Sunday Bulletin August 14 2022
Craig A. Brittingham, Pastor
Hillside Baptist Church
August 14, 2022
“Jesus and the Gentiles” – Matthew 15:21-39
1A. Jesus Went into Gentile territory (21-28).
1b. It was unusual for Jesus to leave Palestine.
1c. This is perhaps the only time.
2c. It is surprising given what Jesus said in verse 24.
2b. A woman identified as a Canaanite asked Jesus to have mercy on her.
1c. Her daughter was demon-possessed.
2c. She addressed Jesus using the royal, Messianic, title, “Son of David.”
3c. Jesus did not answer her at first and His disciples urged Him to send her away.
3b. It seemed at first that Jesus would decline her request.
1c. He indicated that His mission was exclusively Jewish.
2c. But in response to her great faith, He healed her daughter.
4b. Jesus departed the region of Tyre and Sidon, and went through Decapolis on the east side of the Sea of Galilee which was also Gentile territory (cf. Mark 7:31).
2A. Great Gentile Multitudes Came to Jesus (29-31).
1b. He healed the infirmed which they brought to Him.
2b. That they glorified “the God of Israel” confirms they were Gentiles.
3A. Jesus Miraculously Fed a Gentile Multitude (32-39).
1b. This multitude which brought their sick to be healed spent three days with Jesus without food!
2b. As He had fed the Jewish multitude earlier, Jesus miraculously fed the Gentile multitude.
Questions…
1. Why was it unusual for Jesus during His earthly ministry to enter Gentile territory? See 15:24, cf. 10:5-6
2. What might this signal or foreshadow about the ultimate mission of Jesus? See 28:18-20, cf. Acts 1:1-8
3. The miracles Jesus performed were evidence that He was the promised Messiah/King (11:1-6), and that His kingdom had come (12:28) although in a spiritual sense awaiting its consummation at the end of the age. Why did Jesus perform these miracles of the kingdom in the presence of a Gentile audience? What might it signal or foreshadow?
4. It may be instructive that Jesus does not answer the question of the disciples concerning the kingdom recorded in Acts 1:6. He responded without confirming that the kingdom would be restored to Israel (in the sense they probably understood it). Earlier in Matthew Jesus healed another Gentile, a Centurian’s servant. Notice how Jesus responded to the Centurian’s faith, and its implications for the kingdom. See Matthew 8:5-13. What are those implications? Will it be exclusively Jewish?
5. Compare also the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (21:33- 44). Is the nation to whom the kingdom will be given, Israel?
6. The Canaanite woman addressed Jesus as the “Son of David.” What did that indicate about her faith? Why might Matthew have included it? What might it signal or foreshadow?
7. Consider again, the question the disciples asked Jesus on the day of His ascension, “Will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Consider James’ quotation from Amos 9 in Acts 15:13-21. Did he perhaps answer the question at least in part of when the kingdom was/will be restored…and also how or in what way it was/will be restored?
