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spent1302
"Lord of the Nations"
ReGet Pro seri
Text: Matthew 15:21-28
Date: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost 
8/18/02
In the hymn, "Beautiful Savior," we sing of
our Savior Jesus Christ calling him "Lord of the nations." The scripture
readings appointed for today all point to the universality of God's
plan of salvation; that God so loved the world; and that God's plan
was worked out in a particular way that can be known as he has communicated
it through the inspired Prophetic and Apostolic Scriptures: namely,
the covenant begun in Abraham, through the descendents of Israel,
culminating in the promised Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. As God promised
Abraham, "by your descendents will all the nations of the earth
be blessed," so Jesus concluded his earthly ministry with the command
to make known this Good News and make disciples "of all nations."
This day we affirm again the Way, the Truth and the Life: Jesus
who said, "no one comes to the Father but by me," boldly testifying
that "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" [Acts 4:12
(ESV)].
Now, that should come as a shock to no one.
Yet, today we make that age-old affirmation in the face of a new
situation. For, especially with today's heightened awareness of
the religion of Islam, and in the mix of a nation founded, in part,
on the principle of freedom of religion and religious tolerance,
that principle itself has become a religion of sorts, one which
will not tolerate the idea that any religion is more or less true
than any other. In other words, to say, as the Bible says, and we
are saying today, that "Jesus Christ is Lord of the nations" is
at least politically incorrect and at worst judged to be as fanatical,
bigoted and even dangerous a conviction as any Islamic Terrorist
or Humas Suicide/Homicide Bomber.
God's love for the world and everyone in it
is demonstrated over and over again throughout the scriptures. The
prayer has been on the lips of all of God's people ever since Psalm
67 has been prayed around the world, "May God be gracious…that your
way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations….
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you…guide the nations
upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples
praise you!"
Ever since the temple of God's Presence was
constructed in Jerusalem, the invitation and command was always
there, as reflected in today's Old Testament reading, "'the foreigners
who join themselves to the Lord…these I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer…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 (ESV)]. Along the
same line, Jesus said, "I have other sheep that are not of this
fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.
So there will be one flock, one shepherd" [John 10:16 (ESV)].
Just the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in
Matthew's Gospel is a witness to the universality of God's salvation.
For there we find, besides the Old Testament fathers of faith and
royalty, women and Gentiles punctuating the house and lineage of
David, the history of salvation. Today's Gospel emphasizes how the
Jews were the first to receive the Christ. When Jesus said, "I was
sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," he meant that
he was commissioned to work out redemption in the Jewish nation,
as the Jewish Messiah, and only after that this invitation would
be carried officially to all the world. Nevertheless, beginning
already with the attraction of the Gentile Wise Men from the East
at his birth, and now this Canaanite woman pleading for mercy, and
so many others, faith happened even in non-Jewish hearts and was
not denied. "O woman, great is your faith!" In fact, the climax
of St. Matthew's Gospel is not-much to the surprise and chagrin
of many voices in the church today-his command to make disciples
of all nations at the end of chapter 28. Evangelism, while it may
be a main work of the church is not the main message. The main message
is the Cross of Jesus Christ, the justification of the sinner by
God's grace through faith in Christ crucified and risen. J. S. Bach,
in his St. Matthew's Passion, saw that the true climax of Matthew's
Gospel was, rather, in the confession of the Gentile centurion who
witnessed Jesus' death on the Cross, when he said, "Truly this was
the Son of God!" [Mt. 27:54 (ESV)].
Now you can see how today's Epistle fits in
to the picture, as the 9th through 11th chapters of Paul's letter
to the Romans is all about how the nation of Israel was disobedient
in rejecting their Messiah. "But it is not as though the word of
God has failed," he says. With the coming of the Messiah, the reality
is that "not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel"
[Rom. 9:6]. Clearly, he is emphasizing the original and spiritual
meaning of the word "Israel," meaning all people, regardless of
genealogy, who have been made members of the household of God by
faith in Christ, God's people of faith. The faith and salvation
of God has nothing to do with the modern State of Israel-except
to say that Christ died for all the people who live there, too.
"For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy
on all" [Rom. 11:32 (ESV)]. There is no favoritism. There is only
one way. The only way of salvation for all is by repentance of sin
and faith in Christ.
Which brings us to our day and our current
situation when to make such an exclusive claim is judged by many
as unloving, bigoted and even un-American. Christ meant no disrespect
when he appeared to be rejecting the Canaanite woman. It was, rather,
a moment and opportunity for faith. If there had been no faith in
the woman's heart, we could expect her to have quietly and humbly
retreated. Maybe even huffing and stomping away saying, "Well! Of
all the arrogance!" But true faith knows and perceives the love
of God in Christ as the fulfillment of all of God's promises through
the Jews to the whole world. Therefore it was her faith that impelled
her to step a little closer and to kneel before him, saying, simply,
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