Reminiscere Sunday (Lent 2) – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 15:21-28 “Crumbs that Make a Meal”
March 1, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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O blessed Savior, you are full of mercy and compassion, and will not cast out any that come to You: Help us, we beseech You, who are grievously vexed with the burden of our sins; and so increase in us the power of the Holy Spirit that we may prevail against the enemy of our souls; for Your name’s sake. Amen. (Parish Prayers, ed. Frank Colquhoun, p. 59)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 15th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
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.”
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.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
And He answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, the bread of life, who is enough for all, even in His crumbs, dear fellow redeemed:
When my wife’s grandmother makes a cake for a wedding or a birthday, in shaping the cake there are extra shavings that are not used and go into a container for consumption. And this is a must for them to be put into the container for consumption because of how delicious it is to eat these extra pieces. I bring this up because the extra parts that are shaved off to form the cake are called “cake crumbs.” Now you only need to ask my wife how good they taste and even though they are designated with the name of crumbs, they can easily be a full dessert themselves. For the most part, when we think of the word “crumbs,” we do not think of a meal that is big enough for everyone to be filled. The crumbs that come from the bread of life, Jesus Christ, with certainty will make anyone full. These are gracious crumbs we don’t even deserve, and they make a meal for us not just to survive, but to live forever.
For these crumbs to even be available, it reveals how gracious the bread is. The bread who could have not dropped any crumbs, yet He will feed everyone. This is the case as this text doesn’t happen if Israel would have done the job they were supposed to of eliminating all the Canaanite nations. God tasked them with this mission, and they failed to listen and at times act on it. Because of Israel’s disobedience, what joy we must see God’s gracious mercy in action. And since we are not Jews, this text is one that reveals God’s mercy to us as well. This is one of the few times Jesus ventures beyond the borders of Judea and He enters the land of the Gentiles. This is another place besides Samaria, where it would seem odd for Jews of this area to go there. The main reason Jesus goes into this area of the Gentiles is primarily for rest. This is also off of the heals of John the Baptist’s death, the people tried to force Jesus to be king, and the opposition of the Pharisees is growing as they already are trying to find out ways to destroy Him. St. Mark points out how hard it was for Jesus to find this rest. And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden (Mark 7:24).
With great love, Jesus answers the call to serve. Since they are not far from Galilee, the word of Jesus has spread for these people to know what He can do. While Jesus was very limited in this area with His work, He is not neglecting because He wants to neglect them. Jesus who as God doesn’t have any reason to be on this earth at all, goes to His people first. He goes to them to keep the promises of long ago, the promises, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He also knows that the men who are with Him in the land of the Gentiles to learn, will go out and proclaim His name to the nations. The woman in our text does the unthinkable when she sees Jesus, seeking even something as small as crumbs. This response blew Jesus away and it’s not that easy to catch why. On the outside, we see the state of her humility, but we can find in Scriptures how just the small blessing of being alive every day is a great blessing from God, despite our great and terrible struggles. However, as things stood in Jesus’ ministry, she addressed Jesus like someone of His people who needed help. This is found in her plea, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” To call Him the Son of David means she has put her faith in Him as the promised Messiah, which at times, His own disciples floundered when He tells them, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? (Matthew 16:8)
While this miracle with the imagery of bread failed to come to the mind of His disciples when they were also tested with bread for a second time, it can be easy for us to be consumed and fill up our bellies with the worries and trials of this life. The true and good bread is right in front of us to feed us and we can be too worked up to be hungry at all. With a full belly of worry, Jesus’ action hits us like a freight train. 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.” Is that what He wants, to send us away and not care about our problems? Obviously, this is not the case. What we can think of at times as Jesus walking away from us, with the devil and the world really cheering for this to be the case, Jesus can delay His response. And this can be hard to grasp. In our lowest points, we can picture ourselves as being unique and all alone, and Scripture reveals this is not true. We see Job initially has his problems because the devil asked God to let him inflict him. Flipping the pages past our text and we see Paul being told that he will endure his thorn of the flesh because God wasn’t going to bring him physical relief. After no answer, now we can have a delay when Jesus responds, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” In any delay, the devil doesn’t want us to look for crumbs. He hopes we will do as Job’s wife said, “curse God and die.”
Before we curse God, the hope for crumbs, are found in the pages of Scripture. This woman of Canaanite descent could also see God’s care for all people in the Old Testament. “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant –all these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for All peoples.” The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered” (Isaiah 56: 6-8). She is gathered in, not because she should be or must be. Jesus points out where the promises lie, but as His people struggled to have faith in Him according to those promises, she put all her trust in the only One who could use His Word and cure her daughter.
You are witnessing a wrestling match for crumbs. And like the cake, these crumbs will feed you and sustain you. These crumbs come from the true bread. And God in love as He freely gives it to you, will at times have you wrestle Him for it. Like wrestling with Jacob, wrestling and struggling is to ultimately have a hold of your complete trust. While you cherish the crumbs that come from the true bread, as we heard on Ash Wednesday, your complete trust is found in the begging of the crumbs. And when that trust may waver, and you think that God is only looking away, this is the season where you see the crumbs fall of the table, given to you as God the Father instead turns His head away from His One and only Son. Christ on the cross with the Father’s head turned away reveals the mercy of a crumb. A crumb He asked for and was denied in the garden. He hangs on the cross and hangs there to hear you admit, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Jesus hears all prayers offered in His name and He will answer in His own time and way as is best for you. He answers them because of providing for you by taking away your sins, and then with a yes to your prayer of escape from this life with the certainty of heaven.
What a great meal that the Lord gives you. These bread crumbs from the table are only a taste of what is to come. What an awesome thing as hard it may seem, that as you wrestle with God in prayer, He answers your prayers and, takes care of all your needs. It is a taste because what comes after this is worth so much more. Jesus revealed this to you with the life that He lived. He felt all your pains and trials, yet He kept following the Father’s will in your place. God turned His face and He died on the cross taking away your sins of doubt and worry. It is on the cross all your hope is found. You see the great faith of the Canaanite woman. You see a crumb that you beg for and it turns into a full course meal to sustain you. Jesus’ death promises your sins are forgiven and it wipes away all your tears. This life is very short, eternal life is forever. So, as you put all your trust in Jesus, you say your prayers going to Him fervently, you are certain He is answering them for your good, according to His good and gracious will. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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