Faith Struggles with Jesus

Sermon for Second Sunday in Lent

Reminiscere

March 1, 2026

Jesus goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon to get away for bit. This is pagan country, northwest of Galilee on the Mediterranean Sea coast. These two cities were part of the ancient land of Canaan in the Old Testament. The Canaanites were the enemies of the Israelites when they went in to take possession of the Promised Land. These were not godly people. They worshiped Baal. Sexual immorality and child sacrifice were common practices in their worship.

What did this Canaanite woman expose her child to that allowed the demons to come in and possess her? We don’t know. Any number of occult and pagan practices in that region would have allowed demons to find a home inside of you. Imagine the guilt this woman had for exposing her child to such evil.

Things are no different today. Demons are real. We can open doors and let them into our lives if we choose. Play with evil and the demons will seek an open door into your life.

For instance, fool around with a Ouija board and you will communicate with demons. Read and look for guidance from a horoscope and satan and his devious ways become your guide. Let illicit drugs, marijuana, and drunkenness into your life, and you open the doors of your heart and mind to the manipulation and temptation of evil spirits. They love to feed on sin weakened and vulnerable hearts and minds. Let your eyes feast on pornography and that screen in front of your face will become a portal for demons into your life. Demons love to come in and play if you open the doors and let them. Don’t open the doors.¹

We don’t know what happened to this woman’s daughter or what part she played in exposing her daughter to demons. But this mother is in deep distress. Few of us know the pain and agony of seeing a child in the grip of an evil force that you can’t control. She is helpless to fix her daughter or herself.

But this Canaanite woman knows there is one person who can set her daughter free from the demons. The Son of David. And like Jacob who wrestled with God and won, this woman comes to Jesus ready for battle. A battle of faith. Despite living among wicked, heathen people, this woman has saving faith. And faith only comes through hearing and hearing the Word of Christ.

This woman shows what true faith looks like when you’re at the end of your road ready to give up. This woman doesn’t give up. She goes to Jesus and expects Him to be her Savior. We see the struggle of faith that clings to Jesus and holds Him to His Word believing He will act with love and compassion.

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Somehow this Canaanite woman heard that Jesus is in her region. She goes to Jesus and prays: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” She acknowledges that she has nothing worthy in herself. She needs the grace and mercy only the true God can give.

She calls Jesus “Lord, Son of David.” This is a confession that she believes Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the Redeemer promised by the prophets in the Old Testament. She’s heard of Jesus love and care for the lost, the sick, the dying, the demon possessed. He’s the compassionate One. He will surely act swiftly and save her daughter.

“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”

Silence. Jesus ignores the woman’s plea. Then the disciples come along. The woman is still on the ground at Jesus feet and they beg Jesus to send her away. She’s just one of those pagan Canaanites.

Jesus responds: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus didn’t come for the pagan, demon worshipers of Canaan. Only lost sheep that need a shepherd.

This woman refuses to give up. She knows this is her Savior despite where she comes from, despite how Jesus is responding. She’s knows she’s one of His sheep and she is loved by Him. In faith she continues to struggle with Jesus. She’s heard God’s Word. She has faith in the promise of salvation and deliverance that comes through the house of Israel in the Son of David. It’s through the children of Israel that God would preserve His Word and take it to every nation on earth. Even her pagan nation. Even to her and her daughter. This is her God and she is His child.

She cries out: “Lord, help me.” Surely, now Jesus will be the compassionate One and acknowledge His dear lamb in distress.

Instead, Jesus delivers the final blow: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

On her face on the ground in the dirt at the feet of Jesus and He compares her to a dog. Humiliated. Rejected.

What kind of love is this? This whole scene is a struggle from the beginning to the end. We are used to the battle against the flesh, against the world, against satan. We expect that every day. But this - this a battle with God Himself. Those are the hardest battles.

God in flesh and blood standing right in front of this woman. Ignoring her. Insulting her in public as everyone watches. What kind of Savior is this? Why keep fighting? Just give up.

But she doesn’t give up. She stays in the battle. Even when it seems as if Jesus has abandoned her and left her in the dirt. He hasn’t. He’s heard every word. He sees her. Eyes of flesh deceive, but eyes of faith believe and keep fighting.

She keeps pushing forward into Jesus. She acknowledges the truth in His Words. Yes, Lord I am an unworthy dog from this wicked pagan nation, but you came even for people like me and my daughter. This woman knows how to fight with God. You hold Him to His Word, and you don’t give up. You cling to His Words as she does and believe.

“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

This is one of the most beautiful, humble confessions of faith in the entire Bible and it comes from a Canaanite woman. Yes Lord, I may be an unworthy dog, but I am not a child of the devil. So give just a crumb of your grace and mercy to one such as me and my daughter and we will live.

“O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Faith refused to be defeated. It conquered. It clung to the Word of God and claimed victory in Jesus.

Like Jacob who wrestled with God. Jacob kept fighting. He got injured. He was never the same. But he refused to stop the fight until God delivered on His promise, kept His Word, and blessed Him.

That is our God and this is the good fight of faith. You are Jacob. You are the Canaanite woman. Their faith is your faith. It is the faith of Adam and Eve and every saint that has walked this earth since the beginning of time. It is a faith that struggles with God and refuses to give up because it believes the promise of eternal life in Christ crucified and risen for you.

God is the One fighting for you and in you with Jesus because He loves you and He gave His only Son to die for you. He isn’t going to let you go. He is going to bring you into Paradise. It is going to be a battle until the end. Stand firm. Know your enemy and fight. Take up the Sword of the Spirit which is God’s Word and let God work. Hold God to His Word.

You will not get everything you want in this life. Your wishes and desires may not be what God knows is best for you. But you can trust that God’s will is best and it will work out for your eternal good in the end. You will be delivered from all of your suffering and affliction and delivered into paradise on the Final Day through faith in Christ.

We are in the Church militant until we pass through that portal of death and into life everlasting where Jesus will meet us. Our dear sister in Christ, Brucie just went through that portal. She finished the good fight of faith. She made it and she waits for Dwight and all of us. Brucie battled. But she made it by the grace God and the Word of her dear Savior.

Every one of us has a battle in the flesh that we must endure. The crosses we bear are unique to our own lives. Crosses chosen by God Himself, fashioned just for you. Things you don’t want. Things you haven’t chosen for yourself. But God has and He loves you in Jesus. And even though it would appear at times that Jesus has abandoned you as you suffer under the weight of your cross, struggling to stand and keep moving forward. Jesus hasn’t abandoned you. Remember the Canaanite woman.

Jesus never abandoned her. Despite how things seemed or how she might have felt as she suffered and struggled. Jesus stood right by her the whole time. He never left. He never insulted her. He spoke to her. And she clung to His Words. She endured in true faith. And in the end Jesus delivered her.

The Lord chastens those He loves. Not in anger or punishment but in love to exercise and strengthen your faith and subdue your flesh. You may not see the deliverance you would like in this broken world. But Jesus will endure and persevere all of it with you. Through trials and afflictions you are drawn closer to your Savior and your faith is strengthened.

By grace you have been saved through faith. Cling to the Word of God. In the good times prepare for adversity yet to come. In times of darkness and distress hold the Word up high and let it shine in the darkness, and you will see the Way, and you will persevere in faith until the end.

Jesus will keep His Word. He will deliver you from all your suffering and affliction. Eternal life and never ending joy will be yours. And on that Final Day you will realize fully what is only seen with eyes faith on this side of glory. That you have striven with God and with man and have prevailed through Jesus Christ crucified and risen for you. To that end we push and fight the good fight of faith. Thanks be to Jesus. In Jesus name. Amen.