Feeding the "Dogs"

The story in Matt. 15:21-28 of the Caananite woman pleading importunately with Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter is one of my favorite passages in the Gospel according to Matthew.  (The title of my blog rather gives this away.)  And so I was eager to hear my pastor, New Covenant Church Pastor Doug O'Donnell, unpack it.  Pastor O'Donnell preached on it this past weekend, along with the rest of the literary unit (verses 29-39), entitling the sermon Feeding the "Dogs."

After the service, a dear Christian sister sitting next to my wife and I commented that the sermon was perhaps the best she's ever heard from the Gospel of Matthew, certainly the best on that text.  She'd definately be listening to it again.  It was quite good, worthy of another hearing.

Sitting under the skilled unpacking of a text (especially when it's a favorite) satisfies my heart as much as anything I've experienced in this life.  Especially when Jesus appears there in all of his glory and excellency--his beauty, truth, and greatness!  Heaven on earth!  O taste and see the Savior and his salvation!

This sermon is also a model of handling a literary unit in such a way that all can see what Matthew really intended when he wove together these pericopes in his account of the Gospel.  The whole unit hangs together and flows marvelously from the pulpit.

Toward the conclusion of the sermon, Pastor O'Donnell once again reminded us of Matthew's melodic line: "All Authority, All Nations, All Allegiance."  Amen!  Jesus is Lord of all!  Let every knee bow!