”
1 Jn 3:23 “this is God’s commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ”
THAT is God’s will for you, friends; THAT is God’s LAW. His COMMAND. That is your obedience; it is the obedience of FAITH.
Faith is a relationship. Notice Jesus’ language here: depart from me; I never KNEW you. Faith, true faith, SAVING faith, isn’t so much about what you believe as it is who you KNOW: John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
And relationships are a 2-way street; it’s about knowing and BEING known.
*1 Cor 8:3 “if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”
*Jn 10;14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me”
That’s why the 2 primary spiritual disciplines God has given us are internalizing Scripture and prayer. Knowing Him, as He has revealed himself in His word, and making ourselves known TO him, in prayer. It’s true what they say: Communication is the key to every good relationship.
So I ask YOU: how is YOUR relationship with the Lord? You're “knowing and being known by Him?” If you were gonna try and illustrate it in human terms, would you say you’re like the couple who really care about each other, and you both know it, but life is just really busy right now and if you’re honest, you’ve struggled to prioritize the relationship as much as you know you should? Perhaps some of you feel like you and God are the cold, distant couple who hardly ever even talk any more. You sleep in separate bedrooms. Let me assure you this morning, friend: that is NOT God’s desire. Sometimes we hear about people “finding God”, and I have NO idea what they’re talking about. Because I can’t find anywhere in the Bible that ever mentions God HIDING. I don’t YOUR testimony, but mine is that I was the one running, hiding, and God left the 99 to come find ME
But relationships are still a 2-way street. You get out of it what you put in; I couldn’t expect to have much of a relationship with Polly if I worked 70 or 80 hours a week and never SAW her. So your obedience STARTS with the obedience of faith, but it doesn’t END there. That’s just the wedding; now you’ve got a whole MARRIAGE ahead of you! And relationships take work. What are you doing to strengthen your relationship with the Lord?
I want to give you a new tool to help you do that. Here’s your practical application point for passage #2. If you’re a regular here, you’ll notice the back side of the tear off card in your bulletin looks different. Where it used to just ask for your “prayer requests”, now you’ll see space for “Sermon Application” as well. We don’t ever want to just be “hearers of the word”, here at West Hills; we want to be “doers of the word”, James 1:22. Sermons aren’t like social media posts, where you can just click “Like”, and get that quick dopamine fix, then go about your day; sermons are supposed to CHANGE you. If they DON’T, then either I haven’t done my job, or you haven’t done yours, or the Holy Spirit hasn’t done His. And we KNOW God’s doing his part. And I THINK I’m doing mine. So if helps you make sure you’re doing yours, and responding to Jesus’ demand of obedience, would you consider jotting down just one way you feel God calling you to respond to His word this morning? Now, you can turn that tear off card in, just like you do your “prayers requests”. You can stick it in your Bible or your pocket, if you want to be tangibly reminded of your commitment to act throughout the week. If you turn them in, we won’t send those out to the prayer team; it’ll be between me and you, but here’s what it WILL do:
If you write something down, you’re more likely to actually do it.
If you write it down and turn it IN to me, you’re even more likely to actually do it. Cuz I may lovingly check in with you the following week, especially if you’re a member who has explicitly asked me as your pastor for that kind of accountability, to exhort and encourage you in your walk with the Lord...
Lastly, you might just encourage ME. Sometimes we preachers battle insecurity and wonder if anyone out there is even listening, much less APPLYING this message. I’d be so encouraged to see the ways God is speaking to you and CHANGING you through His word.
Lastly, and maybe toughest of ALL, PASSAGE #3 - Luke 14:25-33 -- “Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
Simply put, Jesus says you better COUNT THE COST. Because DEMAND #3 is - Jesus demands our UNRIVALED DEVOTION.
Jesus says elsewhere: “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Luke 16:13) What’s true of money is true of your family relationships, is true of your career success, is true of : Jesus clearly says, “You have to pick. Which is most important? Divided hearts, need not apply.”
*What this passage DOESN’T mean:
**v.26: treat your family like they’re worthless.
-Mark 7:10 “Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’”
-parallel text makes meaning “love less” clear: Matthew 10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me”;
-Eph 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church”
-Luke 6:27 “Love your enemies”
**v.33: does NOT mean you must leave everything
-examples of folks not leaving family, money, etc.
*Kent Hughes: “What Jesus was saying paradoxically was that our love for him must be so great and so pervasive that our natural love of self and family pales in comparison. We are to subordinate everything, even our own being, to our love and commitment to Christ. He is to be our first loyalty. All other relationships take second place” (Luke, p.125).
*Notice 2 illustrations Jesus offers: (stood out to me for first time this past week in study):
-Tower of BABEL
-Israel defeating other nations tho outnumbered
*What was DIFFERENCE?? Was God on their side!
*See also Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus[g] said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.””
Kyle Idleman outlines this passage in his book “Not a Fan” by recognizing - Jesus’ call of discipleship is a call to follow him WHEREVER (homelessness), WHENEVER (drop whatever you’re doing!), WHATEVER the cost (even own family).
Have we lowered the bar in the church today? Asked Christians NOT to count the cost, but to count the BENEFIT? That’s not to say that there ARE no benefits to following Jesus - we’ll get to that in the conclusion.
Preview: ETERNAL LIFE (Jn 3:16)!!
But what about the COST?
Can I confess something to y’all - I’ve been anxious here recently about some of these sermons we’ve got coming up. 1 Pet 3 and women being “weaker vessels”... Rom 9 and “God hardening peoples’ hearts... God desiring to show his wrath, created some to be vessels of wrath prepared for destruction”. Made people just to send them to Hell. Double predestination, for you theology junkies. That’s where we’re headed in a couple weeks. And I’ve been losing sleep. “Am I just TRYING to run people out of the church? I thought this sermon series would be GREAT with the addition of a second service in January; I thought LOTS of people would be interested to come hear us tackle these tough texts. But I didn’t really account for how many we might drive AWAY at the same time.
-But I was comforted, preparing for this sermon this week: You know when Jesus had the most followers in his entire ministry? In chapter ONE, of Mark - “Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.” (v45) You know when he drew the SMALLEST crowd? At his crucifixion. Few women left, at the foot of the cross; even his CLOSEST followers, the disciples, nowhere to be found. His was the story of a downwardly-mobile King who left his glorious throne in heaven for a manger, and then traded the comfort of the manger for HOMELESSNESS, and then traded the relative comforts of homelessness for a CROSS. And his ministry mirrored that same downward mobility. Jesus would be FIRED if he was pastoring most any church today - he took a congregation of THOUSANDS in ch.1 and gradually, over 3 ½ years of ministry, thinned them out to a dozen or so. In John 6, after he feeds the 5,000 they’re trying to “take him by FORCE to make him King” (v15), and what is Jesus’ response? He preached a sermon about the importance of “feeding on my flesh and drinking my blood” in order to inherit “eternal life” (v54), and the crowds walk away in DROVES: “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (vv66-68)
CONCLUSION:
He doesn’t just “DEMAND it”; friends, he DESERVES it. He is WORTH it!
So to flip the script a bit, here at the end, I encourage you to count the cost of NOT following Jesus!